Nina lay in bed, her eyes empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many things from the past surfaced in her mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She picked up her phone and checked the date. There were still two weeks until she was to marry Mr. Bronner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A commotion came from the doorway, and Nina slowly got out of bed and walked to the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to marry her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean was on the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t do this to Nina. She\u2019s been with you for so many years. What do you mean you\u2019re just calling it off!\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re hurting her because of me! What\u2019s the point of me being alive then, just to be despised by everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was Isabelle\u2019s voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina couldn\u2019t put a name to what she was feeling. In the end, she heard Sean\u2019s voice give in, gentle and helpless. \u201cFine, I\u2019ll marry her. You have to take your medicine, okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A wave of bitterness washed over Nina\u2019s heart, and she felt a lump in her throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Memories from the past came to her mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina was not favored in the Collins family; she ate even worse than the servants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When her mother was alive, she would make even the simplest ingredients into something special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over time, Nina developed a severe eating disorder and grew thinner and thinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After she got with Sean, he would make all sorts of nourishing food for her every day. Whenever Nina didn\u2019t want to eat, Sean would drop everything to eat with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean\u2019s tone back then was exactly the same as it was now. \u201cI\u2019m here with you. You have to eat properly, okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears streamed down her cheeks, hitting the floor drop by drop, forming a small puddle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina gave a bitter laugh and lay back down on the bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She would be leaving in fifteen days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s okay. Once she left, she wouldn\u2019t be sad anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina was woken up by a noise. Because she was a light sleeper, Sean never used to allow any noise in the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.0 %\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:54\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter\u00a0<\/p>\n
She opened the door, went out, and met the eyes of the woman across from her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isabelle glanced at her, a guilty look in her eyes, looking so fragile and pitiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing her like that, Sean immediately stepped in front of Isabelle to protect her, his tone impatient. \u201cWhy are you looking at Isabelle like that? She\u2019s not well. I brought her home to rest for a while. Didn\u2019t you get some kind of nutri- tionist certification? You can take care of Isabelle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina heard her own heart stop for a moment, then she looked up and forced a smile. \u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was leaving anyway. She could consider this as repaying Sean for all his kindness over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once she repaid him, it would be time to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After making dinner, Nina felt a bit dizzy and went straight to bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She got up in the middle of the night for a drink of water, and when she saw a certain spot, her pupils contracted sharply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her mother\u2019s belongings were gone!\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had clearly put them on the table after bringing them back from the Collins family that day! How could they be gone!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe Sean put them somewhere, Nina tried to comfort herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She opened every cabinet in the house, searching through all of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still nothing!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The panic in her heart grew more intense, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps the noise she made rummaging through the cabinets woke Sean up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He came out of the room, bleary\u2013eyed, and looked at Nina with a displeased expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing? Making noise in the middle of the night? Don\u2019t you know Isabelle can\u2019t stand noise?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right now, Nina had no mind to be hurt by his words. She looked at Sean desperately, like a little animal lost from its mother, her face full of vulnerability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s my mom\u2019s picture?\u201d Nina\u2019s voice was even trembling slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean frowned, his eyes darting away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina saw his expression in an instant. She shot up, rushed over, and gripped Sean\u2019s arms tightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is my mom\u2019s picture!\u201d Her scream was hoarse and desperate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
46.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:54\u00a0<\/p>\n
98.0%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter o\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean frowned, his face filled with impatience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI threw it away, alright!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Loomwood Galleries Framed Pilgrim Murals by Iris Vaughn 6 Nina lay in bed, her eyes empty.\u00a0 Many things from the […]<\/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":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-girl-in-the-shadows-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24295","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=24295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}