He looked at Nina\u2019s mocking expression and couldn\u2019t help but take a step back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had never seen this side of Nina. If the old Nina was a gentle, pure gardenia, then the Nina now was a rose with thorns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you become like this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina knew what he meant. She scoffed, crossing her arms as she looked at him. \u201cDidn\u2019t you find my old personality boring, too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean\u2019s body swayed, and shadows flickered in his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He deeply regretted what he had done, but it was too late for regrets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, Nina spoke slowly, \u201cSean, you forced me to become this way. But I should also thank you for making me who I am today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that, Nina turned and walked into The Bronner Estate, instructing the security guard, \u201cIf he comes again, just throw him down the mountain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The security guard replied, \u201cYes! Mrs. Bronner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Zackery saw his wife approaching, he immediately stood up, feeling a bit dizzy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina walked over and helped him up. \u201cYou\u2019ve been squatting for so long, you should have stood up and walked\u00a0<\/p>\n
around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery scratched his head like an awkward teenager. \u201cNina, you go inside first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina found it a bit strange, but she didn\u2019t say anything and walked straight into The Bronner Estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment Nina went inside, Zackery walked over to Sean and, before he could react, punched him hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean was instantly knocked to the ground. A sharp pain shot through his body as it hit the pavement, and he tasted something metallic and sweet in his throat as blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked up at Zackery, who happened to be watching him with his arms crossed, his gaze like he was watching some kind of animal show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you, if you ever showed up in front of me again, I\u2019d make you regret it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as the words left his mouth, a hood was thrown over Sean\u2019s head. Then, an intense pain wracked his body. He felt as if his bones were about to break, and his organs were being twisted out of place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.0 %\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:56\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter T\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next moment, someone grabbed his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean instantly had a bad feeling. Just as he was about to pull his hand back, a sharp pain shot through his fingertips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His fingernail was pulled out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One by one, all ten of his fingernails were ripped out. Sean was speechless, and cold sweat dripped continuously down his forehead, soaking the front of his shirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pain from the fingers goes straight to the heart. So this was how much it hurt when Nina\u2019s nails were pulled out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he passed out, Sean thought to himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so sorry, Nina. I made you suffer so much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t realize my own feelings sooner, and I let you down again and again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at the unconscious Sean, Zackery casually tossed aside the bloody pliers in his hand and ordered the ser-\u00a0<\/p>\n
vants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClean this up. Don\u2019t let Madam Bronner or Mrs. Bronner see it. And throw this man to the bottom of the mountain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bodyguards tied Sean to the back of a car and dragged him all the way down the mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time they reached the bottom, Sean\u2019s back was a bloody mess.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was jolted awake by the pain. He slowly opened his eyes to find his entire body consumed by agony, barely able to move at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A heavy rain began to fall. The cold raindrops hit Sean\u2019s wounds, making him flinch in pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The icy rainwater felt like tiny needles stabbing into his wounds, and he instantly broke out in more cold sweat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was now nighttime. His cries for help went unanswered. This was the first time Sean had ever felt true despair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he lay on the ground, he remembered the time Nina had searched for her mother\u2019s belongings in the pouring rain. and developed a high fever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that time, Sean had intended to take her to the hospital, but then Isabelle called, and he had no choice but to leave her in the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He forgot about her after that, and by the time he remembered in the morning, the car was already empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean gave a bitter smile. Maybe this was how desperate Nina had felt then, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stopped struggling, letting the storm wash over him. The physical pain could lessen the ache in his heart, just a lit- tle, and then a little more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That way,\u00a0<\/p>\n
he could feel like he owed Nina a little less.\u00a0<\/p>\n
47.5%\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 221-\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 21 He looked at Nina\u2019s mocking expression and couldn\u2019t help but take […]<\/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-24310","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\/24310","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=24310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}