Nights Burn With Regret — by Nathan Perez 174
Chapter 174
Violet
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I picked up a strawberry from the fruit tray on the table, the red glossy surface cool against my fingers, and held it out in front of Sebastian’s mouth.
“Here,” I said softly, tilting my head toward him. “Try it, Sebastian.”
He glanced at me, then his eyes shifted past my shoulder, toward the other side of the room. I felt the weight of dozens of stares pressing into our backs, people pretending not to look while very obviously looking, and judging us.
Sebastian swallowed, his fingers tightening slightly on the armrest of his wheelchair before he shook his head. “Violet, I’m not hungry. You don’t have to feed me. It’s fine.”
I ignored him completely and nudged the strawberry closer, brushing it lightly against his lips. “But you like strawberries,” I said, my voice calm but firm, the same tone I’d always used when he tried to pretend he didn’t want something he clearly did. “Come on. Just try it.”
He looked back at me, meeting my gaze. There was that familiar hesitation in his eyes, the one that always appeared when he didn’t want to make a scene or draw attention. After a second, he sighed quietly and opened his mouth, biting into the strawberry. He chewed slowly, his cheeks puffing slightly, looking absurdly cute, like a rabbit being forced to eat something it secretly enjoyed.
I smiled to myself and immediately picked up another strawberry, holding it out without giving him time to protest. He groaned under his breath but still leaned forward and took a bite, chewing again, his ears turning red. I could feel the tension around us, the whispers starting to form, but I didn’t care.
I was about to feed him another piece when Sebastian gently caught my wrist, stopping my hand mid-air. He finished chewing, swallowed, then looked up at me with a mix of embarrassment and concern.
“Violet, are you sure you want to do this here? Everyone is staring at us. They’re looking at us like we’re crazy. I don’t want them to talk badly about you.”
I looked at him for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. “Why would I care what people think of me?” I replied indifferently. “If they want to talk badly, that’s their problem. It’s their mouths they’re using, not mine. Thinking about them is just a waste of time.”
Before he could say anything else, I slipped the strawberry into his mouth anyway. “Here,” I added, as if that settled the matter.
Sebastian stared at me for a second, something close to admiration flashing in his eyes, before he bit down and ate it. I smiled wider, a warm, familiar feeling spreading through my chest. I had always liked spoiling him.
After our parents, and our brother died, Sebastian never really got to live like a normal teenager. He missed out on so many ordinary things, things boys his age took for granted.
Yesterday, I dragged him shopping and bought him everything he even glanced at, using the black card Hades gave me without a second thought. And now, here I was, feeding him his favorite fruit in a room full of
15:57 Wed, Jan 21
Chapter 174
people who didn’t matter.
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I didn’t care what anyone thought. I would spoil my brother as much as I wanted, for as long as I wanted. Strawberries had always been his favorite. When he was little, he used to run around the house, tugging on my sleeve, demanding I feed him. Watching him eat now, cheeks red, eyes soft, I felt that same certainty.
As long as I was here, Sebastian would never lack anything again.
For a brief moment, the noise of the venue faded into the background, and it felt like it was just the two of us again, like the world hadn’t ruined anything yet. When he swallowed, I picked up another strawberry, lifting it toward him without thinking, already ready to spoil him a little more.
“Violet.”
The sound of my name made my hand pause mid-air, the strawberry hovering inches away from Sebastian’s mouth. My fingers tightened around it slightly.
Sebastian blinked, then followed the direction of my frozen gaze and looked behind me. The moment he saw who it was, his entire body stiffened. The color drained from his face so fast it hurt to see, and his fingers clenched against the armrest of his wheelchair as if he was bracing himself.
Sebastian had always been afraid of them. Afraid wasn’t even the right word. They had made him feel small, powerless, like an animal trapped in a cage with no way to escape, poked and provoked until breathing itself felt like a mistake.
I didn’t turn around immediately. Instead, I calmly dropped the strawberry into the trash beside the table, as if it no longer mattered. I stood up slowly, my posture straightening. I reached for the wipes on the table, wiped my hands carefully, then tossed them into the trash as well. Only then did I turn around and face them.
As expected, they were all standing there. Riley, Nora, and my uncle and aunt were frozen in place, staring at me and Sebastian as if they were looking at ghosts. Their shock was almost amusing. Their eyes flickered between my face, my dress, Sebastian’s wheelchair, as though their minds couldn’t process what they were seeing.
Nora was the first to recover, though barely. She lifted a trembling hand and pointed at me, her voice shaking with disbelief and fury all at once.
“You-you… what are you doing here?” she demanded. “How did you get inside? How could someone like you be here?! What is the meaning of this?”
I tilted my head slightly, genuinely amused by how stupid the question was.
Someone like me? She had no idea how ironic that sounded. After all, I was the reason they had been invited in the first place.
I didn’t answer her. I didn’t even look at her. To me, Nora wasn’t worth the effort of a response. She was nothing more than background noise.
The dismissal was obvious, and she felt it. I could see it in the way her face flushed red with anger, her lips pressing together as her pride took the hit. I shifted my gaze past her and looked at my uncle and aunt instead. They were still staring at me, stunned, as if the version of me standing before them didn’t match the
15:57 Wed, Jan 21
Chapter 174
one they thought they knew. Then my eyes moved to Riley.
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Riley instinctively took a step back when our eyes met, her shoulders stiffening, fear flashing across her face before she could hide it.
Sebastian’s fingers tightened around mine, and his voice came out small, shaky. “Violet…”
My lips curved as I looked at them, standing so proudly in a place they believed they belonged. I squeezed Sebastian’s hand gently and spoke without taking my eyes off them.
“Don’t worry, Sebastian,” I said calmly. “This time, I’ll make sure they’re the ones trapped in a cage with no way out.”
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