3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my good gat\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my good girl\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
U\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
If this were a movie, or a manhwa, I always thought I\u2019d be that person in the background.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You know the one, the blurry silhouette in the hallway, the unnamed character with a face so generic even the artist forgot to draw in the eyes, a quiet figure in a group of extras.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The one readers scroll past without noticing. The one the writer only gives one line to, if they were lucky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was me. Or at least, that\u2019s who I thought I was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sure, I had all the tragic ingredients for a main character. Poor girl? Check. Dead parents? Check. Evil aunt? Double check. Cruel cousins that live to make my life miserable? Triple check. A crazy woman trying to steal my boyfriend? Bonus points. But instead of becoming the heroine, I was just there, breathing in someone else\u2019s story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was a background noise with a sad little backstory nobody cared to read\u2026..but what the hell was this?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the sea of cargo vans, each one brimming with roses and I could only blink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t part of my script.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This kind of grand gesture, and attention was for girls like Penelope, Riley or Nora, girls whose names came with status and power and pretty privilege. Girls who were used to being seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at the black card again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[I had fun with you, princess. Here\u2019s a little gift, just a taste of how I plan to spoil what\u2019s mine. I can\u2019t stop thinking about the way you felt wrapped around me, the way you moaned my name. I\u2019m hard just remembering it. Rest while you can, because next time, I\u2019m not letting you go. I\u2019ll have you pinned beneath me, trembling, begging for more. You\u2019ll be ruined for anyone else. And you ll love every second of it.\u2013H]\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the actual hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe if I blinked hard enough, I\u2019d wake up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone gasped behind me. \u201cOh my God, is that from your lover?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I snapped out of my thoughts, my head jerking up to find dozens of eyes fixed on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only then did it hit me, I was still standing in front of the building, surrounded by strangers. This wasn\u2019t the time to lose it. I had to get a grip. Especially not now with Matthew just a few feet away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my head slowly. His gaze was locked on the black card clutched in my hand. His jaw was clenched tight, his chest rising and falling in sharp breaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked like he was one wrong move away from snapping\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tucked the card into the inside of my hoodie. Damn it, Hades. Why didn\u2019t he have a filter? Why would he write that in the open? What if someone read it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then again, maybe he wanted them to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had no idea what he was thinking, or why he was doing any of this. But one thing was clear, I needed to tread carefully now. This wasn\u2019t just about me anymore. Hades gt involved with me that night. If he kept pushing like this, he might actually get into serious trouble. He seemed wealthy too, but no man, no matter how rich or bold,\u00a0<\/p>\n
power as the Sinclairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
held as much\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my good g\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoa, this is insane,\u201d a girl gushed, stepping close. \u201cYou\u2019re so lucky. I wish someone would do this for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another chimed in. \u201cWho is he, Violet? Does he have a brother?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously, \u201ca boy added. \u201cWhoever this guy is, he\u2019s hella into you. Guys don\u2019t do stuff like this unless they\u2019re obsessed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s take a picture for my social media.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These were the same people who used to mutter behind my back. Who laughed when Nora or Riley humiliated me. Who rolled their eyes every time I passed by like I didn\u2019t deserve to exist in the same hallway as them. And now, they were circling me like we\u2019d been best friends for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I take some home?\u201d a girl asked, already plucking a rose from the van. \u201cPlease? You have so many!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I glanced at Nora. The small bouquet she had just been cradling like it was the best thing in the world was now crushed in her fists. Her lips were tight, knuckles white, and eyes sharp with jealousy. Riley, standing beside her, looked as if she\u2019d just tasted something bitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips, never quite reaching my eyes. I didn\u2019t want to be petty, but damn, seeing their reactions felt so good, I almost wanted to push them further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, of course,\u201d I said sweetly, turning to the swarm of girls still marveling at flowers. \u201cYou can take some. In fact, take as many as you want. Unlike some people, I have more than enough to go around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally? Thank you so much, Violet!\u201d one girl chirped. \u201cYou\u2019re seriously the best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is like something out of a movie!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn it, Violet,\u201d Matthew snapped, stepping toward me. Why aren\u2019t you saying anything? Why are you letting them believe something actually happened between you and that man?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to him slowly, my eyes colder than I meant them to be, but at this point, he deserved nothing less.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were no traces of the old Violet in me, the one who would\u2019ve crumbled just because he looked at her with a disappointed frown, but that girl had drowned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She drowned the night he let me go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to know why?\u201d I said, lifting my chin. \u201cBecause it happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His face paled. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t actually think I was bluffing, did you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a bitter laugh. \u201cYou really thought I\u2019d leave with a man in the middle of the night just to take a nice stroll and come crawling back to you the next morning? What do you take me for, Matthew? Some girl who can\u2019t function unless she\u2019s wrapped around you? I\u2019m not that desperate or obsessed with you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a step closer, meeting his eyes head\u2013on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you\u2019re still wondering whether I let another man tough me, yes. I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hands clenched into fists, jaw tightening as he stepped forward. \u201cDo you even know what you\u2019re saying?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. In fact, this might be one of the few times I know exactly what I\u2019m saying. And if you want me to spell it out in front of everyone here, I will. Matthew Sinclair, we\u2019re done. We are over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Beside me, someone muttered, \u201cDamn\u2026what a show.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my good qui\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe I was wrong all along. Maybe I didn\u2019t need an artist to sketch me, because for the first time, someone dared to color me in. And if that someone was that devil of a man, then maybe I should let him use every shade he had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hades\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood in front of the floor\u2013to\u2013ceiling windows of my office, the skyline sprawling beneath me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One hand was deep in the pocket of my tailored black suit, the other loosely holding my phone, glowing softly with a paused video.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My reflection in the glass looked like a man who had everything he wanted, messy black hair, a sharp jaw, but it was my blue eyes that gave me away. They weren\u2019t just focused on her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice echoed from the video again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you\u2019re still wondering whether I let another man tough me, yes. I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My lips curled slowly into a smirk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my good girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
+2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 34 3\/4\u00a0 That\u2019s my good gat\u00a0 That\u2019s my good girl\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 U\u00a0 […]<\/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-27950","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\/27950","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=27950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}