Chapter 300\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t a guess out of thin air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s past, irrational \u201cobsession\u201d with Edward, and the\u00a0<\/p>\n
way she clearly avoided and distanced herself from him after\u00a0<\/p>\n
she came to her senses, was strange enough on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If some \u201cunconventional\u201d force was at work, Edward was\u00a0<\/p>\n
undoubtedly the biggest connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s body went rigid!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even her quiet sobs stopped instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked up in terror almost immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even in the dark, Roderick could feel her pupils dilate and that horrified \u201chow could you possibly know\u201d shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d guessed right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick clearly felt the terror that nearly burst from Madeleine\u00a0<\/p>\n
in that instant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her stiff body, her silent, sharp intake of breath, told him\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had guessed right, and this connection terrified her more\u00a0<\/p>\n
than anything she had admitted before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was the key, just as he thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he couldn\u2019t ask any more questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To keep pressing for details would be like pouring salt on her\u00a0<\/p>\n
bleeding wound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had already been through enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowing the problem was with Edward was enough for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, I won\u2019t ask about this anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick immediately stopped, his tone unwavering, as if that\u00a0<\/p>\n
earth\u2013shattering guess had just been a casual remark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled her trembling body fully into his arms again, his large\u00a0<\/p>\n
hand gently patting her back as if soothing a frightened baby.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all in the past, don\u2019t think about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice was low and steady, carrying a force that could quell\u00a0<\/p>\n
any storm. \u201cI won\u2019t ask anything else. You\u2019re safe now. You\u2019re\u00a0<\/p>\n
safe with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u104b\u00a0<\/p>\n
He no longer tried to dig for the unbelievable truth, instead\u00a0<\/p>\n
focusing all his attention on calming her frightened emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He repeated \u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t be scared,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m here,\u201d over and\u00a0<\/p>\n
over, using his steady heartbeat and warm embrace to tell her\u00a0<\/p>\n
that whatever it was, it couldn\u2019t break through his protection to\u00a0<\/p>\n
harm her now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under his extremely patient and gentle comfort, the terror that\u00a0<\/p>\n
had nearly burst from her chest finally began to subside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The feeling of surviving a disaster drained her of all strength,\u00a0<\/p>\n
and she went limp in his arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRicki\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so glad you\u2019re here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice was a little choked up. \u201cIf I had to face this alone, I\u00a0<\/p>\n
don\u2019t know\u2026 what I would have done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 300\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick held her, resting his chin lightly on the top of her head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSilly girl, I would never let you be alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To have and to hold, till death do us part\u2013that was the promise\u00a0<\/p>\n
they made back then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick always kept his word, especially when it came to\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gently patted Madeleine\u2019s back, coaxing her to sleep, but his\u00a0<\/p>\n
mind was racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All the clues pointed to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s past abnormal \u201cobsession,\u201d her current extreme\u00a0<\/p>\n
fear, all those \u201crisks\u201d and \u201ctaboos\u201d that couldn\u2019t be explained by\u00a0<\/p>\n
common sense\u2026 the core of it all was Edward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether it was some strange obsession, an unresolved grudge,\u00a0<\/p>\n
or something even beyond his comprehension\u2026 it didn\u2019t matter\u00a0<\/p>\n
anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What mattered was solving the problem, and that meant\u00a0<\/p>\n
starting at the source.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
To sever the fear that entangled Madeleine and kept her up at\u00a0<\/p>\n
night, to pull everything back on track, he had to start with\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick\u2019s eyes turned completely cold, like tempered ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seemed he needed to pay him a proper, thorough visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He would completely eliminate the last and largest shadow\u00a0<\/p>\n
looming over Madeleine\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gently kissing Madeleine\u2019s sweaty forehead, Roderick\u00a0<\/p>\n
whispered softly:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSleep. Everything will be okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enveloped in Roderick\u2019s reassuring presence, Madeleine\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
consciousness gradually faded as she sank into a troubled\u00a0<\/p>\n
sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her dreams were bizarre and fragmented.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She felt like she was back in those years, controlled by invisible\u00a0<\/p>\n
strings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time, the dream wasn\u2019t from an observer\u2019s point of view,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
but a first\u2013person, bloody, firsthand experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She clearly \u201cwatched\u201d herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watching her own hand uncontrollably pick up her phone,\u00a0<\/p>\n
sending Edward those nauseatingly clingy messages over and over again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Listening to her own mouth use the sickliest sweet voice to\u00a0<\/p>\n
speak shameless, begging words to Edward on the other end of\u00a0<\/p>\n
the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, her soul was screaming and roaring inside her,\u00a0<\/p>\n
cursing this damn narrative control!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feeling the immense dependence and joy that surged in her\u00a0<\/p>\n
heart when Roderick appeared\u2013that was a real emotion!\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the next second, that invisible, tyrannical force brutally\u00a0<\/p>\n
suppressed her true reaction, forcing her facial muscles into an\u00a0<\/p>\n
expression of disgust, forcing her mouth to spit out the\u00a0<\/p>\n
sharpest, most hurtful words!\u00a0<\/p>\n
She watched helplessly as the light in Roderick\u2019s eyes\u00a0<\/p>\n
shattered, piece by piece, because of her cold, cruel words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How she longed to rush over and hug him, to tell him it wasn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
like that!\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her body was like a sealed cage, her consciousness trapped\u00a0<\/p>\n
inside, only able to watch, to feel, to suffer.\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 ` 300 Chapter 300\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t a guess out of thin air.\u00a0 […]<\/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-29597","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\/29597","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=29597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}