Chapter 53\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u751f\u51b7\u9eb5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d I choked out between sobs. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to hurt him like this. I didn\u2019t mean to hurt either\u00a0<\/p>\n
of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShh, it\u2019s okay,\u201d Tristan soothed, pulling me against his chest. \u201cIt\u2019s not your fault that monster couldn\u2019t keep his hands to himself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused, and I could practically hear the thoughts running through his mind. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and it made me sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t force himself on you, did he?\u201d he breathed out with freight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have to force me. I went along with it\u00a0<\/p>\n
willingly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The admission felt like swallowing glass, but it was the truth. I\u2019d been so desperate for love, so hungry for someone to want me, that I\u2019d ignored every red flag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
* Tristan pulled me tighter against him and stroked my hair. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. You don\u2019t have to keep blaming\u00a0<\/p>\n
yourself for his choices.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted my face up and gently wiped away my tears. \u201cNow, go to your brother. Go hug him and calm him down before he punches through that wall and leaves Sarah without a mate. We already have enough mateless wolves in this house.\u201d 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I laughed through my tears. \u201cThat\u2019s horrible, Tristan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDark humor helps sometimes,\u201d he said with a sad smile. \u201cGo on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I got to the backyard, Orion was still delivering punches to the wall. Blood was everywhere on the bricks, on the ground, coating his knuckles in crimson streaks. Tristan was right \u2013 if I didn\u2019t stop him soon, he might seriously hurt himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I approached him carefully and wrapped my arms around him from behind. I wasn\u2019t scared \u2013 I knew he would never hurt me, even in this state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment he felt me holding him, his fist froze in midair. For a second, I thought he might continue, but then I spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for hurting you,\u201d I cried against his back, the tears dropped uncontrollably. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. I didn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
20.30 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 53\u00a0<\/p>\n
D\u00a0<\/p>\n
mean to cause you this much pain. Please stop hurting yourself, because when you hurt yourself, you\u2019re\u00a0<\/p>\n
hurting me too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hand remained suspended in the air for a long moment, then slowly lowered without delivering\u00a0<\/p>\n
another punch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11%\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt his shoulders sag with defeat. We stood there in the quiet backyard, both of us crying in our own way. I could feel him breathing heavily, trying to regain control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t protect you, Ath,\u201d he said, his voice broken and raw. \u201cI was supposed to protect you, but I failed. I failed you, I failed our parents, I failed everyone who counted on me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t your fault,\u201d I said firmly. \u201cYou had no idea what was happening. How were you supposed to\u00a0<\/p>\n
away right when you needed me most?\u201d protect me when I left you? When I ra\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call me?\u201d he asked, his words breaking apart. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call me or Tristan when things got bad? Why didn\u2019t you come home? Did I do something to make you feel unwelcome? Did I make you feel like a burden? Is that why you left?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
. I was crying so hard now that I could barely breathe. How could I tell him the real reason I\u2019d run away?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could I explain that I\u2019d left because Tristan had rejected me, because I\u2019d let his best friend touch me in ways he shouldn\u2019t have, and when Tristan told me it could never happen again, I\u2019d run straight into Daxon\u2019s waiting arms?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t form the words. The silence stretched between us, and I could feel him interpreting my lack of response as confirmation of his worst fears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my fault, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d he whispered, pain dripping from his words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d I said quickly. \u201cNo, of course not. It wasn\u2019t your fault at all. It was\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my fault,\u201d came Tristan\u2019s voice from behind us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 53 Chapter 53\u00a0 \u751f\u51b7\u9eb5\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d I choked out between sobs. […]<\/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":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26210","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=26210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}