Chapter 181\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
55 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
If anyone ever said that revenge would never make you feel good, that person deserves a slap across the face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A hard one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That kind of statement only ever comes from people who have never tasted real revenge, the kind that settles in your chest like a perfect meal after years of starvation. They\u2019ve never been hurt deeply enough, never been stripped down piece by piece, never been humiliated, cornered, bullied, and crushed by people who smiled while doing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People like that talk about forgiveness because they have never experienced real pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe they\u2019re more sympathetic. Maybe they\u2019re kinder. Or maybe they just never suffered enough to understand why watching your bully collapse could feel this intoxicating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I used to think I would be like them. When I first planned all of this, I thought I wouldn\u2019t be able to go through with it. I thought I would feel guilty. I thought I would stop halfway, overwhelmed by shame, and fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother was kind, and naive. She believed that no matter what someone did to you, inflicting pain back would only poison your own soul. She wanted me to be gentle, forgiving, and soft. She didn\u2019t want me to become someone who could hurt others back. But I am not my mother. And just because she was kind doesn\u2019t mean I ever had to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am not someone who will let people destroy me and my brother again and again and walk away unscathed. I am not someone who will swallow pain and call it grace. I don\u2019t feel bad watching them like this. I feel thrilled, and alive. Watching the people who once thought they held all the power reduced to trembling messes feels right. It feels like balance had been restored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this was only the beginning. My revenge hadn\u2019t even reached its peak yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes flicked down to Nora.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her face had gone completely pale, ghost-white, her lips trembling as she stared up at me like she was looking straight at the devil. Her breaths came fast and shallow, as if the air around her had thickened into something she couldn\u2019t push through her lungs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head slowly, enjoying the way fear on her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo on your knees and apologize, Nora,\u201d I said calmly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened in horror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d she blurted out, shaking her head violently. \u201cI-I can\u2019t. Are you insane?\u201d Her voice cracked. \u201cThere are too many people here. I can\u2019t possibly go on my knees. You\u2019ll ruin me, and my reputation in front of them!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched her for a moment, studying her face as if seeing it for the first time. She really was beautiful. We shared similarities, doe eyes, a straight nose, soft lips. But where hers were delicate and fragile, mine were\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:59 Tue, Feb 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 181\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
42\u00a0<\/p>\n
55 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
sharper and more elegant. Hers was the kind of beauty that begged to be protected. Mine was the kind that didn\u2019t need protection anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My lips curved slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew really did have a type.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When his first love, Nora, left him, he found me because I looked like her. And when she came back, the two of them made my life a living hell. Even after I broke things off, even after I walked away and wanted nothing to do with him, she still didn\u2019t stop. She made sure I lost everything, piece by piece.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So now it was her turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tightened my fingers around her chin, forcing her to look at me, and leaned down slowly until my red lipstick brushed lightly against her cheek. \u201cNora, you\u2019re really such an interesting creature, aren\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment the words left my mouth, I watched her body stiffen. Her eyes shook violently, pupils trembling as if they couldn\u2019t decide whether to run or beg.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know why I find you the most interesting out of everyone\u201d I continued, my tone almost detached. \u201cIt\u2019s because you don\u2019t know when to stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven Riley, with all her pride and that awful personality of hers, at least knows when to stop. She knows when to act, when to retreat, and when to survive. She\u2019s smart enough to read the room. She was even the main person I wanted to ruin, but you keep pushing yourself forward, keep forcing me to notice you, when I don\u2019t even care whether you exist or not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned in just enough for her to hear every word clearly. \u201cYou\u2019re dumb. You keep moving forward even when the cliff is right in front of you. It\u2019s like you\u2019re walking toward your own destruction with your eyes wide open, and still convincing yourself you\u2019ll be fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
66\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026..\u00a0<\/p>\n
99\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I made you kneel back in that conference room, your brain should\u2019ve told you something wasn\u2019t adding up tonight. You should\u2019ve stopped. You should\u2019ve ran. Instead, you chose to ruin yourself all over again.\u201d My lips curled in mockery. \u201cBut then again, the dumber you are, the more entertaining it is to watch your downfall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She flinched like I\u2019d struck her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I straightened, leaning back slightly, taking her in properly now. She looked small, and terrified. Gone was the girl who once smiled sweetly while sharpening knives behind her back. I smiled at her gently, and said the words that shattered what little composure she had left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo apologize, Nora. Apologize to me, the wife of Hades Sinclair.\u201d I paused deliberately. \u201cMatthew\u2019s new mother. And possibly your new mother-in-law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her body convulsed as if something inside her snapped. \u201cAh-!\u201d she screamed, a broken sound tearing out of her as she suddenly lunged forward and shoved me with both hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:00 Tue, Feb 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 181\u00a0<\/p>\n
42\u00a0<\/p>\n
55 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stumbled back, caught off guard, my heels sliding for a split second until strong hands caught me instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need to turn around. That familiar warmth, that addictive cologne wrapping around me told me everything. Hades\u2019 arm locked around my waist, pulling me back against his chest before I could even lose my balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly and looked up at him. His eyes softened the moment they met mine, concern flickering beneath all those dangerous eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d I murmured. \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t respond right away. He was still checking me, scanning my face, making sure I truly was unharmed. Only when he was satisfied did he finally look away, and looked at Nora. And in that instant, the temperature in the room dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone felt it the change. The hall went so silent it was suffocating. Even I shivered slightly, despite\u00a0<\/p>\n
knowing that murderous intent wasn\u2019t directed at me. Hades looked at Nora like she was nothing more than an insect beneath his shoe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d he said slowly, his deep voice echoing through the hall, \u201chow people tend to forget their place, and who I am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
People flinched, and fear rippled through the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted his gaze, sweeping it across everyone present, his lips quirking upward without a trace of warmth. \u201cI\u2019m sure most of you have never experienced what I\u2019m capable of when I\u2019m angry. And those who have? I\u2019m sure you\u2019d rather not experience it again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several guests instinctively stepped back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t want to learn what my anger feels like,\u201d he continued calmly, \u201cthen learn your place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hand tightened around my waist, possessively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis woman is my wife. And my wife stands above me. So tell me, who do you think you are in front of her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
No one dared answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hades\u2019 gaze dropped back to Nora, who was still on the floor, shaking violently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo let me make this very clear, anyone who disrespects my wife will experience pain worse than death.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if my wife tells someone to kneel,\u201d he said dangerously, \u201cthen they kneel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:00 Tue, Feb 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 181 Chapter 181\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 :\u00a0 55 vouchers\u00a0 If anyone ever said that […]<\/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-28097","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\/28097","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=28097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}