using him against me, knowing he was my weakness, one day they\u2019d stop threatening and actually hurt him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ran a hand through my hair and thought of Hades. Was he the only way out? Could a man who played with people the way he did really be the answer to leaving this hell behind, or was I just trading one nightmare for another?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither choice was good. But, if I was at the edge of a clif and if both devils extend their help to me, I would rather choose the one I felt safe with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I met his gaze. \u201cYou\u2019re wrong about something,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conrad frowned. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can protect myself. I still have choices. And if you people keep tempting me, I will either kill all of you myself and go to hell with you-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
(( >>\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOr,\u201d I said, turning and walking away, \u201cI\u2019ll make a deal with the devil and give you all a life worse than hell could ever be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed open the door and walked into the living room, my wet shoes squeaking against the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My uncle, and aunt were seated together. The moment their eyes landed on me, they froze, their words dying on their lips. My aunt\u2019s lips twitched, and my uncle was already halfway to his feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cViolet,\u201d my uncle said. \u201cWhat happened to you? Why are you\u00a0<\/p>\n
wet?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer him right away. My gaze shifted to my aunt. Her sharp eyes told me she knew her daughter was the one who caused it, but she didn\u2019t give a damn. And as if on cue, the sound of heels echoed through the hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley entered the room with Harper trailing close behind. My cousin was no longer in her bikini but in a short pink dress that clung to her curves, her hair styled perfectly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, and she met my gaze head\u2013on, a slow smile tugging at her lips as if daring me to open my mouth and spill the truth. But what was the point? My uncle would never believe Riley was capable of something like pushing me into the pool. To him, she was still his golden daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My lips curved upward. If Riley thought she\u2019d cornered me, maybe it was time she realized I wasn\u2019t as helpless as she believed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI jumped into the pool myself,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My uncle frowned. \u201cYou jumped? Why would you-?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hot.\u201d I shrugged like it was obvious. Before he could question me further, I added, \u201cActually, I was just on my way to call Riley so we could study together. Exams are coming soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was almost amusing. Everyone looked as though they\u2019d swallowed something bitter, especially Riley, her lips parting as if to speak, only to snap shut just as quickly. My uncle, however, beamed, his face bright with relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will be helpful, Violet.\u201d he said, nodding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to Riley, my smile deliberately sweet. \u201cRight, Riley? We\u2019ll study together and do our best on the exams. And of course, I\u2019ll keep Uncle updated on our progress. If anything goes wrong, he\u2019ll be the first to know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s fingers curled against her dress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
I will make a deal with the devil\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, yes, that will be good,\u201d my uncle chimed in again, clearly pleased. He looked at his daughter. \u201cYou have to pay attention to Violet, Riley. Make sure you listen and pass under her. If I\u2019m informed that you messed up, I will make you regret it. Is that clear?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cY\u2013yes, father.\u201d Her cheeks flushed red, and she nodded stiffly, her eyes flicking to mine in a glare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just tilted my head and kept smiling back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel the weight of the room pressing on me, but I ignored them all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If they thought they could use my brother against me, then it was time I started using their fear against them, and Riley\u2019s was obvious. She\u2019d never wanted to disappoint her father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 76 using him against me, knowing he was my weakness, one day […]<\/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-27992","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\/27992","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=27992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}