Chapter 8
I stood there, cold and silent, watching the chaos unfold like I was merely an observer.
Nathan finally broke.
He collapsed to his knees, crawling toward me, dragging his blood–stained shirt across the floor, leaving a dark red smear in his wake.
“Anna… I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I never thought it would turn out like this…”
Tears streamed down his face, tracing over the bruise blooming across his cheek.
“Please… forgive me. I’ll fire Valerie–I’ll cut her off for good, I swear it.”
I looked down at him, pathetic and broken, and all I could see was a memory:
Our honeymoon.
He’d written forever in the sand.
The next wave had come and washed it all away–just like every promise he’d ever made.
“You’re too late.”
I bent down and picked up my mother’s photo, gently brushing the dirt and footprints from the glass.
“Nathan Whitmore,” I said quietly, “this is what you brought on yourself.”
Then I turned around and walked away. Not once did I look back.
The next morning, I returned to the company to clean out my office.
One by one, I packed my things–files, picture frames, personal belongings. Every motion was calm and efficient. Not a flicker of hesitation.
Just as I reached for the final photo on my desk, the door flew open.
Nathan stood in the doorway, pale as death. His eyes were bloodshot, so swollen it looked like he hadn’t slept at all.
He was still wearing the same bloodstained clothes from the night before. His hair was a mess, lips split and swollen. There wasn’t a trace left of the polished, proud CEO he used to be.
“Anna…”
His voice was so hoarse it was barely audible as he staggered toward me.
“Please.., can we talk?”
I didn’t answer. I kept packing.
Suddenly, he lunged and grabbed my wrist, his nails digging into my skin.
“I know I messed up! I know!” he cried, sobbing so hard his whole body trembled.
“Valerie… she seduced me. I was weak. But it’s over! I’ll never see her again–I swear!”
I ripped my arm free and stared at him with nothing but ice in my eyes.
“And how much is your promise worth, Nathan?”
He stumbled back, nearly losing his balance. But still, he refused to stop.
This time, he fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face into my back.
“Do you remember?” he choked. “In college… I saved up for three months just to buy you that watch for your birthday… You said it was
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the most thoughtful gift you’d ever received..”
His voice cracked with emotion.
“And our wedding day… you said I was the only man you’d ever love… You stood in front
of everyone
and promised me forever…”
“Don’t you remember that, Anna?”
I turned and shoved him away.
“I remember. And now? All it does is make me sick.”
He swayed where he sat, stunned. His tears welled up again.
“Anna… how can you be so heartless? Valerie’s in the hospital–she’s in critical condition! Are you really going to push us to our deaths?”
At the mention of her name, my expression turned to steel.
“Yes,” I said coldly. “I want you both to die.”
“I hope she doesn’t make it out of that hospital.”
His face went ghost white, the desperation in his eyes quickly giving way to horror.
Then, without warning, he screamed–shrieking like a madman–as he grabbed a file folder off the desk and hurled it at me.
“What gives you the right to treat me like this?! I gave you everything! You can’t just walk away!”
The folder hit my shoulder. Papers scattered across the floor like falling snow.
I didn’t flinch.
I just stood there, staring at him. Watching the last shred of his sanity unravel.
He raged for another few seconds… then crumbled.
He dropped to the floor and clung to my legs, shaking like a man drowning.
“Anna… please….don’t leave ine. I can’t live without you…”
I looked down at him with dead eyes. Like he was nothing more than a stranger.
“Nathan, the moment you chose Valerie, we were finished.”
“And save the performance–this isn’t about me leaving.”
“You’re not scared of losing me. You’re scared of losing the clients. The prestige. The only thing keeping the Whitmores afloat” “So do me a favor–get the hell away from me.”
1 kicked him off and walked out without another word.
Less than a month after I returned to Manhattan, Whitmore Enterprises declared bankruptcy.
Richard threw himself off a building. Margaret overdosed.
Valerie Scott survived–but barely. The head trauma left her in a vegetative state.
Years later, during a visit to Riverglen to see an old friend, I saw Nathan again.
He was crouched beside a trash can, rumunaging through half–eaten leftovers. Muttering nonsense. Laughing one second, crying the next
His once–handsome face was now hidden under grime and wrinkles. But I recognized his eyes. Chapter 8
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My friend whispered beside me, “He’s been like that for years. Lost everything. Doesn’t even know who he is anymore…”
I cut her off.
“Let’s go.”
As I got into the car, I turned back for one last look.
He was holding a piece of moldy bread, smiling like a child who didn’t know the world had ended.
In that moment, I remembered the boy by the lake.
The boy with books in his arms and stars in his eyes.
But the stars were long gone. All that remained was darkness.
The car pulled away. His silhouette shrank in the rearview mirror… until it vanished completely at the corner of the street.
