All Chapters of The Price of A Bet: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

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

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

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

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 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