All Chapters of FOUR SHADES OF DREY: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CHAPTER 10DREYDEN Dreyven hadn't stopped pacing since he got back to our private building three hours ago.He moved back and forth across the common room of our suite, his hand occasionally going to his left cheek where I could still see the faint red mark from where that girl had slapped him. It had faded significantly, but every time he touched it, his jaw clenched tighter.I'd never seen him this angry. And that was saying something, considering Dreyven's default setting was barely controlled rage."You're going to wear a hole in the floor," I said from where I sat on the couch, scrolling through the contracts Dad wanted us to review. "And it's custom Italian marble, so Dad's going to be pissed.""Shut up, Den," Dreyven snapped, not breaking his stride.Dreylen looked up from his sketchbook in the corner. "Maybe you should sit down. Take a breath. Process what happened like a normal human being.""I don't want to process. I want to..." Dreyven cut himself off, his fists clenchin

Chapter 12AURELIATuesday morning, I didn't go to class.I couldn't face it. The thought of walking across campus, of being seen, of existing in a space where he might be breathing the same air, it was too much. So I didn't go.Instead, I stayed in bed.The sheets were still tangled from Monday night. I could smell myself on them, stale and sour. When had I last showered? Monday morning? That felt like a lifetime ago. That felt like when I was still a person who mattered.My phone buzzed. Once. Twice. Again.Sienna: Where are you? You missed lit class.I stared at the message without responding. What was I supposed to say? That I'd been too busy falling apart? That getting out of bed felt like lifting a thousand pounds?Sienna: Lia, seriously, I'm getting worried.The guilt was there, small and sharp. I knew I was worrying her. But the alternative was explaining, and I couldn't do that. Couldn't say the words out loud because saying them would make them real in a way they already we

Chapter 14I sat there in my destroyed room, surrounded by evidence of my breakdown, and tried to believe her. Tried to hold onto her words like a lifeline.But the voice in my head was still whispering. Still telling me she was wrong. Still insisting that some people were just meant to be invisible, and I was one of them.And no amount of wishing would change that.---Friday came. Then Saturday. Then Sunday.Sienna came by every day, bringing food and company and a stubborn refusal to let me completely disappear. She'd sit on my bed and make me eat. She'd open the curtains and I'd flinch away from the light. She'd talk about her classes, about campus gossip, about anything except what had happened.But her presence, as much as I appreciated it, couldn't quiet the noise in my head.His words lived there now, on a loop. I'd wake up at three in the morning and hear them. I'd be eating and suddenly remember the disgust in his voice. I'd catch my reflection and see what he'd seen—a failu

Chapter 16Aurelia "Sorry about the room," I muttered, quickly gathering some of the takeout containers and shoving them into my trash can. "I've been having a rough couple of weeks.""Don't apologize." He set the Chinese food on my desk, the only clear surface available. "Rough weeks happen. Believe me, I know."I stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do with my hands, not sure where to look. He was even more handsome than I remembered. Tall and lean, with blonde hair styled perfectly, sharp blue eyes that seemed warm and concerned.He looked expensive. Everything from his designer shoes to his watch screamed money and privilege."You can sit," I said, gesturing vaguely at my bed since my desk chair was buried under clothes."Only if you sit too," he said with a warm smile. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable in your own space."I sat on the edge of my bed, pulling my knees to my chest. He sat down too, keeping a respectful distance between us. Not too close, not invasive, ju

Chapter 18Aurelia I walk away from the garden with my heart pounding so hard I can barely breathe.He apologized.The cruel stranger from the library actually apologized.My hands shake as I clutch The Shining to my chest. Part of me wants to turn around, go back, accept his explanation. But the bigger part, the part that's been broken too many times, knows better.People don't just change overnight.People don't destroy you with words and then apologize in a garden like it's nothing.I make it back to my dorm and collapse on my bed, staring at the ceiling. His face keeps flashing through my mind. Those grey eyes that had been so cold in the library were warm today, almost vulnerable. His voice had been gentle instead of cruel.But that doesn't erase what he said to me. Doesn't erase the two weeks I spent hiding in this room because of his words.My phone buzzes.Julian: Hey, how are you feeling? Still up for coffee tomorrow?I stare at the message, my chest warming. Julian. The kin