Do not take my silence for weakness\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cold water splashed on top of me, and everything went white for a second. I gasped, eyes flaring open as the room spun. My shirt clung to my skin, my hair plastered to the side of my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harper stood at the foot of the bed, one hand on her hip, a smug little smile playing on her lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you lost your mind?!\u201d I snapped before I had a chance to think. I wanted to tear across the room and yank that smile off her face. \u201cWhat do you think you\u2019re doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? You were sleeping,\u201d Harper said, her voice flat. \u201cI woke you. I did nothing wrong. If you hadn\u2019t been sleeping like a log, this wouldn\u2019t have happened. It\u2019s your fault you got wet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, speechless. My wet clothes clung to my skin, the sheets beneath me soaked, and yet this girl was acting like she had the right to blame me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then I would\u2019ve ignored her. I always ignored her stupid little games. Compared to the people who\u2019d truly made my life hell, Harper was nothing more than a buzzing gnat. But this was too far. There was no way I was going to let her get away with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rose from the bed slowly, water dripping off me. Harper smirked, clearly thinking I wouldn\u2019t dare. But before she could even blink, my hand cut through the air and landed across her face with a sharp crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stumbled back, wide\u2013eyed, her hand flying to her reddening cheek. My palm stung, but the sight of her shocked face sent a shiver of satisfaction down my spine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou slapped me?\u201d she gasped, her voice breaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can see,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll do it again if you keep running your mouth and acting like you can do whatever you want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her face turned crimson, rage in her eyes. \u201cYou crazy bitch!\u201d she spat, raising her hand to strike me back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo ahead. Try it, but this time don\u2019t expect me to take it without doing something in return. I\u2019ll make a scene and get you fired. Or did you honestly think I couldn\u2019t have done that a long time ago?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped forward. Harper immediately faltered, her hand trembling midair, her heels clicking back against the floor as she retreated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be delusional, I could find a way to throw you out of here anytime I wanted. You\u2019re not that important to the family after all. I only kept you around because I didn\u2019t want to deal with the hassle of Harper finding someone else. But\u2026\u201d I leaned in closer, lowering my tone. \u201cDo not test me, Harper. Do not take my silence for weakness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her face drained of color. Her hand fell slowly to her side, and for the first time since I\u2019d known her, she looked genuinely shaken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cW\u2013whatever,\u201d she muttered, licking her lips nervously. She backed up another step, eyes darting anywhere but mine. \u201cI don\u2019t even care about you. You\u2019re a nobody compared to Miss Riley. I was just told to call you down, she\u2019s waiting for her tutoring session. So don\u2019t waste time and come downstairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rolled my eyes. \u201cRight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do not take my silence for weakness\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned quickly, muttering under her breath as she reached the door. \u201cCrazy bitch\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door slammed behind her, leaving me in silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled sharply, running a hand over my damp hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, I was so damn annoyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes flicked to the clock, eleven a.m. I\u2019d only gotten home an hour ago. The living room had been empty, so I didn\u2019t see anyone, especially that sick bastard, Conrad, lurking around. I\u2019d gone straight upstairs, locked the door, transferred the money to Sebastian, tossed my phone on silent, showered, and finally crawled into bed and fallen asleep. I thought I\u2019d be safe here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clearly, I was wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somehow Harper had gotten in. She had a spare key, no doubt. The realization made my stomach twist. I thought locking myself away was enough to keep Conrad out if he ever tried anything, but if he wanted to, all he had to do was ask, and someone would hand him the key.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made my skin crawl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I reached for my phone on the bed, relieved to see it wasn\u2019t wet. The screen lit up with five missed calls from Sebastian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, that boy could nag better than any mother. He was probably ready to interrogate me about where the hell I\u2019d found that kind of money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed and typed quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[Let\u2019s eat lunch together at the cafe near your school tomorrow. I\u2019ll explain everything. And don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m not in debt.]\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hit send before I could overthink it, tossing the phone aside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I peeled off the wet shirt clinging to my skin and tossed it onto the floor with my soaked shorts. My hair still dripped against my shoulders as I walked to the closet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was searching for something to wear when I spotted Hades\u2018 shirt still hanging neatly where I\u2019d left it. My fingers hovered over the fabric. I already had one of his shirts in the laundry from earlier today, so now I basically had two\u00a0<\/p>\n
of his clothes with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shouldn\u2019t. It was his, and the last thing I wanted was to feel like I depended on him for anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bit my lip, pressing my forehead lightly against the closet door. Foolish as it was, his scent had this strange effect on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIdiot,\u201d I muttered to myself, but my hand was already moving. I grabbed the shirt and pulled it off the hanger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slipping into a simple singlet, I pulled his shirt on. I didn\u2019t bother with the buttons, and just let it hang loose. The soft fabric brushed against my arms, carrying that intoxicating scent the moment it touched me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grabbing a pair of jeans, I tugged them on and rubbed a towel through my damp hair until it stopped dripping. When I caught my reflection in the mirror, a dry laugh slipped out. There I was, drowning in Hades Sinclair\u2019s shirt, after swearing I wanted nothing to do with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pulling open the door, I stepped into the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
De new to my sace for\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Riley wanted to test my patience, it was time to find out just how far she thought she could push me before I snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 73 Do not take my silence for weakness\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 Cold water splashed […]<\/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-27989","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\/27989","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=27989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}