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Chapter 39: The Storm We Began
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2025-04-29 00:04:01
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The Price of A Bet Chapter 46: Decoding Tensions
The external hallway of Vivian's apartment was heavily still as Ethan was stuck, his breathing uneven, his fingers still folded around the air as if they were grasping on to memory of her skin. Her mouth was clung to him, like a reminder of heat, and he did not realize how much his walls were going to close until the door echoed closed.Inside, Vivian leaned against the door with her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her heart beat violently inside her ears, greater than the silence which consumed her. What was she doing?Ethan didn't move. He was frozen on the wood dividing them now, the totality of their kiss pressing him as surely as an advancing tide. It had not ever been one for quite a long while now. ---The morning arrived with unforgiving sun streaming in Vivian's windows. She hadn't slept. Her body was bent under the covers, but her mind continued racing—tortured loops of guilt, desire, fear. What she'd shared with Ethan last night could no longer be denied. It wa
The Price of A Bet Chapter 45: Crossroads of Desire
Vivian was in front of the mirror in her one-room apartment, her own face staring back at her with questioning and wide eyes. Her fingers trembled slightly as she adjusted the collar of her blouse. Every night with Ethan erased the boundaries she had taken years so carefully establishing. She was walking on a tightrope between wrong and right, dignity and desire. And tonight, after what had been between them the previous days, she was aware that there was no going back.Her phone buzzed with a message.**Ethan:** *"Meet me at the park. Midnight. Just us."*Vivian's pulse quickened. She clutched the phone close, the weight of her decision weighing heavily on her. Part of her wanted to erase the message, pray it never arrived. But another part—the one that was getting louder by the day—wanted him.---The night air was cool, scented with the aroma of freshly mown grass and jasmine blooms. The park was virtually deserted, lit only by occasional lampposts casting soft pools of gold on the
The Price of A Bet Chapter 44: Frail Truths
Evening was a gossamer skim stretched over raw emotion. Ethan and Vivian didn't say much after returning to her apartment. Residue of the confrontation with Daniel hung in the air—rich, intricate, and trembling with unspokens.Vivian had her arms crossed over her chest standing by the window, watching the city lights shine in the distance. The tension between them vibrated with warmth, but not with passion, but with strain. Ethan remained in the doorway, his jaw set, smoothing his hair back with his fingers as he stood there and watched her."You haven't spoken since we left," he breathed finally, his voice low and husky.Vivian spun away from him, her eyes obscured. "What do you want me to say to you, Ethan? That I was humiliated? That my father hates me? That Daniel treated me like some. stranger in his life?"Ethan stepped off the door, advancing on her with slow, deliberate steps. "You don't owe anyone an explanation. You don't owe anyone anything—not him, not your father."She la
The Price of A Bet Chapter 43: Reckless Heart
Vivian sat alone in her apartment, huddled on the couch cushion, knees drawn up to her chin. The city's light filtered through the high windows, creeping into the room in broken reflections off the polished hardwood floors. A half-full cup of tea had cooled next to her, left behind. Her phone lay on the coffee table, its screen dark, though she hadn't ceased checking it every five minutes.Ethan hadn't called.After everything that had happened—the kisses, the declarations, the emotional tug of war and push—no calls. Not since the last good-bye they'd shared at the train station with surreptitious touches and aching hearts. She'd told him she needed space, clarity. Clarity was a punishment now.Her heart thudded with a weight she could not define. Vivian had built walls her whole life, tough and impenetrable, made of rules, reputation, and control. Ethan had burst into her life with a tempest, with his wild heart, and shattered everything she believed she knew about herself.She recal
The Price of A Bet Chapter 42: Shadows of the Past
Vivian rested against the counter of Rose's Diner, wiping down a stack of menus for the hundredth time that morning. Her apron was sticky with syrup and sneakers stuck to the greasy floor slightly whenever she moved her weight. She didn't mind. The sore in her calves and the numb tingling in her shoulders felt like badges of pride. For the first time ever, she was starting something from scratch.The doorbell over the door buzzed, and she was distracted from the menus. Her smile, now second nature, dropped like a reflex onto her lips."Morning! Booth or counter?"The tall, mid-forties, charcoal suit-wearing man who strode in was conspicuous as a bruise in the modest diner. His hair was slicked, his shoes gleamed, and the very atmosphere around him appeared to weep money.His gaze locked onto hers.Vivian's stomach dropped."Ms. Blake," he said coldly.Her hold on the menus was a vice.No. Not here. Not now."You're mistaken," she replied tightly. "I believe there's been some confusion
The Price of A Bet Chapter 41: Bread and Battles
The sun beamed through the filthy blinds, casting lines of illumination across Ethan's chest. Vivian awoke, her eyes squeezed shut against the light, and sat up on the edge of the bed. The apartment was quiet save for the soft groan of the ceiling fan and the distant honk of traffic below.For the first time in days, she slept peacefully, without a feeling of foreboding closing her chest.No yelling downstairs.No calls from her mom.No threats.Just Ethan.She opened her eyes and stretched, muscles sore from sleeping in a new bed, but heart somehow at peace.Behind her, Ethan groaned and rolled over, face planted in the pillow. His words were muffled but teasing.**"You get up early nowadays? Who are you and what have you done with Vivian?"**Vivian smiled, her voice gentle but playfully protective.**"I didn't exactly sleep well with your arm lying across my entire back."**He sat up and screwed his eyes at her.**"You mean my loving hug?"****I mean your Hulk-strength grip,** she s
The Price of A Bet Chapter 40: Constructing Dreams Out of Ruins
The rain continued unabated.It beat against the hood of Ethan's truck like an angry drummer as they cruised through the tight streets, out of the gold cage of Vivian's past and into a future she and Ethan could barely imagine.Vivian hugged herself, looking out the window.She had no suitcase. No clothes. No clue.Nothing but the clothes on her back, the shattered phone in her pocket, and the boy sitting next to her.But for the first time in her life, she didn't feel trapped by what she lacked.She felt free.Ethan's hand brushed against hers along the bench, hesitant.Vivian intertwined their fingers without hesitation.He smiled, weak, tired smile, and squeezed.They traveled in silence for a great length of time, the only sound the repetitive slap of the windshield wipers and the rush of water underneath the tires.Finally, Ethan cleared his throat.**"There's not much at my place,"** he said. **"But it's dry. And it's ours."**Vivian's throat tightened.**Ours.**As if a promise
The Price of A Bet Chapter 39: The Storm We Began
The rain-tossed world outside was gray and shaking, but within Ethan's arms, Vivian was warm for the first time.For a few precious minutes, they just stood there in the doorway, clinging to each other like shipwreck survivors.Breathing each other in.Recalling.Vivian didn't want to move.Didn't want to break the magic.But the real world, as always, was in no mood to wait.Her phone buzzed wildly in her coat pocket. Again. And again.Ethan recoiled, his face darkening.Vivian pulled out her phone.Forty-two missed calls.Texts upon texts piling up like a tidal wave.From her mother. Her father. Daniel.Her chest tightened painfully.She knew what they were saying without even looking.Where are you?What are you doing?Come back now.**You don't have to answer them,**" Ethan breathed, his gaze on her face.Vivian hesitated.The weight of years of obedience was crushing her shoulders.But then she remembered the dead-eyed girl looking back at her in the mirror at the dress fitting.
The Price of A Bet Chapter 38: The Morning After
Vivian woke to the soft touch of fingers trailing down her naked back.For a moment, she was still, eyes closed, soaking up the feeling—the warmth, the gentleness, the safety.For a moment, she permitted herself to believe that this could be forever.But reality was a cold, unwelcome guest.The engagement.Her family.Daniel.Vivian's heart hurt badly.She opened her eyes slowly.Ethan lay on his side next to her, propped up on an elbow, his brown hair mussed, his blue eyes warm and impossibly wide as he looked at her.**"Good morning,"** he murmured, voice rough with sleep and affection.Vivian swallowed the sob in her throat and smiled.**"Morning."**For a few minutes, they just lay there, silent except for the sound of their breathing and the faint rain tapping against the windows.Ethan traced slow circles on her shoulder.**"You’re quiet,"** he said gently.Vivian stared at the ceiling. She could still feel him everywhere—on her skin, in her blood, woven into her bones.She wa
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