Everest's Guardian Hubby Watched Me Freeze My Ghost Knows Where He'll Burn novel Chapter 34

Chapter 21

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room, sending Nicholas staggering backward. His vision blurred, stars bursting behind his eyes as he collided heavily with the cold, unforgiving wall.

His mother’s voice, thick with fury and heartbreak, cut through the silence like a knife. He stood frozen, unable to meet her gaze. The weight of her pain was unbearable, and his own silence spoke volumes in that heavy moment.

She had always sensed that something about Elara’s suicide didn’t add up—the whole tragedy felt wrong deep down. Yet, never in her worst nightmares did she imagine that her own son could be the cause.

Her eyes locked onto him—this man who couldn’t even muster a defense—and the blazing anger slowly burned away, replaced by a devastating mix of disbelief and profound disappointment. Her entire body trembled, and when she finally spoke, her voice was fractured, sharp, and raw.

“How could you? How could you do something so reckless? That was Elara! Have you forgotten she saved your life? Have you forgotten you were willing to risk expulsion just to be with her? You PROMISED me you’d take care of her. You swore you’d love her until the very end. How am I supposed to face her parents now? How am I supposed to look them in the eye when I’m gone?”

The accusation, coming from the woman who had given him everything, was too much to bear. Nicholas felt the last of his strength drain away. His legs buckled beneath him, and he slid down the wall, collapsing onto the floor in utter defeat.

If his soul had died the day he discovered Elara was gone—then today, with his darkest secrets ripped into the light, was the moment the rot truly set in.

His body, though? That had been dead a long time ago.

The day he first accepted Valentina’s invitation.

For all this time, he’d wandered around in polished clothes, hiding the decay festering underneath. Now, everything was exposed, laid bare for the world to see—and he deserved every painful bit of it.

The Sterlings and the Kingstons had been neighbors for nearly two decades.

Nicholas’s mother had always longed for a daughter, so when the Kingstons moved in next door and she spotted the bright, mischievous little girl named Elara, she fell in love instantly. She watched the two children grow closer over the years, aware of their secret meetings and whispered promises, but chose to turn a blind eye.

Then came the night Nicholas was caught breaking curfew to see Elara. Suddenly, their hidden romance was out in the open.

Both families convened, faces serious and tense, to decide what should be done.

It shattered her heart, but she was proud of him too.

Following the wedding, after Elara’s parents passed away, Elara began to fade—her vibrant spirit dimming little by little.

Nicholas cared for her, holding their fragile lives together even as everything crumbled around them.

His mother thought he had finally become strong enough to endure it all.

But she was wrong.

She never imagined that in the shadows, the son she had raised could harbor such darkness.

Now, her head spun with confusion and pain. Words failed her.