151

NORMALCY{Playlist Suggestion: "Until I Found You" by Stephen Sanchez / "Lover" by Taylor Swift}~CHASE POV~I was sitting across from Emma Chen in a cracked red vinyl booth at this cheap retro diner that smelled heavily of fried onions and vanilla milkshakes.My brain was basically malfunctioning because I had absolutely no idea how normal teenagers were actually supposed to do this dating thing without a nurse coming in to check my vitals every fifteen minutes.We had just gotten out of the movie theater where we watched the absolute worst, most predictably terrible horror movie ever made, and I was so hyper-aware of everything my body was doing that I felt like I was vibrating out of my skin.I was trying so hard to make sure I wasn't breathing weird, or looking too pale, or acting like the fragile sick kid, but Emma wasn't even treating me like that—she was just sitting there stealing my french fries one by one, dragging them through a puddle of ketchup and smiling at me like I wa

052

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR{Playlist Suggestion: "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift / "High School Sweethearts" by Olivia Rodrigo}~VALERIE POV~I was sitting at the absolute best table in the senior courtyard, swirling an iced matcha latte around in its plastic cup and pretending to listen to Brittany complain about her terrible eyelash extensions.But my eyes were completely locked on Kade and his little charity case standing over by the library doors, And honestly, it was so pathetic it was almost painful to watch.Anyone with functioning eyeballs could see that their little fairytale romance was completely and utterly falling apart.Kade was hovering over her, leaning on his black cane—which he had upgraded to from the crutches—trying to hold her hand and talk to her with this intense, desperate look on his face, but Chelsea looked like she was literally standing in front of a firing squad.She kept pulling her hand away, avoiding his eyes, her shoulders hiked up to her ears looking absolut

053

THE THREAT{Playlist Suggestion: "Blood // Water" by grandson / "Animals" by Architects}~KOLT POV~I was standing on the second-floor balcony looking down at the main floor of The Mirage, nursing a glass of bourbon that I didn't actually want to drink, just obsessively tracking Chelsea as she moved between the VIP tables with Zoe trailing a few feet behind her like a neon-haired bodyguard.Everything was supposed to be completely normal tonight. I had doubled the security at the front doors and explicitly told Antonio that if any of Kade's little high school friends tried to get in they were to be immediately turned away. But all the security in the world doesn't mean a damn thing when the devil already has a VIP black card.I saw the flash of blonde hair first.It was near the edge of the bar, moving smoothly through the crowd with that arrogant, untouchable swagger that comes from knowing your family is worth three billion dollars. And the absolute second my brain registered tha

All Chapters of His to Ruin: Breaking Chelsea : Chapter 151 - Chapter 153

151

052

053