บททั้งหมดของ Caged Pheonix : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Silence stretched between them, heavier than any argument they had ever endured. She could hear the rhythm of his heartbeat against her shoulder, steady, patient, as though it was waiting for her answer. She hesitated, her breath trembling, but eventually gathered the courage to turn around and face him. The simple movement made his heart leap, pounding with a rush of excitement he could barely contain.Slowly, she lifted her face, her eyes meeting his in the dim golden glow of the kitchen light. There was no one else in the soundproof penthouse, only the weight of silence echoing inside their ears, wrapping them in a cocoon where nothing else existed. His gaze lingered on her trembling lips before flicking back to her eyes, searching, pleading, asking questions he didn’t dare voice aloud.Her breath caught in her throat. Before her doubts could stop her, his fingers brushed against her cheek, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Such a small gesture, yet it sent her pulse i

She broke the hug and jumped in excitement. "Oh my god! I need to buy so many things. I don’t even have proper clothes. Forget this, let’s go to the shopping mall right now!" She pushed the cart aside, leaving all the stuff behind without caring about the farewell party anymore. All Emma could think about was her audition and the outfits she needed to wear during her performance. Violet was overjoyed for her and agreed to forget about the farewell party too, since this opportunity was truly once in a lifetime. She knew just how much Emma had always wanted to become a K-pop idol. The industry was insanely competitive, and when it came to idols, it was brutal. The competition was top-notch, and without parents’ support, it was almost impossible to chase this dream. Trainees had to start from a very young age, and after a certain age, one couldn’t even be considered for training, no matter how talented they were. Emma had been secretly applying for years, facing rejection after rejec

Present - “At that time, I didn’t know she had left her phone at home. I had no idea her father would end up listening to my voicemail. I didn’t know that because of my stupid decision, sending her that voicemail, she would get exposed and sent away to Europe for further studies. For years, I had no idea it was me who ruined her life… until she came back and enrolled in the same college as me.” Ethan sat in silence, listening to her carefully. His eyes softened, though his jaw was tight, as though every word she spoke weighed heavily on his chest. “Jacob must have known why Emma’s dad sent her away, but he never told me. Maybe he didn’t want me to blame myself for destroying her lifelong dream. Maybe that’s why he asked me to be his girlfriend on the very last day of high school. When I found out Emma gone to study in Europe.” Her voice faltered as the truth slipped out. The moment the name “Jacob” escaped her lips, she regretted it. She hadn’t meant to bring him up, not in fron

Ethan fell silent for a while after hearing her question. A dull pang echoed inside his chest, reminding him of the time when he once believed Violet was no different from Taylor. The memory weighed heavily on him, making it difficult to meet her eyes. “Because I saw you two kissing in the corridor,” he finally admitted. Her eyes widened in shock, clearly not expecting him to say that. His answer was blunt, enough for her to piece things together, yet he continued anyway, unwilling to keep hiding what had been buried in his heart for so long. “I’ve liked you for a long time,” he confessed, his voice softer this time. “I don’t know when it started or how, but even when I was with Taylor, you were always in my thoughts…” Violet frowned at his words, her expression tightening as though she disliked what she was hearing. “So basically, you were cheating on Taylor? And yet you blamed her for cheating on you?” she asked sharply. Ethan let out a soft chuckle, the corner of his lips lif

Violet’s breath caught in her chest, the weight of his question pressing down on her harder than any touch. The scenary felt unbearably still, every sound, the faint hum of the wind and the cricket , the distant honks of the cars passing by, dissolving into silence. His gaze pinned her in place, steady and unyielding, as though he could see through every wall she had carefully built. She wanted to speak, to offer him the truth he deserved, yet the words tangled at the edge of her tongue like thorns. Violet realized that silence could be louder, more dangerous, than any lie. There were still so many truths locked inside her, truths she had never dared to give voice to. It wasn’t simply a matter of trust, though his eyes pleaded for it; it was the weight of secrets that belonged not only to her, but to her family. To her father’s very life. She wanted to believe him, to surrender to the sincerity in his voice, yet a quiet warning echoed in the back of her mind, the same words her mothe