Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona took a step closer to Madeleine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou probably don\u2019t know, but I was later accepted into the\u00a0<\/p>\n
Santorian Dance Academy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s face was blank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that so? Well, congratulations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was clear Leona didn\u2019t come with good intentions, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine didn\u2019t plan on wasting any more words on her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She planned to walk around Leona to get to her seat, but Leona\u00a0<\/p>\n
turned and called out to her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMadeleine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice was much colder than before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked you up. You stopped dancing. Why?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those words struck Madeleine like a bolt of lightning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since she woke up with amnesia, this was the one thing\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine couldn\u2019t accept.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had lost the thing she loved most and had taken a path\u00a0<\/p>\n
completely different from the one she had imagined as a child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After realizing this was the narrative control, an unavoidable\u00a0<\/p>\n
outcome, she could only keep telling herself to accept it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had just managed to come to terms with it, but Leona\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
words easily tore the scab right off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simply because it was Leona, the rival she had once respected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Madeleine didn\u2019t answer, she narrowed her eyes and\u00a0<\/p>\n
asked again:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw you talking to a contestant. Are you\u2026 family?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of your business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a long moment, Madeleine stiffly forced out the words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona seemed to think of something, a slight smile playing on\u00a0<\/p>\n
her lips as she pulled a work ID from her handbag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was\u2026 a judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s heart tightened instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona was very satisfied with Madeleine\u2019s sudden change in\u00a0<\/p>\n
expression. She dangled the work ID for a moment before\u00a0<\/p>\n
putting it back in her bag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, is it still none of my business?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s nails dug into her palms. From the years she\u2019d\u00a0<\/p>\n
competed against Leona, she knew her well enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wouldn\u2019t make pointless provocations. By revealing her\u00a0<\/p>\n
identity now, Leona\u2019s intention couldn\u2019t be clearer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was using Minerva, who was about to perform, to threaten\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She scoffed, \u201cI\u2019m just curious. Just how talented can a\u00a0<\/p>\n
contestant be to have the once high and mighty ballet princess,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine, personally watch over her? I\u2019ll be\u2026 paying special\u00a0<\/p>\n
attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLeona!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s breath hitched, and she grew anxious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is between us. Don\u2019t drag someone uninvolved into this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine gritted her teeth, \u201cI always thought our relationship\u00a0<\/p>\n
was purely competitive, that there was no bad blood between\u00a0<\/p>\n
us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with the rumors back then, she had never schemed\u00a0<\/p>\n
against Leona because of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Leona looked as if she had just heard a hilarious joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA purely competitive relationship?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her body shook with laughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMadeleine, do you really have the nerve to say that?\u00a0<\/p>\n
All those rumors about your family bribing their way through the\u00a0<\/p>\n
competition back then, you really think everyone forgot?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said it yourself, they were rumors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine really didn\u2019t expect Leona to remember it to this day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She felt annoyed. Society was always like this; once your name\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
was dragged through the mud, it was impossible to get clean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona took a deep breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cForget it, it\u2019s depressing to talk about that stuff. It\u2019s enough to\u00a0<\/p>\n
know you\u2019re not qualified to be my rival anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned her head, looking at the stage in the distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBack when you had the best resources and everyone put you\u00a0<\/p>\n
on a pedestal, you probably never imagined this day would\u00a0<\/p>\n
come, did you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine gritted her teeth, a tightness in her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Words from someone who knew you best always cut the\u00a0<\/p>\n
deepest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had known back then that you were so fragile, not even\u00a0<\/p>\n
worthy of being my rival\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona turned her head back but didn\u2019t finish her sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the unfinished sentence was more suffocating than any\u00a0<\/p>\n
vicious words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She gave Madeleine one last glance, her expression a complex\u00a0<\/p>\n
mix of triumph, disdain, and a barely perceptible trace of old\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
resentment, long buried by time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTake a good look. See who\u2019s standing at the top now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After saying that, she didn\u2019t linger, turning and walking toward\u00a0<\/p>\n
the judges\u2018 exclusive passageway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine just stood there, frozen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona\u2019s words were like icicles, piercing the most painful spot\u00a0<\/p>\n
in her heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More and more people filled the venue, and the surrounding\u00a0<\/p>\n
noise grew louder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But all those sounds became increasingly blurry to Madeleine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her blood ran cold until music started playing in the venue, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine snapped out of it, numbly walking to her seat in the\u00a0<\/p>\n
front row.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After calming down, Madeleine looked at the five judges;\u00a0<\/p>\n
several were big shots in the dance world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No matter how malicious Leona was, she probably wouldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
mess with Mina\u2019s score at a time like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 232\u00a0<\/p>\n
Besides, she was confident in Minerva\u2019s abilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Night Carved Paths Into Silence by Zyrel Ash ` 232 Chapter 232\u00a0 Leona took a step closer to Madeleine.\u00a0 \u201cYou […]<\/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":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-heart-surgeons-last-patient-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29529","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=29529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}