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Chapter 47: Fractures Beneath the Surface

Author: Inpeaceplace
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-05-14 15:22:55

Vivian sat at her desk, the glow of her laptop screen highlighting the tension in her face. The coffee on the table had gone cold, long forgotten in the wake of everything that had happened in the last week. Her fingers hovered over the keys, but she couldn’t bring herself to type another word. Not when the memory of Ethan's touch still lingered on her skin, and her father's furious voice still rang in her ears.

The silence in her apartment felt oppressive. She closed her laptop and pushed away from the desk, pacing the room. Every step she took echoed with uncertainty. She had spent years building the perfect, predictable life, and Ethan had unraveled it with a single kiss. A kiss that had meant far more than she dared admit, even to herself.

Her phone buzzed on the table. A message from Daniel. “We need to talk.”

She stared at it, her chest tightening. Daniel’s name alone now made her stomach twist. There had been no love between them for a long time, only duty, expectations, and a
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  • The Price of A Bet   Chapter 49: The Rift Deepens

    The silence between Ethan and Vivian felt heavier than any words could. Days had passed since they had last fought, and with each minute that passed, they were further apart, and the gulf was growing larger. At school, Ethan's usual haughtiness was missing—his sarcastic bite dialed down, his charm nowhere in sight. Even his friends noticed."Dude, what's wrong with you?" Josh asked, leaning against Ethan's locker. "You look like you've been up for weeks."Ethan ran a hand through his messy hair, which was far more disheveled than usual. "Just tired.""Tired or heartbroken?" Josh teased, but when Ethan remained silent instead of launching into one of his sharp comebacks, Josh's grin fell. "Wait, seriously? Are you talking about Vivian?"Ethan closed his locker too hard. "Don't."Josh took a step back, palms held up. "Hey, man. Just. if you ever want to talk, I'm here."Ethan didn't respond. He turned and walked away, shoulders squared, mind racing with all the things he needed to say t

  • The Price of A Bet   Chapter 48: The Shifting Ground

    The night after the confrontation in the hallway lingered like a heavy fog in Ethan's mind. Sleep had been elusive, his thoughts circling like vultures over the raw emotions etched into Vivian's face. The disbelief. The betrayal. The tears she’d struggled to hide. They haunted him more than he’d expected. He had hurt her—and not in the way he’d intended when this all started as a careless game.Ethan sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, phone in hand. Her number was right there. He could call her. Apologize. Beg, if he had to. But what would he even say?That it started as a bet, but somewhere along the way he stopped seeing her as a challenge and started seeing her as the only person who made him feel like he wasn’t some arrogant, reckless boy pretending to be a man?His thumb hovered over her contact, then dropped. He wasn’t ready. Not yet. Maybe not ever.Vivian hadn’t returned to school the next day.The news hit Ethan harder than he expected. Rumors spread quickly, an

  • The Price of A Bet   Chapter 47: Fractures Beneath the Surface

    Vivian sat at her desk, the glow of her laptop screen highlighting the tension in her face. The coffee on the table had gone cold, long forgotten in the wake of everything that had happened in the last week. Her fingers hovered over the keys, but she couldn’t bring herself to type another word. Not when the memory of Ethan's touch still lingered on her skin, and her father's furious voice still rang in her ears.The silence in her apartment felt oppressive. She closed her laptop and pushed away from the desk, pacing the room. Every step she took echoed with uncertainty. She had spent years building the perfect, predictable life, and Ethan had unraveled it with a single kiss. A kiss that had meant far more than she dared admit, even to herself.Her phone buzzed on the table. A message from Daniel. “We need to talk.”She stared at it, her chest tightening. Daniel’s name alone now made her stomach twist. There had been no love between them for a long time, only duty, expectations, and a

  • 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

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