The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 497

A single lamp cast a dim glow across the sparsely furnished bedroom where Nanette lay in bed.

She had woken up earlier that morning, merely glanced at the clock, and drifted back to sleep.

Hours must have passed before the faint jingle of keys turning in the front door roused her.

Jolting awake from her drowsy haze, she bolted upright. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she held her breath, straining to listen to the rustling outside.

The heavy door clicked open, followed immediately by the sharp clatter of keys being tossed onto the entryway console.

A low, rattling cough echoed through the hall.

It was a sound she knew all too well.

Pressing a hand over her racing heart, Nanette exhaled a long sigh of relief. She slipped into her shoes and started toward the hallway, but before she could reach the threshold, the bedroom door was shoved open.

The man standing in the frame, his temples dusted with gray, froze at the sight of her. The shock was fleeting, instantly replaced by a dark, predatory scowl.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Nanette stared at the features she had grown so accustomed to, yet another face stubbornly flashed through her mind.

His appearance had changed, but the biting tone in his voice was exactly the same as it had been years ago.

He had always been this cold. If she hadn't discovered his secret, he probably wouldn't have bothered to speak a single word to her. It was the exact reason he rarely returned to this place ever since she first showed up.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as a bitter chuckle slipped past her lips.

She wasn't wearing her own clothes, but rather one of his oversized, tailored dress shirts.

Even in her fifties, she maintained a stunning figure. A former dancer, she still carried herself with effortless, alluring grace.

"This place is practically my home by now. Why wouldn't I be here?"

Before she could take another step, the man lunged forward. His hand clamped around her throat like a vice, his raspy voice vibrating with sheer rage. "Why are you hiding in my house?"

Through her darkening vision, all she could see were his ruthless, icy eyes. It was the same abhorrent glare he had leveled at her for years.

Just as she hovered on the edge of unconsciousness, certain she was about to die, he violently shoved her away.

Her legs gave out instantly. She collapsed in a heap on the floor, gasping hungrily as sweet oxygen flooded her lungs. Clutching her bruised throat, she was wracked by violent coughing fits as color slowly seeped back into her skin.

Hot, unstoppable tears streamed down her face.

He had actually been ready to murder her.

"I gave you everything, and you tried to kill me!" Nanette shrieked, looking up through a mess of tears.

Her resentful accusation fell on deaf ears. She watched as he swayed, bracing himself heavily against the wall. The veins bulged aggressively on the back of his hand. A dark trickle of blood spilled past his lips, and with a sickening, rattling cough, he hacked up a mouthful of blood.

"Gavin!" Nanette's fury vanished into sheer panic as she screamed his name.