\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 172\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 172\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
FIND\u00a0<\/p>\n
A thought crossed my mind so suddenly that it made my chest tighten. I turned my head and looked at Nora, and before 1 could stop myself, the words slipped out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you invited?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She blinked, clearly caught off guard. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned back against the seat, my gaze half-lidded as I stared ahead, my mind piecing things together whether I wanted it to or not. \u201cNo matter how much I think about it, I still don\u2019t understand why you and Violet\u2019s family were invited. It doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d I let out a slow breath. \u201cI know my father. He wouldn\u2019t go out of his way to invite you. He probably doesn\u2019t even know you exist. So the only person who could have invited you is his wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I glanced at her briefly. \u201cDo you know her by any chance?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words sounded harsher than I intended, but they were the truth. My father never did anything without reason. He wouldn\u2019t invite people out of sentiment, or nostalgia. He invited them because they were useful, powerful, or necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora didn\u2019t fit into any of those categories, at least not in his world. And Violet\u2019s family? They used to be wealthy, yes, but not anymore. Not since her father died. They weren\u2019t irrelevant, but they weren\u2019t important enough to warrant an invitation like this either. Everything about it felt off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora studied me for a moment, then slowly shook her head. \u201cI have no idea either. We just received the invitation.\u201d She paused, then added, \u201cBut from what I know, Sierra planned the party. She\u2019s a famous fashion icon. I\u2019ve bought a lot of her designs before and posted them on my platform. Maybe she recognized me from there and decided to invite me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned deeper, my jaw tightening. That explanation made even less sense. Someone like Sierra didn\u2019t invite people just because they bought clothes from her. If that were the case, half the influencers in the country would be there. And even if that explained Nora, it still didn\u2019t explain Violet\u2019s family. The pieces didn\u2019t fit, no matter how I rearranged them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could think further, Nora leaned closer and gently rested her head on my shoulder. I stiffened slightly, surprised by the sudden contact, and looked down at her. She smiled, as if none of this mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does it matter, Matthew?\u201d she said quietly. \u201cI don\u2019t care why we were invited. As long as I\u2019m with you, I\u2019m happy. I don\u2019t care about the reason.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t respond. I didn\u2019t push her away either. I just sat there, staring ahead, my thoughts louder than the engine of the car. Something about her words felt empty to me, like they were meant to comfort but missed their mark entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she shifted slightly and leaned up. \u201cOh, right. I forgot to tell you\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. \u201cTell me what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hesitated, suddenly shy, shaking her head lightly. \u201cMaybe I shouldn\u2019t tell you. I don\u2019t want you to get angry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was already exhausted. I didn\u2019t have the patience for games. I was about to turn away when she spoke again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about Violet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My body reacted before my mind did. I stopped and looked at her sharply. \u201cWhat about her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I caught the brief twitch of Nora\u2019s lips, the flash of something she quickly hid. She didn\u2019t like how fast I reacted. Didn\u2019t like that my attention sharpened the moment Violet\u2019s name was mentioned. Still, she lowered her gaze, biting her lip as if\u00a0<\/p>\n
conflicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
21:16 Tue, Jan 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 172\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I really shouldn\u2019t say it,\u201d she murmured. \u201cYou\u2019re already tired, Matthew. You won\u2019t like what I have to say\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something cold settled in my chest. I didn\u2019t know what she was about to tell me, but I already knew one thing, whatever it was, it would involve Violet, and once I heard it, there would be no going back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes darkened before I even realized it. And before I could stop myself, my hand was already on her shoulder. I leaned toward her, my voice low, and tense, nothing like the calm tone I\u2019d been forcing all night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust tell me, damn it,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat happened to Violet?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The desperation in my own voice surprised me. It was ugly, stripped of any control. I hated that it came out like that, hated that she could hear how badly I needed an answer. I\u2019d been starving for any information about Violet for weeks, and the way Nora kept hesitating, circling around it, only made the pressure in my chest worse. Something big had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora blinked, her brows knitting together as she sucked in a shaky breath. \u201cMatthew,\u201d she murmured. \u201cYou\u2019re hurting me, my heart\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words snapped me back to reality like cold water to the face. I froze, then immediately pulled my hand away as if burned. Guilt flooded in just as fast as the panic had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI-I\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said quickly, my voice dropping. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to. I was just worried.\u201d I reached out again, this time carefully, gently resting my hand on her shoulder instead of gripping it. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, I\u2019d completely forgotten about her heart. I clenched my jaw, angry at myself. No matter how restless I felt, not matter how tangled my thoughts were about Violet, I couldn\u2019t afford to lose control around Nora. She was important to me.. I couldn\u2019t let anything happen to her because of my carelessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora nodded slowly, one hand drifting to her chest as if to reassure herself. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. It\u2019s my fault. I shouldn\u2019t have made you worry like that.\u201d She gave a small smile. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want you to get angry at Violet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cI won\u2019t, I promise. Just tell me, Nora.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She studied my face for a long moment, as if weighing something. Then she finally nodded, her expression turning serious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I know why Violet was so adamant about breaking things off with you\u201d she said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened. \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hesitated for just a second longer, then leaned closer, lowering her voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Violet has a sugar daddy,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit me like a slap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze. My breath caught in my throat, my mind refusing to process what she\u2019d just said. \u201cWhat?\u201d I whispered. \u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nora leaned in again, her voice calm, and gentle, as if she were explaining something obvious. \u201cI said Violet is seeing another man, Matthew. She was never interested in you to begin with.\u201d Her lips pressed together before she continued. \u201cHe\u2019s an old man. He\u2019s sleeping with her because of her body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, everything went silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My ears rang, my heartbeat pounding so loudly I could hear it in my head. That didn\u2019t make sense. It couldn\u2019t. Violet, who used to look at me like I was her entire world, who stayed with me even when I treated her like an afterthought. My hands curled into fists on my lap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
21:16 Tue, Jan 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 172\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I muttered under my breath. \u201cThat\u2019s not\u2026 that\u2019s not possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it didn\u2019t matter, because the seed had already been planted, burrowing deep into my thoughts, twisting everything I knew about her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was it true? Was Violet really selling herself to some older man?\u00a0<\/p>\n
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21:16 Tue, Jan 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 172 \u00a0 Chapter 172\u00a0 Chapter 172\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 FIND\u00a0 A thought crossed my […]<\/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-28088","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\/28088","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=28088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}