174 Playing her games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leilani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time I arrived at my room moments later, I found Jarek and Maya already there, waiting for me with small grins on their faces\u00a0<\/p>\n
And at first, I was suspicious. I wondered why they were in such a good mood until I noticed the bouquet of white roses behind Jaek\u2019s back- one that he tried so hard to hide with his body but failed woefully due to how large it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also came with a small buttercream cake, and from how sweet it smelled, I knew instantly that it was mango flavored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My favorite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled. \u201cYou both didn\u2019t have to do all these I exclaimed happily as I took the flowers from Jarek, but just then\u2026 just as I was about to pull him into a hug, the door creaked open and Gavin peeked in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, as soon as I saw him, my good mood instantly deflated. I frowned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey!\u201d He called out to me sweetly, but at the mere sound of his voice, my blood boiled. Anger coiled tight at the base of my stomach and a sensation, akin to nausea, began to form in my guts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I knew\u2026 goddess, I knew that he\u2019s been trying pretty hard to get on my good side. I knew that he deserved another chance\u2026 but whenever I saw him\u2026 whenever I remembered how he had always \u2018punished\u2019 me in the past, I couldn\u2019t help but feel angry all over again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was the one to hit me the most. Besides father, he had dealt me with the worst kinds of emotional trauma; So why couldn\u2019t he just let me be?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why wouldn\u2019t he leave me alone now that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gavin, despite noticing the way my face had fallen, still slipped into the room, and it wasn\u2019t until then that I noticed the small box in his hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted it up, until it was above my head, and informed me; \u201cI got you some presents. And one of them is that book you\u2019ve always wanted; Mischief or Wisdom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At his words, I turned to look at him and as soon as my eyes met his, an intense sadness surged through my veins. I shook my head slowly and took a step back, unconsciously remembering how I\u2019d asked him for that book for three consecutive\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:16 0\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
174 Playing her games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
birthdays. How I\u2019d practically begged him to get me one, even though it wasn\u2019t an author signed copy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
-And how on all occasions, he\u2019d reminded me of how worthless I was to ask for gifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his words, I was just \u201ca piece of abandoned garbage who would probably make the book go to waste as I was too stupid to read it\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had gotten Chalice a pair of black Louboutins that cost way more than several copies of the book, and I could still remember his face when he turned to me after helping her into the shoes and said; \u201conly Chalice deserves to be given gifts because she isn\u2019t pompous or evil like me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A shudder ran through my body at these memories and I shook my head again, my eyes meeting Gavin\u2019s as I drawled; \u201cI can\u2019t accept it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The look of pain on his face was palpable. His face crumpled and something akin to despair flashed across his features before he schooled it into his usual carefree expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded. \u201cI understand.\u201d He answered, but the tremor in his voice spoke of a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even the way his hands trembled slightly made me understand that he was shaken by the entire thing. Well, duh\u2026 I was too!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I flashed him a small smile- one that I didn\u2019t feel- and nodded, whilst making sure that I avoided Maya\u2019s eyes as best as I could, and whispered; \u201cThank you for the book though, but I\u2019ve finally outgrown it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He chuckled. \u201cI never knew I\u2019d live to see the day you\u2019d say those words.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He then turned to leave after engaging in some very surface-level conversation with us. But just as he was about to go, a thought suddenly struck me and I called out to\u00a0<\/p>\n
him. \u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGavin?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the sound of my voice, he stopped and turned around, a smile splitting his face as he held out the box to me, as if thinking that d changed my mind and wanted to accept it now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Goddess, that just goes to show how much he didn\u2019t know me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How much he didn\u2019t understand me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked away from the box, ignoring it like it was something straight out of hell and\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:16 0\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
174 Playing her games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
sighed. \u201cI wanted to ask you about something\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stilled, and then slowly\u2026 very slowly, he withdrew his hands. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know that a sex tape of me circulated around the pack at some point several years ago?\u201d I asked, and as soon as I did, his face stained a bright red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked away in embarrassment, but I didn\u2019t miss the way his Adam\u2019s apple bobbed, or the way he looked so disgusted, one would think he\u2019d seen literal faeces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shook his head and then nodded\u2026 then he shook it again. He hissed; \u201cI did. Some stupid boys in the pack then made sure to circulate it around the pack. They even played it at someone\u2019s birthday party. I can\u2019t remember who but I think it should be Liam or Gary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like Aganes had told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded. \u201cAnd if I told you that it wasn\u2019t me in the video, would you believe me?\u201d I asked, and to my utmost surprise, Gavin didn\u2019t hesitate. He didn\u2019t even stop to think about it for a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He simply answered with;\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would. After everything that\u2019s happened this past few weeks, I would.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that\u2026 that made a special kind of warmth bloom in my chest. I whispered; \u201cit\u00a0<\/p>\n
wasn\u2019t me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I believe you. I\u2019ll also try to find out about how that video came to be in the first place, and if possible, expose whoever must\u2019ve done it\u2026 be it Al generated or not.\u201d @\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to let him know that AI generated videos\u00a0<\/p>\n
were not a thing six years ago, but deciding to simply let him be, I nodded and smiled. \u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d He drawled, surprising me even further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And goddess, I couldn\u2019t help it. I couldn\u2019t care less about whether I still haven\u2019t forgiven him or not. I simply pulled him into a hug and pressed my face against his chest, my heart thundering in my ears when realized to my utter bewilderment that this was the first time I\u2019ll ever hug Gavin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That this was the first time we would ever get this close- and I mean ever! As in; in my\u00a0<\/p>\n
entire life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made me feel some kind of way, but pushing it away, I held onto him\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:17 0\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
174 Playing her games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
tighter and closed my eyes, allowing his warmth to wash over me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gosh, I wish he was always like this. I wish I never lost him to all those lies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
-And now, it was already a little too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We broke apart when a familiar scent filled my nostrils and I glanced at the door only to find Chalice peeking in with a look of utmost horror on her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My smile widened when her face crumpled even more; and for the first time in my life, I did something that I always hated\u2026 something that was always done to me by her\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let myself into her head the way she used to do to me, and I drawled through our mind link: \u201cGet ready to lose everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The look on her face had my chest swelling with pride and when she staggered backward, my smile only grew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then I squealed; \u201cOh, hi Chalice! I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d come!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I forced all the sweetness that could muster into my voice while I spoke, taking pleasure in the way her face went pale, losing all its color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
66\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:17 0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Creation is hard, cheer me up! VOTE for me!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahvahh\u00a0<\/p>\n
Creator\u2019s Thoughts\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Healing Slowly But Surely By R. Joseph 174 174 Playing her games.\u00a0 Leilani.\u00a0 By the time I arrived at my […]<\/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":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chosen-by-none-feared-by-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377","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=23377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}