Chapter 4: After the Fall

And that night, he slept with Lila.

The words echoed in my mind, cold and final. I clutched the blanket tighter, trying not to cry.

Afterward, Lila messaged Nathaniel.

[Nate, let’s just call last night a beautiful mistake. I don’t want to ruin your family, and I don’t expect you to love me. Just being able to give myself to you was enough.]

She sounded resigned, almost noble. I wondered if she really meant it.

Nathaniel sent three question marks in a row.

[Give yourself? What do you mean?]

He was confused, or maybe just in denial.

Lila hesitated for two minutes before replying:

The pause was heavy, the kind that makes you hold your breath.

[Everyone says my ex-husband is rich, that I married for money, but no one knows he was actually injured and couldn’t… That’s why I married him.]

Her secret spilled out, raw and painful. I felt a pang of sympathy, despite everything.

[I’m sorry, I lied to you. The blood on the sheets last night wasn’t my period. It was my first time.]

A confession that changed everything. I wondered if Nathaniel felt guilty, or just flattered.

[I never slept with my ex-husband.]

She wanted him to know he was the only one. I wondered if it mattered to him.

[Nate, since high school, you’ve always been the one I loved. Now that I’ve finally given myself to you, I have no regrets.]

She was closing the door, or maybe just hoping he’d walk through it.

[Don’t worry, I won’t be a burden to you. If there’s another life, I definitely won’t miss my chance with you again…]

Her words felt like a goodbye, but also a plea.

After sending this, Nathaniel called her on FaceTime like crazy.

Fifteen times.

His desperation showed. I pictured him pacing, running his hands through his hair, cursing himself.

No answer.

Each call went to voicemail. The silence was deafening.

Nathaniel panicked.

He sent message after message, his words growing more frantic.

He kept sending her voice messages, his breathing shaky.

[Lila, I’m driving to your place right now. Don’t you dare do anything stupid! Do you hear me?!]

His voice cracked, fear lacing every word.

[I admit, at first I slept with you to get back at you for rejecting me. You humiliated me in front of everyone. But those were excuses. All these years, you’ve always been in my heart—do you hear me, Lila!]

He was unraveling, all his old wounds bleeding out.

[The rain soaked us that night, but it wasn’t you throwing yourself at me that got to me. I couldn’t help it.]

He sounded lost, like a man drowning in his own choices.

[Lila, can we start over? I’m begging you, don’t make me lose you a second time, okay!]

He was pleading, desperate for a second chance.

Lila never replied.

Because she’d slit her wrists.

The words hit me like a punch. I pressed my hand to my mouth, fighting back bile.

The ambulance came fast.

The flashing lights, the sirens—I could picture it all. My hospital, my world, closing in on me.