Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I was a kid, I tried every trick in the book to slack off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine twisted open the cap, took a big gulp of water, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
asked casually while leaning against the barre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona glanced at her, her tone flat. \u201cDidn\u2019t have time to think\u00a0<\/p>\n
about being tired of it. I only thought about how to dance better,\u00a0<\/p>\n
to surpass you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine: \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
This conversation was just asking for humiliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment, Madeleine couldn\u2019t help but speak again. \u201cSo,\u00a0<\/p>\n
you think if I signed up for an adult hobby class at my current\u00a0<\/p>\n
level, would I scare the teacher?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time, Leona didn\u2019t even look up, saying coldly, \u201cYou\u2019d only\u00a0<\/p>\n
make the other students look like they just learned to walk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine choked. Was that a compliment or an insult?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She rubbed her nose sheepishly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a brief silence, Madeleine looked at Leona\u2019s cold, hard\u00a0<\/p>\n
profile and suddenly asked softly, \u201cLeona, why\u2026 why are you helping me like this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could tell Leona was serious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The precise pointers, the seemingly disdainful yet practical\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201ccompliments,\u201d and even showing up every day without fail-\u00a0<\/p>\n
none of it was half\u2013hearted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she was just here to mock her declining skills, she would have\u00a0<\/p>\n
had her laugh and left long ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona\u2019s fingers tightened slightly around the water bottle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was silent for a few seconds, her gaze still fixed on the\u00a0<\/p>\n
empty studio ahead. Her voice was a little lower than before,\u00a0<\/p>\n
but still held no warmth:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t stand to see it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona finally turned her head, her sharp eyes scanning\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine. \u201cYour body still remembers how to dance. It\u2019s just\u00a0<\/p>\n
blocked by a bunch of junk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her tone carried an almost obsessive certainty. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame to\u00a0<\/p>\n
waste it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After saying that, she seemed to feel she\u2019d said too much. She\u00a0<\/p>\n
stood up abruptly and placed the half\u2013finished water bottle on\u00a0<\/p>\n
the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her tone reverted to its previous coldness. \u201cBreak\u2019s over. Let\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
continue. We\u2019re mastering that small jump combination today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine watched her back, and the doubt in her heart\u00a0<\/p>\n
suddenly vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leona was helping her, but perhaps it wasn\u2019t for Madeleine the\u00a0<\/p>\n
person at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was for the body she still recognized but couldn\u2019t dance well,\u00a0<\/p>\n
for the dormant dancing instinct that she believed shouldn\u2019t be\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cwasted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This reason was very Leona\u2013very pure, and even a bit\u00a0<\/p>\n
impersonal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for some reason, Madeleine felt that this, more than any\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
help born of pity or old friendship, made her feel more grounded\u00a0<\/p>\n
and\u2026 respected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She smiled, put down her water bottle, and walked quickly to\u00a0<\/p>\n
the center of the studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the evening, Minerva went to the Livingston family\u2019s house\u00a0<\/p>\n
after school, picked up Kevin, and had Mathew drive them to\u00a0<\/p>\n
the dance studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She knew her cousin Madeleine had been practicing dancing\u00a0<\/p>\n
lately and had been wanting to come. Today, she begged her\u00a0<\/p>\n
brother\u2013in\u2013law for a long time before he finally sent the address\u00a0<\/p>\n
and told her the driver would take them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two little ones looked around and finally found the dance\u00a0<\/p>\n
studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bottom half of the glass outside was frosted, and you could\u00a0<\/p>\n
only see through the top. Minerva could barely see by standing\u00a0<\/p>\n
on her tiptoes, while Kevin was so anxious he was jumping in\u00a0<\/p>\n
place, craning his little head high, but he couldn\u2019t see a thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMinerva, where\u2019s Mommy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tugged on Minerva\u2019s sleeve, urging her in a soft, childish\u00a0<\/p>\n
voice, his little face full of worry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minerva strained on her tiptoes, her eyes lighting up, \u201cI see her! I\u00a0<\/p>\n
see her! She\u2019s dancing!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wow, what a beautiful spin!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was mesmerized and couldn\u2019t help but copy the moves, her\u00a0<\/p>\n
small body wiggling along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin got even more anxious. His little lip trembled as he said\u00a0<\/p>\n
pitifully, \u201cI want to see too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minerva was just a kid herself; there was no way she could hold\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin up to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tried and almost made them both fall down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blinking her big eyes, Minerva had a bright idea, \u201cI\u2019ll go look for\u00a0<\/p>\n
a little stool!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After looking around, Minerva actually found one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She brought it over and put it under the glass wall, and Kevin\u00a0<\/p>\n
immediately scrambled onto it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Kevin saw his mom lose her balance during a spin\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 292\u00a0<\/p>\n
and fall to the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s little heart nearly leaped out of his chest, and he couldn\u2019t stop himself from shouting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMom!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s tearful cry was sharp and clear, piercing through the dance studio\u2019s music and the glass partition, reaching Madeleine\u2019s ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine was pushing herself up from the floor and snapped\u00a0<\/p>\n
her head up at the sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following the voice, she saw a small, anxious face with red-\u00a0<\/p>\n
rimmed eyes pressed against the top of the glass wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who else could it be but her precious son?\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 ` 292 Chapter 292\u00a0 When I was a kid, I tried every […]<\/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-29589","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\/29589","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=29589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}