Everest's Guardian Hubby Watched Me Freeze My Ghost Knows Where He'll Burn novel Chapter 16

Chapter 3

Elara woke up early the next morning, the soft light of dawn filtering through the curtains and casting a gentle glow across the room. She felt a quiet determination settle over her as she stretched and sat up, ready to face the day with a clear purpose.

Nicholas, on the other hand, didn’t stir from the warmth of the bed until well past ten. When he finally emerged, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he shuffled into the living room. His gaze landed on Elara, who was already seated at the dining table, her pen moving rapidly across the pages of a notebook filled with dense handwriting.

Curious, he moved closer and leaned over her shoulder to read the list she was creating.

“Visit the old neighborhood. Catch up with friends. Feed the ducks at the lake. Get blackout drunk at a bar…” he read aloud, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Babe, what’s all this for?” he asked, his voice a mix of amusement and genuine curiosity.

Elara’s pen halted mid-sentence. She looked up at him with a calm, steady expression. “It’s my bucket list,” she said simply.

The phrase seemed to stir something in Nicholas’s mind. A warm smile slowly spread across his face, touched with nostalgia. “You made one of these when you were seventeen, didn’t you? I remember you had this huge list of things you wanted to do—”

He stopped himself abruptly, his smile fading as a shadow crossed his features.

Elara immediately understood what he was thinking—that dredging up the past might reopen old wounds or cause pain. But truthfully, she had moved beyond that now. She picked up the thread of the conversation without hesitation.

“Yeah, I wrote down a hundred things I wanted to do before I turned eighteen. Bungee jumping, skiing, white-water rafting, surfing… all sorts of wild stuff. And you? You were even crazier. You came with me for every single one and filmed the whole thing.”

The memory in her voice seemed to pull Nicholas back from his momentary gloom. This time, his smile was genuine and full of warmth.

“God, I was obsessed with you,” he admitted softly. “Whatever crazy thing you dreamed up, I was right there by your side. I wasn’t scared of a thing as long as you were with me. I literally jumped off a thousand-foot bridge with my eyes shut…”

Elara watched him closely, noticing how his face lit up as he spoke. When his gaze finally settled on her again, she whispered, “It’s been a long time since I saw you smile like that.”

But the smile froze on Nicholas’s lips, and the atmosphere between them suddenly grew tense and fragile. He cleared his throat awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.

“So, uh… do you want me to help with the list? Like we used to?” he offered, hopeful.

Elara shook her head firmly. “This is my list, not yours. You’re busy with work anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

There was a sharp edge of finality in her tone that made Nicholas’s chest tighten painfully. He opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by the buzz of his phone.

She picked up her laptop, saved the screenshot, and printed it out. Then she carefully slid the photo into the drawer alongside the bucket list.

That drawer was already overflowing with similar printouts—evidence she had been quietly gathering for days.

For Elara, death seemed like a mercy.

But that didn’t mean she was going to let Nicholas and Valentina escape without consequences.

If Nicholas no longer loved her, so be it. But he should have had the courage to tell her to her face, not sneak around behind her back like a coward.

And Valentina? She had absolutely no right to rub Elara’s nose in it every single day.

The girl Nicholas once described in his journal—bubbly, sweet, full of light—was nothing like the spiteful woman sending these cruel texts.

Elara was more than ready to make sure Nicholas saw exactly who Valentina truly was.