เข้าสู่ระบบDivina"Not yet," I replied, my hands trembling slightly as I gripped the edge of the sofa. "Why are you here?" "You didn't sound like you were paying a damn bit of attention to me on the phone," Zephyr growled, dragging a hand through his dark, messy hair. "So I had no choice but to rush back." "If you won't give me a single valid reason why you want me to stay away from Derrick, how do you expect me to listen to a word you say?" I demanded, taking a sharp step toward him. He shoved both hands through his hair in pure, suffocating frustration, letting out a sharp breath. Ding-dong. The chime echoed loudly through the living room. Before I could even move a muscle, Zephyr practically leaped across the hardwood, beating me to the entry and yanking the front door open. Derrick stood on the porch, holding my denim jacket in one hand. The instant his eyes locked onto Zephyr, the color completely drained from his face. "What are you doing here? She explicitly told me you weren't with
Elowen We were back in the apartment, and the familiar quiet of our place felt like a breath of fresh air after the heavy, suffocating air of the Knox family mansion. Thankfully, I had nowhere to go so early that evening, I’d curled up on the living room couch with a paperback book, finally relaxing into the calm. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, I looked up as Zephyr walked downstairs. Instinctively before I could even stop my actions, my spine straightened, and my hands rushed to fix my wrinkled sweater and smooth down my jeans. Before I even turned to face him, the warm scent of his woodsy cologne drifted across the living room—a subtle, hit of cedar, smoke and spice that instantly sent my heart into a nervous rhythm. When I finally peeked at him, my breath hitched in my throat. He wore dark, slim-fitting trousers and a deep maroon button-down shirt with the sleeves carelessly rolled up to his forearms. His dark hair was styled into a messy, effortless look that somehow
Elowen By the time I finally woke up the next morning, the house was eerily silent. Mirabelle and my father had already packed up and left for an overnight trip across the state. I found a short note written in my father's neat handwriting resting on the marble kitchen island: > Mirabelle surprised me early this morning with a last-minute getaway for my birthday. She already had the bags packed before I even woke up! I didn't want to disturb your sleep. We'll be back late Tuesday evening. There's plenty of food in the fridge for you and Zephyr. Call me if you need anything. Love you, baby. > How ridiculously convenient. I was certain Mirabelle had orchestrated the entire sudden trip just to avoid facing the wreckage of what had happened last night. Not that she cared. Irritation flaring inside me, I picked up my phone and immediately typed out a reply: Me: Have a nice trip, but the second you get back, we need to have a real talk about what’s going on between mother and son
ElowenI waited all morning and afternoon for Zephyr, but he never came home. The silence inside the estate stretched long and suffocating. As the hours bled into evening, a heavy, knotting dread settled deep in my stomach, making it impossible to focus on anything. Sleep was a distant, unreachable memory. Finally, right around midnight, the faint sound of heavy, uneven footsteps echoed down the grand corridor. A second later, the brass doorknob to Zephyr’s room clicked and slowly turned. At least he was home. I sighed. Not even a minute passed before I heard his door slam wide open against the wall with a thunderous crash. "What the fuck, Zephyr? You reek of alcohol," Mirabelle’s harsh, sharp voice barked down the hall. My heart shot straight into my throat. I threw my blankets aside, sprang out of bed, and pressed my ear firmly against my room door. "Hey, mama..." Zephyr’s voice slurred heavily, raspy and thick with liquor. "Don't dare call me that! Ha, you just continue t
Elowen What Zephyr had just said threw me into horrendous confusion... The question still remained: what had actually happened back there? And why, all of a sudden, was Zephyr acting all protective? I looked up at his face, searching the harsh, unyielding lines of his profile. He didn't turn to meet my gaze. The heavy muscles in his jaw ticked steadily, his knuckles scraped and stained dark, and his broad chest rose and fell in jagged hitches like he was still in for another round of fights. The violent energy radiating off his body was practically humming in the small space between us. I folded my arms tightly across my chest and shifted away from him, pressing myself against the far passenger door. My gaze left his rigid posture and stared out the window, watching the blur of streetlights streak through the dark glass. The entire way back, we said nothing to each other. The silence inside the cab was deafening, suffocating, and thick with questions I was too terrified—or too p
Zephyr "Get off him!" hands grabbed at my leather jacket. Two large men from the surrounding booths wrestled my arms back, hauling me off Derrick's broken, moaning body with everything they had. I thrashed against their grip, my chest heaving violently, my blood boiling. Derrick keeled over on his side, clutching his shattered jaw, spitting crimson, and screaming back through his ruined mouth, "He's crazy! The guy is fucking insane!" I wanted to break free and tear his windpipe out. I tried to force my gasping lungs to slow down, especially with Elowen standing mere feet away from me, but her presence only made the blinding rage ten times worse. Looking at her—at her soft, trembling lips, at the delicate dip of her collarbone exposed by her shirt, at how hopelessly vulnerable she was—sent a sickening shockwave through my gut. If I hadn't tagged along tonight... If I hadn't forced my way onto this stupid date... This absolute scum would have drugged her. He would have dragg
Zephyr In spite of my best intentions to avoid adhering to my mother, here I was in her fucking car on our way to meeting my “new family.” “You could at least try not to look like a fucking criminal for one day.” My mother’s voice sliced through the car like broken glass. I kept my eyes on
Elowen"I don't do virgins, blondie." It had been nine solid months since that night, and yet the embarrassment still lingered heavily in my chest whenever I remembered the events that occurred. “I want to hold another party, in celebration of you getting into Whitmore College!” Isa shrieked thr
ElowenI didn’t even have the luxury to react before his hot mouth came down on mine. My eyes widened. How did things get to this point?In the next second, my back was pressed against the cold wall as his tall, muscular frame trapped me.I tried to push him away, but his grip on my neck tightened.
ElowenThe stupid thing was that I could still hear the annoying sound of his laughter five minutes later. In my head.I pushed through a crowd of dancing people and headed straight for the kitchen.My face was still burning. No. Burning wasn’t the right word. I was mortified. I grabbed the first







