Chapter 35: Who instructed you to do that?
Zara lay frozen, lips slightly parted, eyes locked on the ceiling, her mind reeling, her heart aching in a way she hadn’t expected.
She had wanted to stop him. She tried to stop him. But now that he was gone, the silence he left behind was louder than anything.
The pain in her leg throbbed dully, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache that carved into her chest.
He had been right there, touching her, wanting her. For a moment, she thought he really wanted her. But the moment reality caught up with him, the moment he realized she wasn’t Nora, he pulled away like she was nothing.
She felt abandoned, discarded, like something disposable.
Zara’s throat tightened, shame creeping through her like poison. A sense of betrayal twisted inside her.
Her hands gripped the bedspread tightly.
"In your heart, Nora is your wife," she whispered, the words bitter and broken. "The woman you love...But do you even know I’ve loved you all these years? Since school..."
Tears slipped silently from the corners of her eyes. The weight of a lifetime of one-sided love settled heavily in her chest.
Inside the bathroom...
Nathaniel filled the bathtub with cold water. He stripped down and stepped in, the icy water lapping up to his thighs. But it did nothing to cool the fire that still roared through his veins.