\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bainbridge fixed me with a fierce, unyielding stare. \u201cEvelynn is my sister, Angelique. That is all she will ever be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPull yourself together. Stop this senseless jealousy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned on his heel and strode out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the door, he paused abruptly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without looking back, his voice came low and heavy. \u201cI\u2019ll make this up to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve always wanted Aelfric and your parents to know about us, right? Next month, I\u2019ll go b Purchase completed beet them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My lips twitched in a bitter, ironic smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the past, every time I\u2019d brought up telling Aelfric about our relationship, he\u2019d brushed it off with one excuse after another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, with Evelynn back in the picture, he was volunteering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but wonder if he was terrified of losing control around her-and desperately needed our relationship as a lifeline to force himself to let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But why should I keep being their convenient shield?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shot a quick message to Aelfric.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming home tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
18.52\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter S\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the way home, Bainbridge sat silently in the back of the Maybach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His assistant, Rayan Torres, rehearsed his words over and over in his head before finally speaking. \u201cMr. Wilde, if you keep favoring Ms. Evelynn and hurting Ms. Ortiz\u2026 you\u2019re going to break her heart beyond repair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bainbridge\u2019s aura grew darker, but he said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rayan gathered his courage and continued, \u201cMs. Ortiz has been nothing but good to you. Back in school, she was the undisputed campus beauty. From her first day, people were lining up to pursue her -but she only ever had eyes for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe used to be so vibrant, so full of fire. Now, for you, she\u2019s changed everything. You didn\u2019t like her form-fitting clothes or her short skirts, so she traded them all for conservative dresses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen your health started failing because of work, she searched everywhere for remedies, bought ingredients herself, and learned how to make nourishing soups just for you. Do you know the first few times she cooked, she burned her hands so badly they blistered?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when you drank yourself into a gastric hemorrhage during a deal, she cried all night by your bed-then greeted you the next morning with a bright smile, as nothing had happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rayan couldn\u2019t go on. Even he ached for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had been her classmate; he remembered the wildfire of a girl she used to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watching her suppress her soul just to please a man who put her second to a \u201csister\u201d felt like watching a tragedy in slow motion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:52\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 VOLchers:\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt unbearably unfair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bainbridge stared out the window, cutting him off coldly. \u201cYou talk too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Rayan couldn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He thought about his own sad story and pressed on anyway. \u201cSir, there\u2019s only so much disappointment a heart can take. Once disappointment turns to indifference, there\u2019s no coming back.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something clenched hard in Bainbridge\u2019s chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, he remembered waking up in the hospital after the ulcer. He could still see her puffy red eyes and that brave, beaming smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The memories flooded in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first time she brought him soup, he\u2019d caught a glimpse of the blisters on her hands:\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d taken one sip and told her gruffly, \u201cDon\u2019t bother making it again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d said that because he hadn\u2019t wanted her hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, her eyes had flickered with hurt, but she\u2019d laughed it off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess you\u2019re not a chicken-soup guy. Next time I\u2019ll try clam chowder.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, unbidden, yesterday\u2019s image slammed into him. He remembered seeing Angelique in the warehouse, battered and tear-streaked, staring pleadingly into the camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sudden weight crushed his chest; he could barely breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTurn around,\u201d he ordered. \u201cBack to the hospital.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
60.97%\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:52\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rayan\u2019s face lit up with surprise and relief as he whipped the car around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment the car pulled up to the hospital entrance, Bainbridge\u2019s phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Evelynn\u2019s voice spilled through, soft and whiny. \u201cBain, I slipped in the bathroom\u2026 it hurts so much; come home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bainbridge\u2019s grip tightened around the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked up and found the light in Angelique\u2019s hospital room was still\u00a0<\/p>\n
90.08%\u00a0<\/p>\n
214\u00a0<\/p>\n
1#\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:52\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter b\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Royal Furline Betrayed BY Mark Twain 5 \u00a0 Chapter 5\u00a0 Bainbridge fixed me with a fierce, unyielding stare. \u201cEvelynn is […]<\/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":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-let-the-game-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22957","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=22957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}