Chapter 54\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 54\u00a0<\/p>\n
DYLAN\u00a0<\/p>\n
A 37\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was quiet as we drove off to God knows where. But my silence doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m going to sit right here and let Hunter do whatever he wants right after what I just witnessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are a lot of things going on right now, yet there\u2019s no definite explanation on why they are happening. Who was that woman? Was Beckett right all along? If so, then why can\u2019t Hunter just discard me? Was he planning to keep me as a kept woman?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was it because he was the one who helped me when I was in trouble that he thinks he owns me? Do I have to endure being his mistress until I pay my debt? Was that his plan all along?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I groan in annoyance as I massage my temple. All these questions were making my head hurt. I wanted answers. However, Hunter seems like he doesn\u2019t have any plans of giving those answers to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d I asked the driver. I heard Hunter mentioning about going to the airport, but my exact destination remains unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as I expected, he didn\u2019t answer. Why would he, when his boss didn\u2019t even bother answering me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Argh! This is so infuriating! I can kill him right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite my frustration, I can\u2019t just sit right here and wait for whatever Hunter\u2019s plan is. I need to get out of here. As long as I\u2019m with him, he\u2019s going to go his extra length just to keep me blindsided.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we stop in a gas station for a minute? I badly need to go to the restroom,\u201d I told the driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me through the rearview mirror. He seems suspicious about me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really do need to go to the restroom, you know?\u201d I repeated, trying my best to convince him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But once again, he ignored me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t believe me, I\u2019ll just go ahead and relieve myself here. But rest assured that your boss will know that you watched me while peeing at the back of this car because you wouldn\u2019t let me use the restroom,\u201d I said, shrugging my shoulders before acting as if I was about to pull my pants down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cW\u2013Wait, madam!\u201d he said in panic. Hesitation was still evident in his eyes, but he probably saw that I was determined to do what I said, so he finally decided to do what I said. \u201cWe\u2019ll make a stop,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I suppress the smile threatening to break from my lips. Now, I need to come up with a plan on who to call order to escape from here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long before we finally reached a nearby gas station.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I kept my head down as I stepped out of the car, my pulse hammering so hard it felt like it echoed in my ears. The men Hunter assigned to watch me trailed behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:23 Thu, Jan 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 54\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need the restroom,\u201d I muttered, trying to keep my voice from shaking\u00a0<\/p>\n
They exchanged a quick look, then one of them nodded. \u201cWe\u2019ll wait here in the car, madam?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked into the convenience store, my hands trembling. The moment the glass door shut behind me. I finally let myself breathe\u2013just one thin moment of quiet, a scrap of space to think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I stopped cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Up above the counter, a small television glowed with a breaking\u2013news banner. The sound was low, barely a murmur, but the images\u2026 God, the images were loud enough to drown me,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a perfectly tailored suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Hunter\u2013with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beautiful, polished, smiling like she already owned the world. Her hand looped through his arm like she fit there, like she belonged there. Her name flashed across the screen: Marian Velasquez, daughter of one of the most powerful mafia families in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach plummeted. I smiled bitterly as I watched how they look good together. A voice in my head says she\u2019s the perfect woman for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reporter was talking too fast and too brightly, but their voice blurred into a sharp, unbearable ringing. All I could focus on was Marian reaching up\u2026. touching Hunter\u2019s jaw\u2026 pulling him closer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Hunter leaned down and kissed her. Not a polite kiss, not for show. A kiss full of heat and certainty, like there wasn\u2019t a woman he\u2019d shoved into a car and ordered to be watched. Like I was nothing but a passing\u00a0<\/p>\n
mistake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My knees almost gave out. I grabbed the nearest shelf to keep myself upright, a broken breath scraping out of me. My heart didn\u2019t just crack\u2013it scattered, hitting the floor in pieces I didn\u2019t know how to gather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then came the blow that finished me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter looked at the cameras with a softness he never gave me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be leaving soon,\u201d he said smoothly. \u201cFor our honeymoon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honeymoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word sliced through me like lightning, sharp and merciless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heat rushed to my eyes\u2013anger, hurt, and humiliation tangling into something raw and bitter. I stepped closer, stupidly hoping that if I looked from a different angle, it wouldn\u2019t hurt as much. But the images stayed the same. Hunter pulled Marian in again, kissing her like the whole world was cheering them on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A quiet, cracked sound slipped out of me before I could stop it. My fingers curled into tight fists at my sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1823 Thu Jan 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 54\u00a0<\/p>\n
He betrayed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or did he?\u00a0<\/p>\n
437\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can I call this betrayal when everything that happened between us was nothing but charades? I should blame no one but myself for assuming, believing, or, worst of all, hoping that this could lead to something beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scoffed inwardly; it is beautiful. A beautiful disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe this was the slap I needed to stop breaking over a man who never hesitated to break me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I have no time to dwell on this pain much longer. I need to escape. I need to get away from him. I want to forget the pain. I wanted to bury every memory of him until it hurt no more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes landed on the burner phone sitting at the counter. I grabbed one and paid for it at the counter. I took a quick look back at the car where Hunter\u2019s men were waiting for me. I saw them talking to a woman. It took their attention off me for a minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After paying, I quickly opened the phone. \u201cFuck!\u201d I cursed loudly when I realized the only number etched in my head was Beckett\u2019s number. But no matter how desperate I am, I\u2019d rather die than call him and ask for help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stopped for a minute and thought about my <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Alchemist of Broken Dreams by Sienna Rose Blackwell 54 Chapter 54\u00a0 Chapter 54\u00a0 DYLAN\u00a0 A 37\u00a0 I was quiet […]<\/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":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-alphas-golden-cage-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24405","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=24405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}