Nights Burn With Regret — by Nathan Perez 141
Chapter 141
Chapter 141
Riley
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I sat on the edge of the couch, my fingers digging into the cushion as I lifted my head to look at Nora pacing the living
room.
Her footsteps were loud, echoing against the marble floor. Her hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white, veins standing out along her wrists, and her face was flushed red with rage.
When her eyes flicked to me, they burned.
The look alone made my stomach twist. I dropped my gaze immediately, finding the pattern in the rug far more interesting than facing that fury. I didn’t want to meet her eyes.
Suddenly she stopped.
“Ah!” Nora screamed, the sound sharp, and before I could react she grabbed the expensive vase on the side table and hurled it to the floor. The crash was deafening. Porcelain shattered everywhere, pieces skidding across the marble as she stood there breathing hard, chest rising and falling like she’d just run miles.
“That fucking bitch!” she screamed, voice echoing through the house.
I didn’t move. I just watched her.
A while ago, right after what happened in the cafeteria, I brought her straight here. She’d stripped off the ruined dress the moment we walked in, thrown it into the trash like it was contaminated, and disappeared into the bathroom. But even after she washed up, and after she changed, she was still furious.
She’d been pacing for minutes now.
And honestly, I didn’t know what to say.
What could I say?
If that had happened to me, if I’d been humiliated like that, if no one had taken my side even when I was right, I would’ve lost my mind too. I would’ve done worse. So I let her break things. I let her scream. I let her vent, because maybe if she shattered enough objects, she would finally calm down.
Though deep down, I doubted it.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, and finally forced myself to speak. “N-Nora, calm down-”
She spun around so fast it made me flinch. Her finger lifted, pointing straight at me. “Don’t you dare, Riley.”
I stopped.
My mouth closed instantly. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t let anyone talk to me like that, not even Nora. But right now, her anger was justified, and I had no words that wouldn’t make things worse.
She grabbed her hair in her fists, shaking her head violently as she shouted, “How dare that bitch! How dare that stupid, ugly bitch mess with me. Who does she think she is? Who the fuck does she think she is!”
Her voice climbed higher with every word. She shoved her fingers into them, pressing hard, like she was overwhelmed by her own screaming.
“You’re loud, Nora,” I muttered without thinking.
21:00 Fri, Jan 9 MJ.
Chapter 141
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Her head snapped toward me again. “I’m loud?” she snapped “I’m loud? Me? You’re telling me I’m loud? Riley, are you serious right now? Tell me, Riley, would you be quiet if that happened to you? If she humiliated you? If everyone pretended not to see? If everyone took her side? Would you be calm?”
She took a step closer, her eyes wild now, lips trembling with fury. “How could you do that to me?” she demanded. “I thought we had each other’s backs. We’re supposed to make that bitch’s life a living hell, not the other way around!”
“I-”
“How could you take her side,” Nora continued, voice cracking with something dangerous, “and just watch me suffer?”
I sat still, my arms hanging by my sides, my mind completely blank. I had no idea what was happening anymore, no idea how things could change so quickly. Nora and I had never fought before. We were always on the same side. And now we were arguing because of Violet. Because of the girl we had always bullied, the girl who was supposed to stay beneath us, the girl who was never meant to fight back. I didn’t understand when everything had flipped upside down, or how I was supposed to fix this.
The house suddenly felt too quiet, until the front door opened.
I flinched slightly as my mother’s cheerful voice drifted in from her phone conversation. But when she finally looked at the scene, she gasped loudly.
“Oh my God!”
She rushed forward, heels clicking sharply as she stopped in front of the mess, staring at the broken porcelain. “Girls, what is the meaning of this? Do you have any idea how expensive this vase is?” Her voice rose instantly. “That vase is worth thousands of dollars. Why would you break it!”
My mother pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, clearly trying to calm herself before turning back to us. “Can someone please explain what is going on? Did you two have a fight or something?”
Nora scoffed immediately, the sound mocking. “A fight?” she said coldly. “Why don’t you ask your daughter what happened? Because I don’t understand what’s going on either.”
My mother turned to me.
“Riley,” she said firmly. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing,”
She didn’t believe me for a second.
“That’s not true. These days you’ve been behaving strangely, and now you’re fighting with your best friend. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you two argue like this. What is wrong?” She paused, studying my face carefully. Then her expression shifted. “Wait… don’t tell me this is about that girl. Violet. What did she do again? Is that why you’re fighting?”
Nora nodded instantly, seizing the moment. “Yes! Can you believe what happened? That girl is completely out of her mind. I don’t know where she suddenly got the confidence from, but she walked up to me and poured a whole bowl of spicy soup on my head.”
She rubbed at her eyes angrily, as if the sting was still there. “It’s still burning,” she complained, voice shaking with rage. “And it’s not even just that. Nobody said anything. Nobody defended me, not even Riley. She was even blaming me, when it was that bitch’s fault for pouring soup on me.”
My mother let out a tired sigh. “Riley, what is wrong with you? Why do you keep behaving this way? You’re acting differently lately. You’re even saying nonsense, claiming Violet has some powerful backer and that she’s going to come after us for revenge.” She scoffed. “Just because she brought a famous lawyer doesn’t mean she can ruin us. You’re overthinking
21:00 Fri, Jan 9
Chapter 141
this.”
Nora’s head snapped toward her. “What do you mean, what lawyer?”
For the first time since she arrived, Nora looked genuinely interested, her anger temporarily pushed aside.
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“It’s a long story, something happened a few days ago.” My mother walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs. “That stupid girl showed up with a very powerful lawyer and made a few rich women kneel for her. She caused quite a scene.”
Nora froze, her eyes widening slightly. “Really?”
She turned to me slowly, searching my face. I swallowed and nodded. “Yes. That’s why I don’t want to mess with her. It’s obvious someone’s got her back now. We should just be careful.”
She expected me to be scared. But instead of fear, Nora laughed, and it wasn’t soft. My stomach twisted instantly. I knew that laugh. That laugh meant she had already decided something cruel.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Nora, think before you do anything.”
She ignored the warning completely, her lips curling into a smug smile. “Oh, so she has a backer. No wonder she’s been acting so confident lately.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Her backer is probably some old man with a big belly. Who else would want a girl like that? The bastard might even have a wife and kids, and Violet is just a mistress.”
She turned toward me, eyes gleaming with certainty. “Relax, Riley. You don’t need to be scared. If she’s smug because of her backer, then all we have to do is let everyone know why she’s smug.”
“What do
you
mean?”
Nora sat down beside me, her body leaning close as if we were sharing a secret. Her voice dropped, sweet and poisonous at the same time. “I’ll destroy her reputation,” she said casually. “I’ll make sure she goes through everything she put us through. I’ll drag her name through the mud so badly that even that backer of hers will be ashamed to claim her in front of everyone.”
“He’ll abandon her. And then she’ll be back to being nothing. We’ll teach her a proper lesson. Even Matthew will see what kind of person she really is.” She looked between my mother and me confidently. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Violet goes back to the way she was. She’ll come crawling back, asking for help. All you have to do is exactly what I say.”
My mother smiled, satisfied. “Good, I’ve been waiting to teach her a lesson too.”
Nora nodded, clearly pleased with herself.
I didn’t smile. Instead of relief, a cold feeling crept up my spine. Something deep inside me screamed that this was wrong. That the more we planned against Violet, the deeper we were digging our own graves.
And somehow, I knew we wouldn’t be the ones walking away untouched this time.
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