Chapter 178\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
60\u00a0<\/p>\n
35 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence was suffocating. It was the kind of silence where you were painfully aware of every heartbeat in your chest, every shallow breath you didn\u2019t dare take. No one spoke or moved. It felt as though if someone dropped a pin, the sound alone would echo loudly in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone was staring at my father, Hades Sinclair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faces had drained of color, lips slightly parted in shock, bodies instinctively stepping back as if distance alone could save them. Hands trembled uselessly at people\u2019s sides, unsure whether to clasp together or hide behind their backs. This wasn\u2019t admiration or respect anymore. This was fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I wasn\u2019t exempt from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the man standing before us, the man who held the entire world in his palm as if it were nothing more than a toy. Hades Sinclair didn\u2019t need to raise his voice or lift a finger. He controlled everything the way a grandmaster controlled a chessboard, knowing exactly when to move a piece, when to sacrifice one, and when to wipe the board clean entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the most terrifying thing about him was that the pieces on his chessboard weren\u2019t objects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Human lives that he could use, discard, or destroy without hesitation if they stood in his way. He didn\u2019t feel guilt. He didn\u2019t need justification. If someone became an obstacle, they were removed. Simple as that. The world wasn\u2019t just his battlefield, it was his game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now those soulless blue eyes were locked onto me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt like I had stepped somewhere forbidden, as though I had crossed an invisible line I hadn\u2019t even known existed. My body refused to obey my mind. I wanted to move, to speak, to do something but I couldn\u2019t. I stood rooted to the spot, my limbs heavy, my throat dry, my pulse roaring in my ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just as I began searching for a way out of this, his gaze flicked down to my hand, where my fingers were still wrapped around Violet\u2019s wrist, and something inside me snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I released her immediately, jerking my hand back as if her skin had burned me. My chest tightened painfully, dread sinking deep into my bones. I didn\u2019t understand why my father looked like he was about to kill me for touching her, but one thing was painfully clear, touching Violet again would be a death sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And knowing Hades Sinclair, death wouldn\u2019t be quick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It would be slow, and endless. The kind of suffering that made you beg for the mercy of dying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He studied me for another long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, as if I had already been deemed insignificant, his attention shifted to Violet. And that was when my breath caught in my throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The change was subtle, but I saw it. His gaze softened in a way I had never seen before. Not once in my entire life had I seen my father look at someone like that, with this much restraint, and care. It was\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:57 Wed, Jan 21\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 178\u00a0<\/p>\n
dangerously close to tenderness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t make sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hand clenched at my side, nails digging into my palm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
60\u00a0<\/p>\n
a\u00a0<\/p>\n
E35 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why was he looking at her like that? Why Violet? My father had never looked at anyone that way. He had always been cold, distant, and untouchable. Yet now, his eyes held warmth meant only for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something twisted violently in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt wrong, and deeply disturbing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without thinking, driven by a surge of instinct and jealousy I didn\u2019t even try to understand, I stepped forward, and positioned myself directly in front of Violet, blocking his line of sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment I did, the air seemed to drop another ten degrees. And in that instant, I realized I might have just made the biggest mistake of my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s eyebrow lifted slowly, and my throat tightened. I forced a nervous smile onto my face, my lips stiff as I bowed my head slightly, instinctively lowering myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cF-Father,\u201d I said, my voice coming out tighter than I intended. \u201cYou\u2019re here\u2026 I didn\u2019t realize you\u2019d already arrived. If I had known, I would have come to welcome you myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I had said something wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hades tilted his head, studying me like an interesting, but ultimately disposable object. His eyes were calm, and amused, and that was far worse than anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you saying,\u201d he drawled, \u201cthat I should inform you when I arrive at my own wedding party?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A faint, humorless smile tugged at his lips. \u201cHow amusing. I wonder who you think you are, to believe I should report my movements to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cold sweat broke out across my back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart slammed violently against my ribs, the sound so loud in my ears I was sure everyone could hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh, shit. I had really lost my mind. Did I just tell this demon to report to me? Was I trying to get myself killed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI-I wouldn\u2019t dare,\u201d I said quickly, bowing my head lower, my voice rushed. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, father. That\u2019s not what I meant. I just didn\u2019t want you to walk in and see something like this. I know this must be disappointing, and I apologize for causing a scene on your wedding day. This is all just a misunderstanding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA misunderstanding?\u201d he repeated, his tone flat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded immediately, latching onto that word like it could save me. \u201cYes, sir. Violet is my girlfriend. We just had a small argument, and I wanted to talk to her. That\u2019s all. I hope you can forgive me for the disturbance. I\u2019ll take her and leave right away. We won\u2019t bother you or your wife any further today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:57 Wed, Jan 21\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 178 Chapter 178\u00a0 Matthew\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0 60\u00a0 35 vouchers\u00a0 The silence was suffocating. […]<\/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-28094","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\/28094","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=28094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}