Home / Romance / Winning Her Back / Chapter 52: The Ice in the ashes

Share

Chapter 52: The Ice in the ashes

last update Last Updated: 2025-06-21 06:47:19

At first, the sensation wasn't pain. It was absence. A vast, echoing emptiness where my heart had been savagely excavated. I woke from a sleep that had not been an escape, only a replay of sounds, gasps, groans, the rhythmic creak of betrayal amplified in the dark of my brain. My eyes opened on the unfamiliar, oppressive greyness of the guest room. Specks of dust danced in a thin shaft of weak morning sunlight piercing a crack in the heavy curtains. My body was shattered, rigid, aching, chilled to the marrow. Every breath grated painfully against my ribs.

The silence was profound. Oppressive. Thick with the ghosts of night. It weighed upon me, a tangible pressure on my chest. I strained my ears, half-hoping, half-fearing the echo of that moan, that laugh. Nothing. Nothing but the wild thudding of my own heartbeat in my eardrums. My bed. My room. The memories came flooding back, vivid and sickening. The cheap, sweet perfume she'd worn seemed to have seeped into the walls themselves, a
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 76: Taste of Shattering

    His query hung there, shrapnel-like, vibrating with the raw anguish of his confession. "Is this what you wanted, Lila? To push? To see how deep the crack goes? To see me shatter?"His grip around my wrist was iron, his pressure on the cusp of pain wedging me to the graniteools plane of his chest. His other hand burned through the thinnish cashmere at my hip, his fingers digging in deep. Every hard plane of his body pressing against mine, the warmth that spilled from his body a brand, the frenzied thudding of his heart against mine a wild counterbeat to the panic-staccato that was mine. His warm, ragged breath caressed my face, reeking with Scotch and the particular Ethan musk that caused perilous shivers to course down my spine despite fear.His eyes. God, his eyes. They weren't blazed; they were afire, consuming me. Raw, terrifying need fought with anger and anguish so deep that it left me breathless. Close as this was, I could perceive the tiny tremble of his jaw, the widening of hi

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 75: The Edge of the Blade

    The aspirin had dulled the jackhammer in my skull to a manageable throb. The water had washed away the worst of the desert in my mouth, though a sour residue lingered, a physical echo of last night’s humiliation. But it was the memory, crystal clear now, that electrified the air, replacing the hangover fog with a razor-sharp awareness. "I don't hate you, Lila. Sometimes, I hate myself for how much I want you." His words, raw and scraped bare in the harsh bathroom light, were a weapon I hadn’t known I possessed. And I intended to wield it.I showered, the hot water sluicing away the grime of the club and the lingering shame. I didn’t choose armor this time. Nor did I choose blatant seduction. I chose presence. Dark, tailored trousers that hugged my legs, a soft cashmere sweater in deep burgundy that felt like a second skin, my hair pulled back in a sleek, low ponytail. Minimal makeup, just enough to erase the shadows under my eyes and define my lips. I looked put-together, calm, aware.

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 74: “I don’t hate you….”

    The silence that followed was total. Oppressive. I closed my eyes hard, praying I would remember, praying the tile floor would swallow me whole. What a drunken, silly demand.Then, a sound. A low, almost imperceptible sigh. Not an exasperated one this time. Something deeper. Tiredness.His voice, as he spoke, was horrorously close. He hadn't moved, but his presence was instant, overwhelming. It wasn't the frostbite fury of the entry. It was lower, coarser, scraped raw. "I don't hate you, Lila."The words hung there in the air, simple, unadorned, utterly disarming. I took a breath. I risked the very slightest incline of my head, just enough to catch sight of him in the reflection off the glass.He wasn't glaring at me. His gaze was on some point on the wall, his jaw still clenched but the fury choked back, replaced by a deep weariness and something else, something uncomfortable and sinister. His knuckles were white where he leaned against the doorframe.At other times, he continued, hi

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 73: The Aftermath and the Confession

    Sunlight. Cold, brutal sunlight, cutting through the gap in the thick curtains right onto my face. I groaned, the sound ripping raw in my throat, and shoved my head under the pillow. All my nerve endings shrieked. My head ached as if it had been a death metal band drum, pounding away with a nauseating beat that competed with the mad heartbeat behind my eyes. My lips were dry, covered in something disgusting. The stale beer and perfume odor that clung to the sheets made my stomach do a scary flip.What had occurred?The question echoed in the hollow, aching space behind my eyes. Flashes of color, pounding bass, Naomi’s laughing face, the dizzying swirl of lights… it was all fragmented, chaotic, like shards of a broken mirror reflecting distorted scenes. The journey home was a black hole. Ethan.Panic, glacial and razor-edged, cut through the hangover haze. The final clear vision struck me: the mansion doorway wrenching open, Ethan standing in the light, his face a grotesque mask of an

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 72: Temporary amnesia

    The drive back to the mansion was filled with a nervous energy. Naomi’s plan buzzed in my head, a counterpoint to the lingering dread. Getting ready this time felt different. I shed the armor. Out came the little black dress, I paired it with sheer tights and strappy heels that made me wobble slightly. My makeup went darker, smokier. I piled my hair up, leaving tendrils loose around my face. I looked different. Daring. Someone who might go clubbing. Someone who wasn’t Lila Blackwell, the discarded wife.As I applied a final coat of deep red lipstick, I paused, staring at my reflection. A treacherous, foolish sliver of hope flickered. *Maybe he’ll come home early. Maybe he’ll see me like this, about to leave, and.. My mind conjured the fantasy: Ethan walking in, his eyes darkening with that possessive heat I craved. Him crossing the room, pulling me close, his voice husky. ‘Where do you think you’re going, looking like that? Not without me.’ Maybe he’d kiss me, persuade me to stay, pro

  • Winning Her Back   Chapter 71: Lila!

    “Lila!” Naomi’s voice, bright and slightly breathless, crackled through the speaker. It was so jarringly normal, so alive compared to the oppressive gloom, that tears sprang to my eyes instantly. “God, Lil, I am so sorry!”“Naomi?” My voice came out rough, choked. I cleared my throat, trying to inject some semblance of cheer. “Hey! What’s wrong?”“What’s wrong is I’ve been the world’s worst sister!” she exclaimed. “Between finals kicking my ass and this insane internship that feels like indentured servitude, I swear I blinked and a month vanished. I haven’t called, I haven’t texted properly, I’m awful. Please tell me you hate me just a little bit so I can grovel properly?”The sheer, uncomplicated warmth of her guilt, her presence even through the phone, was a balm. “Don’t be silly,” I managed, forcing a lightness I didn’t feel. “It’s fine, Naomi. Really. I know how crazy it gets.” The words tasted like ash. Fine. Nothing was fine.“You’re too nice, that’s your problem,” she declared

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status