3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
w make a deal with the devil\u00a0<\/p>\n
I will make a deal with the devil\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at the man standing in front of me, my fingers digging tighter into the pool\u2019s edge. He wore that smile people put on when they pretended kindness, but underneath it, all I could see was hypocrisy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conrad extended his hand toward me, his voice smooth. \u201cTake it, Violet. Let me help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at his hand. For a moment, I almost laughed. Help? From him? My disgust showed as I shoved it aside. I didn\u2019t need his help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I lifted myself out of the pool on my own, every pull of my muscles burning, but I refused to show it. The cold sent a shiver down my spine as my drenched clothes clung to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bent down and began gathering my scattered notes. Some were wet, the ink already fading, and my chest tightened at the sight of days of my work ruined.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was about to walk away when his voice cut through the silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to continue letting yourself suffer like that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My back stiffened, my hands tightening around the damp papers. I didn\u2019t need to turn to know he was smiling behind me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He went on, tone almost lazy. \u201cAren\u2019t you tired of repeating the same play all the time? Honestly, if I were reading your story, I\u2019d be frustrated with your character. You let them bully you, and every time you use your brother as an excuse. It\u2019s always the same, Violet. Just admit it, you can\u2019t fight on your own. You\u2019re a weak woman who needs someone to protect her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A scoff slipped out as I finally turned around. So, the bastard had decided to show his true colors at last. I\u2019d expected him to keep up the saint act a little longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes were already on me, trailing slowly down my body, my clothes nearly see\u2013through now. But I didn\u2019t flinch or hide from his gaze. Why would I? I wasn\u2019t the one who had done anything wrong. I had no reason to be ashamed of what others had done to me. That shame belonged to men like him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you getting at?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smirked, tilting his head slightly as if amused. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty easy,\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
))\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took a step toward me, but the way I looked at him, stopped him in place. His smirk deepened anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you accept my help, I\u2019ll protect you. I won\u2019t let anything happen to you.\u201d His tongue slid across his lips, his eyes still fixed on me. \u201cBut of course, my help isn\u2019t free. I\u2019ll need something in return.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words didn\u2019t surprise me. I wasn\u2019t shocked, or even furious, I already knew what kind of man he was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conrad\u2019s and Hades\u2018 demands might have both been insane, but they were nothing alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conrad spoke like a parasite, feeding on my weakness. Hades was a different kind of devil, but he never once made me feel worthless or degraded. He didn\u2019t hide behind fake kindness while trying to barter pieces of me away. He showed me exactly who he was. Maybe that\u2019s why Hades made my blood run hot, while Conrad only made my skin crawl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, Conrad\u2019s words were right. How long was I going to be naive enough to let other people play with my life as they pleased? How long would I let my brother be a pawn every time someone wanted to control me? If they kept\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
will make a deal with the devi\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 75 3\/3\u00a0 w make a deal with the devil\u00a0 I will make […]<\/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-27991","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\/27991","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=27991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}