Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Frowning, I steadily said, \u201cIt\u2019s a filthy thing. Am I not allowed to stop wanting it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that, Albus\u2019 breathing turned ragged. His gaze burned with hurt and fury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In one abrupt move, he brought his foot down on the charm, grinding it underfoot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline, you\u2019re spoiled rotten! You\u2019re nothing but a heartless, ungrateful wretch!\u201d he sneered, laughing bitterly. \u201cThe fact that Nathan chose Eveline over you makes perfect sense. You-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlbus!\u201d Martin cut him off, his tone heavy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Albus watched me with reddened eyes. He studied me closely, searching for the slightest trace of remorse or regret in my features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet, as he looked, all he found was a mask of unsettling stillness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that, he trembled with rage. Through gritted teeth, he snarled, \u201cCaroline, that charm isn\u2019t even yours to begin with. It was Eveline\u2019s. She merely placed it in your care, so who gave you the right to discard it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly, I felt oddly at peace. \u201cI\u2019ll compensate her, then,\u201d I said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My indifference ignited Albus\u2019 fury. He jabbed a finger toward me and shouted, \u201cEnough pretending! Fine, if that\u2019s how you want to be, then grab another protective charm yourself. You\u2019d better climb every one of those thousand steps!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Martin wanted to speak up and intervene, but a single stare from Albus held him back. To them, this was a fitting way to humble me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the stab wound wasn\u2019t life-threatening, they dismissed it as yet another attention-seeking stunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It began to rain when I got to the hillside church.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The downpour had turned the stone staircase-all thousand steps of it-into a treacherous, slippery path. I lost my footing and fell to my knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rainwater soaked into the wound, and the sharp pain spread through my body. But I shut the feeling out and kept telling myself one thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the last time I\u2019m doing this. After this, I owe Albus nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how long I prayed, but at long last, the new protective charm was mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Drenched and shivering, I felt a heavy, feverish fog cloud my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I pushed open the Bergling residence\u2019s front door, I found a celebration in full swing. Eveline was at the heart of it, smiling brightly with a physics trophy in her hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My arrival broke the festive mood at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Martin was the first to frown, then he rebuked me sharply, \u201cCaroline! Have you seen the state you\u2019re in? Is this how an heiress of the Berglings should look?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s gaze toward me in unison. There was scorn and impatience, but not a single trace of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paying the onlookers no mind, I walked straight to Eveline and placed the protective charm in her hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that, Eveline pulled her hand away with feigned shock. However, a glint of triumph shone in her eyes. \u201cCarol, please\u2026 You mustn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t blame you in the slightest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had no patience for her act. Without another word, I turned and left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0 Frowning, I steadily said, \u201cIt\u2019s a filthy thing. Am I not allowed to stop wanting it?\u201d\u00a0 At 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":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-only-when-i-gave-up-did-they-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462","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=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}