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Author: Hewrite
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-04 09:19:44

BONDING

~CHELSEA POV~

{playlist suggestion: Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift}

The simple question opened up a wound I'd tried so hard to keep buried. In the darkness, with a door between us, it felt safer to tell the truth.

"Your father's company laid off three hundred people six years ago. My dad was one of them. We lost our house, had to move to the worst part of town. That's when everything fell apart."

"I didn't know."

"Why would you? You were probably getting fitted for designer clothes while we were shopping at thrift stores."

I expected him to get defensive, maybe walk away. Instead, he was quiet for a long moment.

"You're right," he said finally. "I was sheltered from all of that. My father made sure I never saw the real cost of his business decisions."

"Must be nice, having that kind of protection."

"It wasn't protection. It was willful blindness. And it's made me complicit in things I never even knew were happening."

The honesty in his voice surprised me. Most rich kids I'd met
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  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    100

    LEGACY COSTS{Playlist Suggestion: "Power" by Kanye West / "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Lorde (Cover)}~KNOX POV~The summons came at 6:00 AM.It wasn't an email. It wasn't a text. It was Stevens, my father's personal butler, standing in my penthouse living room with a sealed envelope on a silver tray."Your presence is required in the study," Stevens said. "Immediately."I didn't ask why. I knew. I drove to the estate in the gray dawn light. When I arrived, I saw two other cars already in the driveway. Kolt's Maybach. Kade's sports car.The trinity was assembled.I walked into the study. It smelled of old money....leather, mahogany, and fear. My father, Warren Kingston, sat behind his desk. He wasn't working. He was staring at a single piece of paper centered on the blotter.Kolt was leaning against the bookshelf, looking bored, though I saw the tension in his jaw. Kade was sitting in one of the guest chairs, still wearing the clothes he'd slept in (or hadn't slept in). He

  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    099

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  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    098

    HEAVY IS THE HEAD{Playlist Suggestion: "Peace" by Taylor Swift / "I Found" by Amber Run}~MIA POV~The training room lights were off, but the room wasn't silent.I could hear the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of a tennis ball being thrown against the concrete wall. It was a hollow, repetitive sound that echoed in the dark corridor like a slow heartbeat.I shouldn't have been here. It was 8:15 PM on a Tuesday. I should be at home, buried in AP Physics, or literally anywhere other than the high school athletic wing. But when I saw the sliver of light under the door crack and recognized the specific, heavy silence that hung over the hallway, I knew who was inside.And I knew he shouldn't be alone.I pushed the door open. The hinges groaned, a familiar sound that usually signaled the start of my shift, but tonight it felt like intruding on a wake.Denver sat on the edge of the taping table, his legs dangling. He was still in his practice gear...mesh shorts and a grey t-shirt stained with sweat

  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    097

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  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    096

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  • His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea    095

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