Jules let out a small laugh and raised her phone, waving it lightly in front of him.
"I was on a call the entire ti. With Lucas."
The call screen was still open.
Nick’s gaze fell on the na displayed there, and in that instant, he understood.
He had never stood a chance.
His knees felt weak.
He collapsed back into his chair, staring blankly ahead.
"Did I really go that far?" he muttered hoarsely. "Why won’t you co back to ... even after seeing beg?"
Jules laughed again, but this ti it sounded like she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
"You are the most pathetic person I’ve ever t," she said.
Nick clenched his fists, his voice trembling.
"I tried to fix things... and now you’re overdoing it."
Jules rolled her eyes.
"When you mistreated , did you ever think there would co a day when you’d regret it?" she shot back.
"You even had the arrogance to punish . Who were you to punish ?"
Her voice began to shake, not with weakness, but with buried rage finally surfacing.
"Why didn’t you believe ?" she demanded.
"Between Laurie and , I was your wife. Shouldn’t you have trusted ? Why did you side with her? Did you really think I would harm her?"
Nick had no answer.
Jules’s lips curled bitterly.
"It was as if you enjoyed torturing ," she continued. "You were so certain you had the right to do whatever you wanted."
Nick felt each word like a hamr striking his chest.
Jules took a slow breath and delivered her final sentence.
"If there is another lifeti," she said quietly, "I hope I never et soone like you again."
Then she left.
The door closed behind her with a soft click that sounded far louder than it should have.
Nick remained sitting there for a long ti, feeling as if all the strength had been drained out of his body.
After what felt like hours, he reached for a bottle of alcohol and began to drink.
He did not care anymore.
He had already decided to declare bankruptcy, to walk away with whatever scraps remained, leaving debts and consequences behind.
Paying for drinks was the least of his concerns.
The alcohol burned down his throat, but he welcod the pain.
Later, unsteady and half-conscious, he staggered toward the hotel parking lot.
He wanted to get into his car.
But his car was not there.
Only then did he rember, he had taken a cab to avoid the paparazzi who had been hounding him relentlessly.
With no other option, he walked toward the taxi stand.
The night air was cold, carrying the sll of rain and asphalt. Headlights blurred into streaks as his vision swayed.
He stepped onto the main road, raising his hand weakly to signal a taxi.
He did not see the truck.
It ca rushing toward him.
There was a deafening sound.
Then...darkness.
.......................
Fragnts.
He only rembered fragnts.
A sky. Strangely pale.
A face he could not quite recognize.
Then everything disappeared again.
............................
When Nick opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a ceiling.
It was unfamiliar.
The air slled faintly of incense and fresh flowers.
Confused, he sat up slowly, his thoughts moving sluggishly as if buried under thick fog.
He looked around.
The room was decorated lavishly. Red silk. Golden ornants.
Wedding candles still flickering.
His heart skipped. This was...
His wedding room.
Nick turned, and there she was.
Jules sat on the bed, dressed in bridal attire, her posture stiff, nervous, and uncertain.
His heart began to pound violently.
He wanted to walk toward her.
But before he could move, he saw...
Another version of himself.
That version strode forward, tore off her veil roughly, and treated her with cruel impatience.
Nick watched in horror.
He saw himself lose control.
He saw himself "punishing" her.
He saw the fear in her eyes.
"I didn’t... I didn’t do this..." Nick whispered, but the scene continued rcilessly.
The next day followed.
And the next.
He watched himself starve her, humiliate her, force her to clean endlessly, drag lewd businessn into the house to insult her dignity, destroy her reputation, make her quit her job, and spread rumors until she was blacklisted.
It was systematic. Cruel. Personal. Nick felt sick.
’Was I... really this monstrous?’
Then he saw sothing worse.
Jules, who should have walked away long ago, who should have loved soone else... didn’t choose any of those options.
She decided to walk away.
This ti... forever.
She committed suicide.
Nick watched himself learn of her death.
Watched himself slowly grow numb.
Watched Maya enter his life.
Watched himself mistake Maya for Jules, treating her like a replacent.
He saw himself try to rebuild happiness.
Then everything shattered again.
Maya cheated on him.
The child he believed was his... was not.
He watched himself collapse completely under betrayal.
And finally...
Another car accident. Another death.
The vision ended abruptly.
Silence swallowed everything.
Nick stood alone in that void of mories, trembling.
It felt less like a dream...
And more like judgnt.
Like karma had forced him to witness every sin he had ever committed.
The more Nick thought about everything he had seen, the more a strange calm began to settle inside him.
Maybe... it was better this way.
Maybe it was better for Jules to walk away with soone else.
In the life where she had ended up alone, he had destroyed her completely, leaving her with no path except a tragic end.
But now, in this version, she was safe. She had soone beside her. She had a future.
’Then why am I still clinging to her?’ he wondered. ’Why am I still trying to drag her back into my darkness?’
His mind, which had been clouded for so long, suddenly felt clearer.
"I won’t haunt her anymore," he murmured weakly.
The mont those words left his lips, Jules appeared before him.
Nick looked up, startled, and instinctively reached out, grabbing her hands.
"I’m sorry," he said hurriedly. "I won’t keep chasing you. I won’t disturb your life again."
Jules nodded gently, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"Thank you," she replied softly.
For a mont, they stood there quietly.
Nick swallowed. "You don’t have to forgive ."
Jules shook her head.
"I don’t want forgiveness," she said.
Nick looked confused.
Then she added, "But I love you."
He froze.
She stepped back slightly, still smiling, without any trace of the coldness she once showed him.
"I love you," she repeated. "Enough to forget everything... even Lucas."
Nick’s face slowly broke into a fragile smile.
"That’s good," he whispered. "That’s... good."
He began murmuring to himself again, his voice trailing off into incoherent whispers.
..............................
Outside the room, Jerry stood silently.
Through the small glass panel on the door, he had seen everything.
And it felt as though his heart were being crushed.
It had been five months since Nick’s car accident.
Five months since his brother had completely lost his sanity.
Every single day, Nick would sit there, apologizing to soone who did not exist.
He would beg this imaginary Jules not to leave him. Sotis he would plead desperately...
"Say you love ... please say you love ..."
And when the illusion answered, Nick would grin like a child.
Their company had long gone bankrupt.
Nick had nothing left.
Jerry was not faring any better. His own business had collapsed as well, dragged down by the aftermath.
Yet he had no choice but to shoulder everything.
He brought Nick to the psychiatric facility himself and visited every weekend, watching his brother sink deeper into delusion.
Many tis, he thought of begging Jules to co see him.
But each ti, guilt stopped him.
’When she suffered, I never helped her,’ Jerry thought bitterly. ’What right do I have now?’
Unable to endure the sight any longer, he turned to leave quietly, deciding not to enter the room that day.
As he walked down the corridor, he suddenly noticed a man rushing toward him.
Sothing felt wrong.
A chill ran down Jerry’s spine.
Before he could react, the man lunged forward and drove a blade into his abdon.
Pain exploded through his body.
Jerry staggered, his breath leaving him in a broken gasp.
As darkness began closing in, one thought echoed in his fading consciousness.
’If we hadn’t done so many terrible things... maybe this wouldn’t be our end.’
........................
Elsewhere, Maya was not faring any better.
She sat inside a prison cell, her patience completely gone, repeatedly shouting for the guard.
"I want to et Jules! Let see her!"
The jailer ignored her.
Grinding her teeth, Maya suddenly clutched her stomach and collapsed onto the floor, pretending to suffer a dical ergency just to force them to allow a call.
Her plan worked.
Jules eventually agreed to et her.
The very next day, Jules arrived at the visitation room.
The mont Maya saw her, she imdiately began complaining.
"You need to find a way to get out of here," Maya demanded bitterly.
Jules looked at her calmly, then let out a small chuckle.
User Comments
0 comments from readers