All Chapters of PRETEND PRINCESS: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Zara's POVAll my self-control left me snapped like a too-tight wire.I was done.I would not let anyone take the man I had worked for.Creed belonged to me.We had bled together. We had hurt together. We had survived together.We were two halves of the same broken mess, and no one—nothing—was going to change that.My knuckles ached from holding the steering wheel so tight, but I didn't notice.The car's engine growled as I sped down the white streets, my anger heating me up inside like a simmering fire.The world outside was a white blur.Snow had stopped falling in large quantities, but the roads were still covered in a dense sheet of ice, and it was difficult to drive. The sky was a dull gray, just like my mood.I floored the accelerator, the car sliding forward.I couldn't shake it from my head.The way he looked at her.The way he talked to her.The way he opened up with her.He had never looked at me like that before.Not even once.Despite all that we had been through, all that

Zara's POVPain. That was the initial feeling I knew—burning, dull, heavy—like my body had been at war and didn't care to share the outcome with me. My eyes fought their way open to the light blue of the hospital ceiling, the antiseptic smell of disinfectant and something warm lingering in the air. I blinked slowly, trying to move, but all of my parts protested like I'd been run over by a truck and then dragged under it for good measure.A soft sniffle caught my eye. I turned my head, slowly, like a creaky door that didn't want to open. And there he was.Creed.Sitting beside me, a tissue pressed to his nose, his eyes bloodshot and glassy. He looked like hell—like someone had chiseled away at his dignity and removed the pieces that made him tolerable.And then it hit me. Like a slap to the soul.She won him. That girl. That perfect, superior girl with too-smooth hair and too-sweet voice. She won out over me for him.And he didn't stop it.He let her.I turned my head away, biting down

Yuki's POVDecember 23rd – Christmas EveI was officially in a panic.Two days until Christmas and I hadn't bought anyone one decent gift. I'd been so busy—working, baking, sewing, gluing buttons onto socks because apparently Suzu's new pastime (don't ask) is now that. And now I was stuck in the middle of a mall that seemed to have Santa's whole village exploded on every inch."Sir, would you like to buy the ballerina nutcracker? Limited edition. Spins and sings," a man in a blindingly green elf getup informed me, jiggling the silver-wrapped horror in my face.I blinked at him. "She sings?"He nodded, much too enthusiastically. "Tchaikovsky's 'Waltz of the Flowers' in four variations."I blinked again. "You're frightening, you know that?"He just grinned like it was a compliment.I gave in and bought the accursed thing. For whom? No idea. Maybe it could be a decent present for . She seemed the type who would find an outrageously melodramatic decoration to her liking.The mall was repl

Yuki's pov I brought out the chocolate milk and put everything on the table, trying to keep things from getting any more uncomfortable with Creed. He sat back down, his back straight as ever, but his eyes continually flitting back to me.The snow continued to fall outside, thick and persistent, and I couldn't help but wonder how he was managing the chill. But it was Christmas Eve, and I wasn't going to let things be spoiled. Not now, not after everything.I handed him a cup of hot chocolate and sat beside him. "So, one cookie bite, one sip of chocolate milk. That's the rule. And we've been doing it since I was a kid. My mom—" I caught myself, the words spilling out before I could stop them. "She liked chocolate milk. She could drink three tons of it. We'd sit here, just like this, and discuss anything and everything."I gazed at the mug in my hands, and there was a strange weight in my chest. "We miss you, Muk," I murmured softly, my voice hardly audible.It was bitter and sweet. Chr

Yuki's POV"Stop rolling over, hell, Yuki!"I froze in mid-roll, legs trapped in my satin penguin pajamas, rosy bonnet cocked drunkenly. Lily glared at me from across my bed like she was going to strangle me with her peppermint candy cane socks."What's wrong with you?" she snarled, tugging her blanket around her neck.I hesitated, then exhaled dramatically. "Okay, so like—don't freak out—but Creed asked me on a date."Lily blinked. "What?"I flopped onto my side, curling my fists under my face like a Disney princess in peril. "He asked me. Like, in words. Actual ones. Not a joke. I hope."Lily sat up slowly, her eyes narrowed at me like she was trying to stare through my soul. "Wait. When?""Last night. We were washing the dishes. He had this whole warm, sleepy face, and then—bam, 'Go out with me on a date, Miss Roman.' Like that."She glared at me. "And what did you reply?"I laughed. "I said something just absolutely precious like, 'Let's just say I came prepared.'"Lily shook her