Chapter 315\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car ride was silent, but the silence wasn\u2019t empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
M\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was loud with everything Kael wasn\u2019t saying. Everything he refused to acknowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat in the back seat, the worn denim of my prison jeans rough against my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My gaze drifted over the interior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fuzzy pink seat cover on the passenger side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Strawberry bear plushies lined up perfectly on the dashboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
A woman\u2019s photo swinging from the rearview mirror-she was older now, softer, her smile bright and confident. Coddled. Protected. Untouched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked like she belonged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like this car, this world, had been molded around her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And somehow, she still made it look like I was the outsider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my face away from the mirror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But my eyes caught on the shopping bag next to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A feathered white gown peeked through the open top, so pristine it didn\u2019t even look real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t belong to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need to ask.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything in this car screamed that I didn\u2019t belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fingers curled, self-conscious. The calloused pads of my prison hands brushed over the cheap fabric of my jeans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett got couture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I got correctional uniforms and a criminal record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:59 Thu, Dec 25 M\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 315\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside, the trees blurred past, and Kael finally decided to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMom and Dad\u2026 they really missed you these past five years. They cried every day. The stress turned their hair gray,\u201d he said, like it meant something. Like it fixed anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we get home, don\u2019t start with your old attitude. I don\u2019t want to see any rivalry with Scarlett. Don\u2019t make things difficult. If you behave, the Ebonclaw Pack won\u2019t treat you unfairly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. He checked the rearview mirror, eyes flicking back\u00a0<\/p>\n
to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley. I\u2019m talking to you. Did you hear what I said?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up. Calm. Cold. Tired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then I spoke-more words than I\u2019d said since leaving prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn accordance with Article 48 of the Werewolf Corrections Code, inmates are entitled to visitation once per month by close family members.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce per month. For five years. That\u2019s sixty possible visits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t get one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I met his eyes in the mirror. My voice didn\u2019t rise. It didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot once did you or our parents come to see me. Not for thirty minutes. Not for three minutes. Not even a letter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He faltered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time, he didn\u2019t have a ready excuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hands clenched on the steering wheel, the bones of his knuckles glowing pale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, weakly-\u201cYou were too difficult. They thought if they didn\u2019t visit, you\u2019d learn your lesson. They wanted you to reflect. They did it for your own good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For my own good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like it was \u201cfor my good\u201d when they let Scarlett frame me for luring Tessa into that Rogue-\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:59 Thu, Dec 25 M\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 315\u00a0<\/p>\n
infested forest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
:..\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like it was \u201cfor my good\u201d when I was sentenced while my own mate stood silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like it was \u201cfor my good\u201d when they fed me to the wolves and called it justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer. I just turned back to the window and let the scenery wash past me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, the car pulled into the Ebonclaw Pack estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael hopped out first, grabbing the dress bag from the back seat like it was a sacred relic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He walked off briskly, forgetting I even existed-until, halfway to the door, he froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As if just remembering he had a sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned back, awkwardly clearing his throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo change. You\u2019re expected in the banquet hall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then he disappeared through the marble front doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
The house loomed before me like a mausoleum. Familiar in outline, but dead in every corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years hadn\u2019t made this place feel any more like home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If anything, it was colder than I remembered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped through the front doors and made my way down the same hall I\u2019d once scrubbed on my hands and knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To my room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you could even call it that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No windows. No warmth. No sunlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a folding cot, an old desk, and boxes stacked to the ceiling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the storage room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They let Scarlett pick her own wallpaper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I got mold and shadows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed the door behind me, breath catching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:59 Thu, Dec 25 \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 315\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael told me to change into something proper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a dry laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Proper?\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only clothes I owned were the ones on my back-cheap, shapeless, faded from too many washes in cold prison water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The T-shirt and jeans I\u2019d bought five years ago with the money I made bagging groceries on winter breaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered the way I beamed as I modeled them for Kael.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d scowled like I\u2019d insulted him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you wearing? Can\u2019t you dress like Scarlett? Throw that away. You look like a joke.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, I\u2019d swallowed my hurt. I\u2019d tried again and again. Hoping. Reaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But not anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t the same girl who begged for scraps of affection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not the same sister who clung to a family that never wanted her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
730\u00a0<\/p>\n
(1)\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 315 Chapter 315\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 The car ride was silent, but the silence wasn\u2019t empty.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}