\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t,\u201d I said, firmer. \u201cYou didn\u2019t do anything wrong. You didn cause a rift between Violet and me. She\u2019s just\u2026 being difficult. She\u2019s always been sensitive about you, because she\u2019s jealous. That\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora looked away, still trembling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to get changed,\u201d I said gently. \u201cYou\u2019re drenched. You\u2019ll get sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I called out, \u201cSofia!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The head maid entered quickly, bowing. \u201cGood evening, Mr. Matthew.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTake Nora upstairs,\u201d I said, \u201cto the spare room. And help her change out of these clothes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sofia nodded. \u201cTo what, sir?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I glanced at Nora. My first instinct was to tell her to wear something of Violet\u2019s, they were about the same size, but Nora shook her head quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I don\u2019t want to wear her clothes,\u201d she whispered. \u201cPlease Mathew, I\u2019m scared she\u2019ll hate me even more if she finds out. Can I just wear yours?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My clothes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated. It would be strange. It was too intimate, and Violet would get more jealous if she found out. But then Nora looked up at me with that wounded, scared expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed and nodded. \u201cGive her one of my shirts, and shorts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, sir,\u201d Sofia said, already guiding her gently toward the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a long sigh and dragged a hand through my face. I kept my palm pressed against my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why the fuck was she acting like this?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like I was the villain. Like I\u2019d done something unforgivable. Like I didn\u2019t love her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I agreed I made a mistake. My body moved before my brain had the chance to catch up. That was it. It was purely reflex, and instinct. I saved Nora because she was sick. That was all. And Viole was alive, wasn\u2019t she?\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what was the big deal?\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, I\u2019d been trying. When Nora came back into my life and everything inside me cracked wide open. I held back, didn\u2019t I? Even when my mind spun every time Nora smiled, even when the memories came crashing back, I didn\u2019t let it take me over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even the kiss I had with her a week ago was a mistake. I stopped it before it went further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She should\u2019ve been grateful. Most men would\u2019ve given in completly, I didn\u2019t. And yet here she was, running off with some asshole, putting on a dramatic little show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scoffed under my breath, as I remembered his words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like a kid who just lost his favorite toy to someone bette\u201d 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
My teeth clenched. I am not a kid, and I haven\u2019t lost Violet. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
the belongs to m\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSir,\u201d Nicolas called, stepping into the room. He gave a small bow \u201cApologies for interrupting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you find out where they went?\u201d I asked, lifting my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas shook his head. \u201cNo, sir. We lost track of the car.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFuck.\u201d I swore under my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas added cautiously, \u201cThere\u2019s one more thing, I heard from someone on the inside, your father might be in the country. He may have even attended the party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I stood up so fast the chair scraped against the floor. \u201cMy father?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas nodded once. \u201cThat\u2019s the rumor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes, my breath catching for a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was one man in this world I feared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only one, and that was my adoptive father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d only met him once, when I was eighteen. He looked at me like I was nothing more than a pawn to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m your new father,\u201d he said back then. \u201cDon\u2019t disappoint me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even now, years later, I remembered that single moment. He had the kind of presence that made every fiber of your body tense\u00a0<\/p>\n
with fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think he actually came?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas shook his head. \u201cNo, sir. I heard he didn\u2019t meet with your grandfather either. So he likely didn\u2019t attend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly. Thank God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last thing I needed was him witnessing me get humiliated like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep this quiet, and make sure it doesn\u2019t reach him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnderstood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, pacing slowly. \u201cWhat do you think about Violet and what happened?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas stayed quiet for a moment, then said in a calm, reassuring voice, \u201cYou don\u2019t need to worry, sir. Miss Violet was just angry. You know how she is, she is sensitive and emotional. She was putting on a performance to get a reaction from you. That\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I narrowed my eyes slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s probably somewhere cooling off,\u201d Nicolas continued. \u201cI doubt she left with that man for real. I don\u2019t believe she would take it that far.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That made sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet always tried to make me happy. She was always soft, always pologizing even when she wasn\u2019t wrong. She wasn\u2019t like Nora, who needed protection, and care. Violet had always been indipendent. She just wanted attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was her way of getting it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no way in hell she actually meant to break up with me. And definitely no way she\u2019d sleep with another man.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
cet on your knees and beg princes<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 6 \u00a0 \u201cIt isn\u2019t,\u201d I said, firmer. \u201cYou didn\u2019t do anything wrong. […]<\/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":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craving-the-guardian-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27922","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=27922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}