Chapter 157\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 157\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora sat curled up on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees like she was trying to hold herself together. Her teeth were biting down hard on her finger, leaving red marks, a nervous habit she always did when she knew she was screwed. Her eyes were wide and empty, staring into nothing as if haunted by something only she could see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a second, I honestly wondered if she could still hear us or if her mind had completely shattered back at school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNora, sweetheart, what\u2019s wrong? Why are you trembling like this\u201d my mother asked again, her voice rising with panic. She crouched down in front of Nora, shaking her a little, but Nora didn\u2019t even blink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother turned to my father. \u201cHoney, I\u2019ve been asking her over and over if she\u2019s okay, but she won\u2019t answer. You\u2019re a doctor, do you think something is wrong with her? If something happens to her, Matthew might blame us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father stepped forward and laid his palm across Nora\u2019s forehead, frowning. \u201cHer temperature is normal. Her breathing is fast but stable. Physically, she seems fine.\u201d He studied her pale face, then asked, \u201cWhat happened? Where exactly was she today?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother froze, her eyes flicking away guiltily. Of course she didn\u2019t want to say it. If my father found out she knew about their little scheme, he would explode.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat there with my own anxiety twisting in my stomach, my fingers tangled in my hair. My pulse hammered painfully against my ribs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the moment I woke up, I\u2019d had this awful feeling, telling me everything would go wrong. I didn\u2019t know exactly what had happened at school, but the way Nora had walked into our house earlier, silent, shaking, looking like a ghost, told me everything I needed to know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t go the way she planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I warned Nora a thousand times not to mess with Violet. There was something terrifying about that girl now. Violet was no longer someone we could toy with, the more we provoked her, the worse our situation would become. But they wouldn\u2019t listen. Nora went as far as framing Violet, claiming she slept with men for money, and my mother even helped with the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now here we were.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should have stopped her. I should have forced her not to provoke Violet, not to push her further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her trembling shoulders, unable to hold back any longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI warned you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both my parents snapped their heads toward me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d my father asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley, stop,\u201d my mother said quickly, cutting me off. Her voice was firm, almost desperate. She shook her head slightly at me, her eyes warning. \u201cDon\u2019t say anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ignored my mother, my eyes locked on Nora. \u201cDidn\u2019t I warn you, Nora? I warned you not to mess with Violet. I told you she is not the same girl we used to bully. She is dangerous, and unpredictable. One wrong move, and she could destroy everything we\u2019ve ever had. One small mistake, and she could ruin us for good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice rose into a shout before I could stop myself. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you ever fucking listen?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
21:13 Tue, Jan 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 157\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora flinched violently at my outburst, her shoulders jerking as if I\u2019d struck her. She finally looked at me, her eyes glassy and terrified, before quickly looking away again. Her lips trembled, and when she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI-I didn\u2019t think she changed that much,\u201d she said shakily. \u201cIf I had known, do you really think I would\u2019ve done this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears spilled down her cheeks, streaking her pale face. She hugged herself tighter, as if trying to keep herself from falling apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you even yelling at me, Riley?\u201d she cried. \u201cDo you even know what I went through today?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t change anything,\u201d I snapped. \u201cYou should have listened to me and left her alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy reputation is ruined!\u201d she shouted. \u201cI can\u2019t show my face at school again, and it\u2019s only a matter of time before Matthew finds out what I did. Everything I worked for, everything I wanted, is gone. All of it! And it\u2019s all because of a bitch like her!\u201d Her hands clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms. \u201cDo you know how unfair that is?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, my anger faltering for a second, replaced by a sinking feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What exactly had Violet done to her? How far had things gone today for Nora to be this terrified?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop it, both of you! Enough yelling.\u201d My father\u2019s deep voice cut through the tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room fell silent instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He straightened and looked at us one by one, his gaze sharp, before finally landing on my mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone is going to tell me what happened,\u201d he said coldly. \u201cInstead of shouting and crying, tell me what you did. What did you people do?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother swallowed hard and forced an awkward, nervous laugh. \u201cW-we didn\u2019t do anything big, honey,\u201d she said quickly. \u201cThe kids were just playing around. It\u2019s nothing serious. Friends sometimes fight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t mess with me,\u201d my father snapped, his patience snapping thin. \u201cSay it straight. I\u2019ve got enough to deal with without this nonsense. What happened with Violet? Did you do something to her again?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course not.\u201d My mother opened her mouth again, clearly scrambling for words, but I cut her off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they did something to her. Nora and Mom framed her, saying she slept with older men for money and attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father froze, eyes wide, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to process what he had just heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley!\u201d my mother shouted, panic flashing in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat, Mom?\u201d I shot back, my voice shaking but resolute. \u201cYou\u2019ve ignored me every single time I told you something was wrong. I told you Violet isn\u2019t the same anymore. I told you she\u2019s changed. If you won\u2019t listen, then fine. I won\u2019t sit here and wait for everything to fall apart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a shaky breath, my eyes drifting back to Nora.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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21:13 Tue, Jan 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 157 Chapter 157\u00a0 Chapter 157\u00a0 Riley\u00a0 Nora sat curled up on the […]<\/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-28073","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\/28073","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=28073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}