3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thousands of roses\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart was pounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was it excitement? Nerves? I couldn\u2019t tell. But it was louder than everything around me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s faces flickered with shock, awe, annoyance, and even mockery. But none of it mattered, because for the first time today, I felt like I could finally breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, today had been hell. From the moment I opened my eyes, it felt like the entire world was lining up to slap me down. One humiliation after the next. One reminder after another that I didn\u2019t belong, that I wasn\u2019t enough, that I was just background noise in other people\u2019s lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora was the first to recover. Her eyes widened, like she couldn\u2019t quite believe I said it.\u201cYou\u2019re serious about this?\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cYou really want to break things up with Matthew?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scoffed. God, how could someone look that pretty and be so disgusting?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked her dead in the eye. \u201cYes. You can finally have him, Nora. I won\u2019t stop you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her lips twitched. Oh, she was thrilled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean\u2026 it\u2019s not like that, Violet,\u201d she said, blinking those innocent lashes. \u201cMatthew and I are just friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head and gave her a mocking smile. \u201cI don\u2019t care what you are. You can have him now. If you\u2019re that desperate to go that far, then congratulations. Matthew is all yours. I won\u2019t be in your way anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew looked like he\u2019d just been slapped. He blinked and took a step forward, jaw tight. \u201cViolet, you\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the man in the suit stepped in front of me. He gave a shallow bow. \u201cPlease, I\u2019d advise you to stay away from her, sir.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt a cold prickle race up my spine. Oh no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew\u2019s expression darkened immediately. His jaw clenched so hard I thought I heard his teeth grind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho the hell are you to order me around?\u201d he growled. \u201cDo you even know who you\u2019re speaking to? Do you have a death wish?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I expected the man to be scared, but the man didn\u2019t even blink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled. \u201cMr. Matthew Sinclair, of course I know who you are, sir.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew stepped closer. \u201cThen you better fuck off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man remained still, his hands neatly folded in front of him. \u201cAnd that is exactly why I\u2019m still giving you respect. Because you\u2019re one of the Sinclairs. If you were someone else, I would have had you escorted out, no matter who you were, sir.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew stared at him, clearly stunned. Even I blinked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll advise you to walk away, sir. Miss Violet is already someone you can no longer be interested in. She\u2019s someone you cannot touch. Someone even you have to show respect to. Someone who is already out of reach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who was Hades?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who gave his messenger the confidence to say those words to Matthew Sinclair like it was nothing? Before\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thousands of roses\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew could recover, a sleek black car pulled up in front of the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The back door opened and a familiar man in a gray suit stepped out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew\u2019s secretary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He bowed slightly, quickly making his way to his boss. \u201cSir\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew snapped, \u201cWhat is it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The secretary leaned in, whispering something urgently in his ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched as Matthew\u2019s whole posture changed, his eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. He ran his hand through his hair, \u201cTch. So annoying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew\u2019s eyes bore into me. He was studying me now, the way someone studies a problem they still think they can fix.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on,\u201d he finally said, \u201cBut we\u2019ll talk later when you are no longer dramatic. And you better give me a good explanation for this\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A good explanation?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seriously? After everything, he still wanted explanations? What part of it\u2019s over does he not understand?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked away, not bothering to answer. I was too tired to repeat myself to a man who never listened when it mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he wanted me so badly, he should\u2019ve proved it when he had me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew shifted his glare toward the messenger. \u201cTell your boss, we\u2019ll meet soon. Whoever he is, he dared touch my woman. I\u2019ll make sure he regrets ever messing with a Sinclair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel my stomach twist at his words. The messenger simply bowed slightly, a polite smile tugging at his lips. But even I could catch the flicker of amusement in his gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew didn\u2019t wait for a response. He turned and walked back to his car. Nora and Riley walked back to the campus. If the messenger hadn\u2019t been beside me, they probably would\u2019ve started another fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only a few people were left around the flower vans now, some taking pictures, others scooping up bouquets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment I turned to the man beside me, he bowed his head again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease, don\u2019t do that. People will misunderstand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. \u201cWhere is he?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are referring to Mr. Hades, ma\u2019am,\u201d the man said calmly, \u201che left the country earlier today. There were matters that required his personal attention. He\u2019ll be back soon.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused, then added with a slight smile, \u201cI\u2019ll let him know you wished to meet him because you missed-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not miss him,\u201d I snapped, stepping back. \u201cI didn\u2019t ass because I wanted to see him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He raised a brow, clearly entertained. I was already regretting saying anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I definitely didn\u2019t miss him,\u201d I added firmly, trying to sound convincing, even though my ears were burning, and my heart might have jumped at the mention of him returning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thousands of res\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s lips curved slightly. \u201cOf course, ma\u2019am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ugh. That ma\u2019am was starting to feel mocking now too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I coughed, trying to pull myself together, and motioned to the flower vans. \u201cWhile I\u2026 appreciate all of this, please tell him to never do this again. It\u2019s too much. I don\u2019t want this kind of attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man gave a short nod. \u201cUnderstood, ma\u2019am. I\u2019ll report your request to Mr. Hades.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed. I wanted to ask how he knew my school, how Hades had found me, why he did any of this. But I stopped myself. Trying to understand rich people was a headache I didn\u2019t need. Unraveling what went on in their minds was like trying to explain the ocean to someone who\u2019d only ever seen puddles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you. Even if what you did was strange, I still appreciate your help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He opened his mouth, but I didn\u2019t give him the chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp me thank Hades too,\u201d I added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t wait for his response. I turned on my heel, ignoring the whispers still humming behind me, and walked toward the vans lined up like a dream someone else should be having.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thousands of roses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It would be a shame not to take at least one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fingers brushed over the soft petals. I picked two, and walked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hades, whoever he was, and whatever this was, I couldn\u2019t afford to be tempted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People like him were always interested until they weren\u2019t. Until the shine faded and you became just another story they forgot to finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No matter how sweet the dream, I wasn\u2019t going to let myself forget it was still an illusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 35 3\/3\u00a0 +25 Bonus\u00a0 Thousands of roses\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 My heart was pounding.\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-27951","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\/27951","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=27951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}