All Chapters of THE VALENTINE PROPOSAL : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

~LioraHe looked up when I walked in.He didn't say anything right away. He just glanced at me, taking in my dress, the ruined makeup, the shoes in my hand because I had taken them off at the door."Sit down," he said, calmly, his jaw clenched.And somehow that was worse than if he had shouted.I gulped as I crossed the room and lowered myself onto the couch beside him, my fingers curling around the heels in my lap. The silence between us was thick and uncomfortable, pressing down on my already heavy shoulders."Good morning." I greeted nervously, hating how small my voice came out.Everett didn't respond immediately. He sat still, staring ahead, like he was working very hard to keep his anger contained. Then he exhaled slowly through his nose."Why didn't you come straight home yesterday?" His voice was low, yet calm, like his words had been carefully selected before leaving his mouth.My shoes slipped from my fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud."Because I was upset," I sa

~LioraI came out of my room in a fresh set of clothes, my hair still slightly damp at the ends from my bath.The housekeeper was already making her way down the hall toward me, like she had been sent specifically."Good morning, miss." She smiled politely. "Breakfast is ready and Mr. Montague would like you to join him at the dining room.""Ok, thank you," I flashed a small smile as I walked past her.I was already heading there anyway.The smell reached me before I even got to the dining room. Scrambled eggs, toast, something warm and buttery. My stomach growled embarrassingly loud in response and I pressed a hand briefly to it as I stepped through the doorway.Everett was already seated at the head of the table. His plate was in front of him, untouched. He hadn't even picked up his fork. He just sat there, and the moment I walked in his head lifted.My chest tightened immediately.The anger I thought I had managed to push down a few minutes ago came creeping right back in, settling

~Liora~The entrance to the haunted house looked like something straight out of someones very vivid nightmare.Twisted iron gates, fake cobwebs thick enough to look real, and a low groan of sound effects bleeding through the walls that made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention before we even stepped inside.I stopped walking just before we could cross the threshold."Everett.""Yeah.""I want to go home."He turned to look at me, amusement written all over his face. "You said you liked horror.""Watching them," I stressed, gesturing at the building in front of us. "From my couch, with a blanket. Never said I liked experiencing it first hand.""It's just actors and props," he said, reaching back and taking my hand. "Nothing in there can actually hurt you.""You don't know that."He laughed finding my words to be funny, and tugged me forward. "Come on."I let him pull me through the doors, mostly because I had partly agreed to this this, backing out now would be cowardice.

~Liora~Everett steered me away from the haunted house entrance with his arm still around my shoulders, guiding us through the crowd until the noise of the park started thinning out a little.There were some eyes on us, but I couldn't care less about the way they were staring at me.We ended up on a quieter stretch near the edge of the main walkway, a bench half hidden under the shade of a large oak tree, far enough from the rides that the music and happy chatter dulled into the distance.He sat me down.Then he crouched in front of me, hands on his knees, and looked at my face with concern written all over his expression."I'll be right back," he said. "Don't move."I nodded slowly.He held my gaze for one more second like he was making sure I was actually okay before he straightened up and walked back toward the main strip.I watched him disappear into the crowd and then turned back to face nothing in particular.The sounds around me softened into background noise.I pressed my hand

~Liora~"The cops were the ones who found me in that cramped closet," I said, my voice coming out steadier even though it was low."I had cried myself to sleep in there. I didn't even know what had happened until much later." I stopped, drawing in a slow shallow breath. "My father had..." The words sat heavy on my tongue, even remembering it felt difficult. "He killed my mother and ran. The neighbors were the ones who alerted the cops, or else who knows how long I would have been locked in there while my mother lay dead on the kitchen floor."Silence followed right after I finished talking. I understood that Everett was trying to process what I'd just said.Any normal person would definitely need a minute, especially after hearing something like that.I kept my eyes forward, watching a child across the park chase a balloon that had gotten away from them, laughing as they ran.Everett hadn't said a word through most of it. He had just sat there beside me, close and quiet the entire tim