Chapter 2225

Exhaustion eventually won, and Cecilia drifted off not long after.

Unbeknownst to her, Nathaniel remained wide awake.

Once her breathing settled into a steady rhythm, he opened his eyes.

The soft glow of the nightlights traced the outline of her figure. His thoughtful gaze settled on her neck.

She had showered earlier and changed into a high-collared shirt.

It wasn’t even proper sleepwear.

At first, he had found the scarf strange. Now he suspected it had been used to hide something on her neck.

He slowly reached out, determined to find out.

Cecilia remained asleep, completely still.

With careful movements, he lowered her collar—and discovered a small square of gauze, faintly stained with red.

The touch made her neck twitch slightly, her head shifting just a little.

Nathaniel immediately pulled his hand back, confusion tightening in his chest.

Was she hurt?

How had it happened—and why would she hide it from him?

Sleep was no longer an option.

Nathaniel slipped out onto the balcony, quietly closing the doors behind him to muffle any sound. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Find out exactly what happened to Mrs. Smith last night,” he said.

After a brief pause, he added, “I want every detail. Leave nothing out.”

Once the man on the other end confirmed, Nathaniel ended the call.

He stayed awake, settling into a chair beside the bed as he waited for the report.

Time blurred together before the sharp ring of his phone finally broke the silence.

Nathaniel answered immediately. “Do you have it?”

His subordinate’s voice came through the speaker.

“Mrs. Rainsworth spent the morning and afternoon at the wedding. Later, she went shopping with her friends and Calvin, and they eventually stopped by a local arcade.”

“Around 11:30 that night, she returned to the hotel. But about half an hour later, she rushed out again and even called an ambulance.”

“The security cameras show her getting inside while holding her neck.”

Nathaniel cut him off.

“Send me that clip,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Go on.”

“She went to the hospital, stayed there overnight, and only left a little after six in the morning. On her way out, she bought a scarf at a nearby supermarket.”

The subordinate laid out the entire sequence clearly.

Nathaniel hung up and opened the footage that had just been sent to his phone.

The video showed Cecilia returning to the hotel around eleven, then leaving again shortly afterward—clearly injured.

Nathaniel called again.

“Send me the hotel’s interior surveillance footage within ten minutes.”

“Understood.”

Less than ten minutes later, recordings from the hotel’s hallway and lobby appeared on his phone.

Nathaniel watched carefully.

Before Cecilia stepped out of her room, someone else had already left.

The silhouette was painfully familiar.

Recognition hit him instantly.

Nicholas.

Nathaniel’s eyes darkened as a storm of emotions churned beneath the surface.

No wonder Cecilia had kept quiet.

Everything pointed straight to Nicholas.

Nathaniel’s grip tightened around his phone until his knuckles turned white.

When he returned to the bedroom, he lay down and pulled Cecilia into his arms.

Even that small movement made her flinch.