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Novel Catalog
Chapter 34 He Had Become Increasingly Ruthless
Inside the first-class cabin of the plane, Cecilia gazed out the window, watching the white clouds drift by. Her mind wandered back to four years ago, when everything had seemed so different. Back then, she had been utterly disheartened, desperate to escape the life that had become unbearable. She had sought Calvin’s help to fake her death and flee the country.
Once abroad, things had started to settle. She gave birth prematurely to twins, a pair of beautiful boys. But the tranquility didn’t last long. In March, her younger son, Elliot Smith, who had been born weak, was diagnosed with leukemia. The news shattered her. The doctor explained that the best chance for treatment would be a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, one that could be sourced from umbilical cord blood.
Desperate to save her son, Cecilia began scheming. She tried to obtain Nathaniel’s sperm, knowing it was the only way to give Elliot the stem cells he needed. But her attempts had failed. Time was running out, and the transplant couldn’t wait. Cecilia had no choice but to return home to get it herself.
She knew that if it weren’t for Elliot, she would never have come back to this place, nor would she have sought out Nathaniel again. But family came first, and her son needed her.
Before the plane took off, Cecilia received a message from her best friend, Vivian Kennedy. Vivian: I’ll be a bit tied up lately, but once I’m back, we’ll sort out Nathaniel together. We also need to teach that pretentious btch Stella a lesson.*
Cecilia smiled at the message. Vivian had been a constant in her life, a friend she had met in university. After going abroad to further her studies, their communication had become sparse. But when Cecilia had arrived in Erihal four years ago, she had run into Vivian again. They had reconnected instantly, as if no time had passed.
Reading Vivian’s message brought a sense of warmth to Cecilia’s heart. She replied: Okay. After sending the message, she turned off her phone, sinking into her thoughts as the plane began its journey.
When summer arrived in Tudela, it always brought with it constant heavy rain. Cecilia’s plane landed at seven in the evening. As she stepped off the plane and looked around, she felt both a sense of familiarity and a strange detachment. The place had changed in some ways, but in others, it was just as she remembered.
Outside the airport, a luxurious Lincoln car was waiting for her. The driver stepped out, his demeanor respectful as he opened the door. “Ms. Smith, please get in.”
Cecilia nodded, grateful for the arrangements. “Sorry for the trouble, and thank you.”
The driver smiled gently. “No need for formalities. Mr. Reese has already arranged your accommodations.”
The mention of Mr. Reese made Cecilia smile inwardly. Calvin had been a big help to her four years ago, offering his support when she needed it most. His business abroad was thriving, and he was no longer the modest “small business owner” he had once claimed to be. He had connections everywhere, and it was thanks to him that Cecilia and her children had been able to evade Nathaniel’s investigation.
As the car drove through the city, Cecilia looked out the window, observing the changes. Though Tudela had remained largely the same, there was one noticeable difference: everywhere she looked, there were posters of Stella. The once-popular singer had transformed into a top-tier actress, her fame growing exponentially in the years since Cecilia had left.
Cecilia’s gaze shifted away from the posters, her thoughts growing heavier. An hour later, the car arrived at a villa district known as Ninth Ville, a quiet and peaceful area. After being escorted to her residence, Cecilia immediately called Martha to let her know she had arrived safely.
“Martha, where’s Jon?” Cecilia asked, noticing that her son Jonathan wasn’t around.
Martha, always warm and reassuring, responded, “He’s in his room, reading a book.”
Cecilia smiled softly. Jonathan was an unusually intelligent child. At just three years old, he had already mastered two languages—Clusian and Uprian—and was well beyond his years in terms of maturity. Sometimes, it felt like he was the adult between the two of them.
As Cecilia sat in her room, she reflected on her life in the past four years. When she had first left for abroad, she had been battling depression and hearing impairment. On top of that, she was pregnant with the twins, and those years had been some of the toughest of her life. But since their birth, her health had improved. While her condition hadn’t been cured, she had grown stronger, thanks in part to the support of her two boys.
She opened her suitcase and found the two rabbit plushies her children had left for her. They still carried the faint scent of milk, a reminder of her sons’ love and care. Cecilia held them close, comforted by their presence as she lay down to sleep. It was the first peaceful night she had in a long time.
The next morning, at dawn, Cecilia received a text message. It was from Calvin. He had kept her informed about Nathaniel’s movements over the years. Nathaniel returns home today and is set to attend a charity auction at the Stelason Hotel at nine o’clock in the evening.
Cecilia had already instructed people back home to investigate Nathaniel’s activities. She knew he had been managing a project overseas, but she hadn’t expected his return to be so soon. Four years had passed, and though she had let go of much of the pain, the thought of facing Nathaniel again stirred up a complex mix of emotions within her.
That evening, the charity gala at Stelason Hotel was in full swing. As a man of influence, Nathaniel had a private room reserved for him. He didn’t need to participate in the bidding personally—his assistant or secretary handled that for him.
Seated in his VIP room, Nathaniel was impeccably dressed in a sharp suit. His eyes, cold and dark like obsidian, observed the charity auction downstairs. He was here for one thing: a necklace that had once belonged to the Smith family. The necklace had been left at Cecilia’s family home years ago, but after Paula and Magnus sold it off overseas, it had somehow found its way back into the public auction circuit.
Nathaniel had been keeping tabs on Cecilia for years, never missing a single bit of news about her. He knew that she had faked her death and disappeared, but his obsession with her had never waned. As he watched the auction unfold, the item he had been waiting for was finally brought up—the Trapiche emerald necklace. The starting bid was ten million.
Nathaniel’s secretary raised the paddle, signaling a bid of twenty million.
The room buzzed with whispers. Everyone knew who Nathaniel was, and no one dared challenge him. But just as everyone thought the necklace was as good as his, a surprising turn of events unfolded. A stunning woman in the crowd raised her paddle.
“Thirty million.”
For a moment, everyone held their breath. It wasn’t just the high bid that stunned them; it was the audacity of the woman to challenge Nathaniel. Over the years, Nathaniel had become notorious for crushing anyone who dared to compete with him. He was a ruthless man, and anyone who stood in his way was met with devastation.
As the woman spoke, Nathaniel’s eyes locked onto her. The world seemed to freeze for a moment. His pupils contracted, and in that instant, it felt as though his heartbeat had stopped.
There, standing before him, was Cecilia. Four years had passed, and yet she still had the power to captivate him. She was different now—more elegant, more poised. But in her eyes, he could still see the woman he had once loved. The memories came flooding back, and he couldn’t look away.
The bidding war continued, but Nathaniel’s focus never left Cecilia. The necklace wasn’t just a piece of jewelry to him—it was a connection to her, to the past, to everything he had lost. And this time, he wouldn’t let her slip away again.
“Forty million,” Nathaniel bid, his voice cold, but the tension in the air was palpable.
Cecilia’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t backing down. Not now. Not when so much was at stake.
The auction was no longer about the necklace. It was about power, pride, and the unresolved history between them. And neither of them was willing to lose.
