Everest's Guardian Hubby Watched Me Freeze My Ghost Knows Where He'll Burn novel Chapter 39

Chapter 26

For a long moment, the car was engulfed in silence.

Nicholas observed Valentina hurriedly snapping the briefcase shut, her fingers trembling as if it were scalding hot. Without hesitation, she shoved it into the backseat, her movements sharp and frantic. Then, with a deliberate motion, Nicholas reached over and locked every door—front and back—and even secured the windows.

“Does this look familiar?” His voice was calm, almost casual, devoid of any emotion.

Yet, the unmistakable click of the locks echoed through the car.

A sudden chill gripped Valentina’s spine, colder and more penetrating than the biting winter wind outside. It crept slowly, wrapping itself tightly around the base of her skull, sending a shudder through her body.

She instinctively folded her hands into her lap, curled her legs beneath her, and leaned heavily against the passenger door. Her lips stretched into a strained, fragile smile.

“Nicholas… what’s going on? I thought your eyes were bothering you?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to mask her growing unease.

Nicholas returned her smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He even mimicked her light, airy tone with unsettling precision.

“Oh, they are. But reading through all those text messages? That made them really uncomfortable,” he said, pausing thoughtfully.

“And what about you?” he added, his voice dropping to a cold whisper. “Now that you’ve seen them, does anything hurt? Your eyes? Your heart? Or maybe something else?”

His imitation of her voice, paired with that hollow smile, made Valentina’s chest tighten painfully.

She wanted to scream, to shatter the cruel facade between them.

But the fear in her eyes betrayed her. She looked at him as if she’d just encountered a ghost.

“I didn’t do anything! She killed herself, Nicholas!” Her voice cracked, desperation bleeding through.

Nicholas already knew the truth. Of course, Elara had taken her own life.

But did that clear Valentina of her guilt?

If Valentina hadn’t unleashed such venomous tactics, if she hadn’t tormented Elara relentlessly, the woman’s fragile hold on sanity might never have slipped. Elara’s depression wouldn’t have spiraled out of control. She wouldn’t have chosen the darkness.

If Nicholas was the scythe that severed Elara’s will to live, then Valentina was the hand that swung it.

They were partners in destruction, complicit in driving a woman to her death.

And accomplices must share the consequences.

A life for a life.

Outside, the wind howled through the barren countryside, fierce and unyielding. It made Nicholas’s voice sound even more menacing.

“She had depression. It was under control,” he said slowly. “But it came back in November. And you really don’t know why?”

Above them, rocks, dirt, and dead leaves rained down, a chaotic cascade.

The glass spiderwebbed outward from the impact.

Blood trickled from the gash on her forehead, weaving down along the fractured lines like a crimson web stretched across the windowpane.

And trapped at the center of that bloody web were the mantis and the oriole.

Nicholas stared at the vivid splash of red blooming before him. Slowly, he released his grip on the steering wheel. Then, grabbing the hem of Valentina’s dress, he yanked her toward him, pinning her firmly against the seat.

“If you tell me the truth,” he said quietly, his voice low and dangerous, “I might consider making this easier for you. Less painful.”

Half of Valentina’s face was slick with blood, the dark red streaming from her forehead. She clawed at his arm, struggling fiercely despite the pain.

“I AM telling the truth! Her death… has NOTHING… to do with me!” she insisted, her voice trembling but desperate.

That was the final straw for Nicholas.

His control shattered completely.

He slapped her hard across the face.

“Nothing to do with you?” he growled, his eyes blazing with fury. “Then you can join her in hell anyway!!”