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Home / Romance / TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion / CHAPTER SEVEN: I’m changing.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: I’m changing.

Author: Natascia .D.
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-24 06:40:52

It looked the same. Felt the same.

She felt something crawl under her skin. A slow, prickling awareness, like stepping into a space just after someone had been talking about her.

Maybe it was the way people glanced at her—not with excitement or surprise. But warier. Like they didn’t know whether to acknowledge her or pretend they hadn’t seen her at all.

Or maybe it was her. The girl by the checkout.

Petite. Brunette. Bright eyes that sparkled easily in the way she beamed at everyone she passed. The kind of smile that screamed ‘first day’, too sun-shiny, too eagerly, almost like she was trying to make a good impression.

She laughed at something one of the cashiers said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she slid a barcode over the scanner. There was a smoothness in her conversation with them, a familiarity Niya had never had with her coworkers.

Not that they were unfriendly. She’d just never been part of the casual back-and-forth that came naturally to people who'd worke
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  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 34: Marry Me.

    Why the hell did she say that?She could feel the words tattooing themselves onto the inside of her ribs, replaying over and over in her head. He hadn't even asked her to say it. Not really. He’d just waited like he knew she would and he trusted that whatever war was going on inside her head, he’d already won it.Niya swallowed hard and gave a single, stubborn shake of her head.“I didn’t mean that,” she murmured, the lie dragging against her throat.He made a face.“I didn’t.”“You don’t lie well, Angel.”Her voice cracked on instinct. “Don’t call me that.”“You earned it.”“By kissing you?” Her fingers curled at her sides, nails digging crescents groves into her own palms. “Are you that cheap?” For an almost imperceptible second, his brow twitched, a restrained surprise passed through his eyes but she didn’t catch it. She was too wound up in her own defiance to see that her words had moved him, even if only briefly. He was intrigued.“That was—”“Real,” he cut through her protest.

  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 33: Run, Angel.

    She shivered.His hand slowly slid down her spine, fingertips tracing the dip in her back like a muscle memory.“You’re shaking,” he whispered. “That’s how I know you’re still alive, Angel.”Her eyes trailed the tattoos crawling from beneath his ear and disappearing into the slope of his shoulder. Finally, she found the strength to speak. “What… what are you doing?”His fingers splayed across her lower back and pulled her in as he leaned down until their foreheads nearly touched. She didn’t want this. She wanted him, yes, but not in a way that felt like drowning. His presence was suffocating and he knew exactly how to pull at her dumb strings. This man that doesn't even know a thing about her could control her? No!Yet her traitorous body betrayed her the moment his scent harassed her nose. It ignited something primal and ravenous in her that made her core pulse without permission, the heat unfurling up into her belly like a fever she couldn’t fight, and suddenly she was maddened wi

  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 32: Shattered love.

    When he finally turned back to her, his voice was cold and rotting at the core.“I’ve spent months trying to forget you,” his hazel eyes were no longer hazel, but dark and burnt around the edges with whatever hate he’d nursed in her absence. “To forgive what you did. And still, here you are like nothing happened.”Niya’s brows knit together. “Alex, what are you talking about?” Her already unsteady heart gave a confused lurch. “Still pretending?” He let out a brittled, humorless laugh.“I don’t know what you think I did—”“Suck that shit, Niya,” his velvety voice dropped so low it practically rumbled, slamming into her like a truck. “Before your accident... which I’m starting to think might not even be real, since your fucking tongue is wet with lies. Or are you conveniently blanking that part out too?”What is he talking about? she wanted to scream. Her mouth opened but nothing coherent came out. She took a shaky step back. Heat began rising behind her eyes, prickling and desperate f

  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 31: What's left of us.

    Maybelle looked down like a cat that had eaten something expensive. “You noticed. It’s hard to keep things secret when you glow, isn’t it?”“Who’s the father?” Niya didn't know what to expect.May’s lips curled, that same look she wore when she used to crash out about young Alex. She stepped forward, brushing invisible lint from her bejeweled strap.“Oh... no one special. Just Alexander,” she said sweetly like she was offering a cookie. The words knocked the breath clean out of Niya’s lungs and her legs crumpled beneath her weight. “What?”“Are you okay? Mm-hmm Good,” May beamed. “Technically he was yours, I know. But after your little Sleeping Beauty phase, someone had to keep the poor man warm. I guess we got... close.”“You lying bitch.” Niya’s voice came out like strained static, but her chest was screaming.May laughed. “Please. You think I’d lie about this? I already posted the ultrasound on my close friend's story. And of course, you’re not on that list.”Niya moved towards h

  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 30: What a surprise!

    The weekend had run out faster than she wanted it to. Now, Niya stood in front of a wide, luxurious bathroom mirror, staring at her own reflection and finding it difficult to recognize herself. Her hands were cold on the marble sink, and for a long second, she didn’t move. She just stood there, eyes locked with the girl who kept trying to fix what didn’t want to be saved.If this doesn’t work… She didn’t let herself finish that thought. Perhaps if she hadn’t been the ‘I can fix it’ kind, she wouldn’t be here, broke, cornered, and wagering everything she had on one last shot. But she was exactly that kind. Always had been. She didn’t know how to sit still and watch things fall apart.Georgia wasn’t close to home by any stretch but she was here now, and it seemed safe, not after the corner-cutting route back from her grandmother’s, when those men made it clear she couldn’t go back the way she came. She probably didn't want to know if they were Rapha's men or just random vagabonds.So s

  • TWO LIVES - Shattered Illusion    CHAPTER 29: Inheritance.

    She shouldn’t have come. She knew better than this, but she came anyway.Her father's car crawled up the slope, sputtered one last complaint before screeching faintly as she pulled up in front of the house… no, the manor, as everyone called it, though it had long since lost its glory. She stepped down, one hand braced against the cool metal door as the wind stung her cheeks. Late October air had no warmth in it as it bit through the fabric of her coat, needling through her jeans, and made her fingers feel like brittle sticks.She buried her hands deep into her coat pockets. The coat was old, fraying at the edges, and barely thick enough for this weather, but that's what she got after losing the other one at Silvershore. A gust swept past her, carrying the scent of wet earth and burning leaves. Brown, lifeless foliage scraped across the concrete and curled around her sneakers.A crooked FOR SALE sign leaned against the short wooden fence, the red letters had started to run, like they

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