Chapter 455\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael Vale\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a single flicker of emotion. Not even disgust. Just\u2026 nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
76\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at Riley like a desperate man clinging to a cliff\u2019s edge, hoping for a hand that would never reach back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, those eyes were filled with light whenever they looked at me-pure, unguarded, full of the kind of admiration a little sister had for her big brother. She used to run to the door when I came home, barefoot on cold floors, always smiling, always eager.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKael, you\u2019re home! You must be tired. Sit down, let me rub your shoulders!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those memories used to warm me. Now, they burned like acid in\u00a0<\/p>\n
my\u00a0<\/p>\n
throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell had I done?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I struggled beneath the boot pressing against my back, trying to push up, trying to lift my head to meet her gaze, but Duke-the bastard assistant-held me firm like I was nothing more than a rogue caught stealing from a pack\u2019s food store.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up from the dirt like a dog begging for scraps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley,\u201d I choked, throat dry, pride bleeding out of me by the second. \u201cI\u2019m your brother. You\u2019re really going to stand there and watch an outsider treat me like this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t even look at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stood there, spine straight despite her thin figure, calm and detached like a Luna handing down judgment to a disobedient warrior. There was no softness in her anymore. No trace of the girl who once cried when I scraped my knee, or clung to my arm during thunderstorms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This Riley? She was cold steel forged in fire, A she-wolf sharpened by betrayal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time, I realized she wasn\u2019t pretending.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had truly, completely, shut me out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened with something I couldn\u2019t name-rage, maybe, or grief-but it curdled inside me, bitter and sharp. I couldn\u2019t let it end like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:17 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 455\u00a0<\/p>\n
76\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cForget our parents for a second,\u201d I snapped, my voice breaking with fury. \u201cYou let them shave Scarlett\u2019s head like some damn prisoner, you know how much she values her appearance! And you still have the nerve to stand there like you\u2019ve done nothing wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I emphasized the words-\u201clike always\u201d-because I needed to believe she hadn\u2019t changed. That the version of her I remembered was still somewhere inside. That if I pushed hard enough, maybe she\u2019d crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think I did it?\u201d she said quietly. \u201cThen fine. Let it be so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
No anger. No defense. Just quiet dismissal. It landed harder than a slap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I clenched my fists, the need to scream building in my chest. \u201cYou won\u2019t even deny it?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She just looked at me. Like I was a stranger shouting in the streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think this is over? I\u2019m going to get Scarlett out of that hellhole. She didn\u2019t want your stupid embroidery. You ruined it yourself and blamed her because you\u2019re still the same vindictive little-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough,\u201d she cut in. Not with words, but with movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned to the man beside her. Lucien Duskgrave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tugged lightly on his sleeve. \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk to him anymore. Let\u2019s go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien looked down at her, and damn it all, the expression on his face made my skin crawl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wolves like him weren\u2019t capable of gentleness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet, he looked at Riley like she was something sacred. Untouchable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet in the car,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She obeyed, moving like mist-graceful, quiet, gone,\u00a0<\/p>\n
A driver-one of Lucien\u2019s people, no doubt-stepped forward and carefully shielded her as she entered the vehicle, even adjusting her gown so it wouldn\u2019t snag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I lost it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRILEY!\u201d I roared, struggling against Duke\u2019s hold. \u201cGET OUT HERE! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE?! YOU THINK YOU CAN LET SCARLETT ROT IN JAIL WHILE YOU RIDE OFF WITH A MURDERER?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:17 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 455\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien turned then. Slowly. Like a predator bored of playing with its prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stepped toward me, towering like a stormcloud with eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He grabbed my jaw in one hand-his grip was cold, strong, inescapable. I had no choice but to meet his gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes were black. Not from color, but from weight. Depth. A bottomless cold that I felt in my bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou care about Scarlett?\u201d he asked, voice soft but slicing. \u201cYou love her, little Vale?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I recoiled, blinking rapidly, heart thundering in my ears. \u201cWhat-What are you talking about?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not kindly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDisgusting,\u201d he murmured. \u201cAbsolutely disgusting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know if he was mocking me\u2026 or if he saw something I\u2019d been too afraid to admit, even to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How absurd. How utterly insane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like Scarlett? She was my sister. My little sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not by blood, no-but what did that matter? I grew up with her, protected her, watched her cry, laugh, grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I treated her like family. Like my own blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was that a sin now? Was caring for her suddenly something dirty and shameful?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien let go, and I stumbled back, fists clenched, heart pounding with fury. My knees hit the cold ground, but I didn\u2019t feel the pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All I could feel was the burn of humiliation eating me alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pack shadows moved around me, brushing past like I didn\u2019t exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up one last time, just in time to see Riley\u2019s silhouette vanish behind tinted glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The girl who once looked at me like I hung the stars\u2026 now looked at me like a bug she stepped\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:17 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 455\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
over on her way to the moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was left behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the dirt. In the cold. In the dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 455 Chapter 455\u00a0 Kael Vale\u2019s POV\u00a0 Her eyes didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0 Not a single flicker of […]<\/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-20730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20730","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=20730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20730\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}