Chapter 2227

Nathaniel propped his chin on one hand, his eyes cold as ice.

“Cecilia said nothing. That’s why you’re here. Tell me—what did you do to her last night?”

The question finally shattered Nicholas’s composure.

“I told you. Ceci never repeats gossip.”

He drew a slow breath. “May I sit while we talk?”

Nathaniel glanced at the bodyguard. The man immediately placed a chair behind Nicholas.

Once seated, Nicholas’s eyes glinted with calculated sharpness.

“Last night, Ceci and I finally did what should’ve happened a long time ago.”

Nathaniel’s brows knitted together. “Speak plainly. What exactly happened?”

He had no patience for riddles.

“A husband’s rights,” Nicholas said, enunciating every word.

Nathaniel shot to his feet and drove his foot straight into Nicholas’s chest.

The kick landed with a dull thud. Nicholas crashed to the floor, clutching his sternum as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Nathaniel closed the distance in two strides, grabbed Nicholas by the collar, and hauled him upright.

“Say it again.”

Meeting that murderous gaze, Nicholas laughed.

“Say it twice, say it ten times—I had Cecilia.”

Nathaniel’s fist slammed into his face.

The heavy blow left Nicholas’s cheek mottled purple, the skin already going numb.

He sucked in a ragged breath, yet a crooked grin still tugged at his lips.

“You’ve got no right to be angry,” Nicholas rasped. “If anything, I should be the one furious. You stole the woman I loved first.”

Nathaniel’s final shred of restraint snapped. His hand shot out and clamped around Nicholas’s throat.

“How dare you?”

He had spared his brother again and again, never imagining Nicholas would sink this low.

Fire spread through Nicholas’s neck as his airway tightened.

He choked out hoarsely, “Wh—why wouldn’t I dare?”

Mockery gleamed in his eyes as he stared at Nathaniel.

“Nathaniel… you’re the one who made me lose the woman I loved.”

Nathaniel’s fingers tightened further. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to strangle him.

Nicholas’s vision blurred as air refused to reach his lungs.

“Boss,” the bodyguard called out urgently.

Nathaniel jerked back to himself. He released Nicholas and flung him aside.

Nicholas slammed onto the floor again, lying spread-eagle, too weak to get up.

“Why not finish me?” he laughed hoarsely. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Nathaniel said nothing.

Nicholas tilted his head toward him.

“Brother… I’ve always envied you. From the moment we were born, everything good belonged to you.”

A twisted smile crept across his face.

“But now it’s different. I’ve finally taken what you treasure most.”

Nathaniel’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“I’ll make you wish you were dead,” he said coldly over his shoulder before walking away.

Nicholas gulped in great lungfuls of air, watching Nathaniel’s figure disappear down the hallway as the light faded with him.

The door slammed shut and locked from the outside, plunging the room into absolute darkness.

Outside, Nathaniel stared down at his hand. Nicholas’s blood still smeared his skin.

His narrowed eyes were clouded with confusion.

Why would his own brother do this to him?

He slid into the car. The driver glanced back.

“Boss, where to?”

“Just drive.”

Nathaniel had nowhere he wanted to go. A violent storm churned inside his chest.

Sensing the mood, the driver said nothing and guided the sedan through the city in slow, silent loops.