BOUND のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 19

“Look, stop all this,” I said softly, slowly taking his hands off me.“It’s weird,” he said, dragging his fingers through his hair before letting out a breath. “But I know you're just being hard on yourself. Maybe you should stop thinking too much and just live in the moment, Mylar.”Mylar.My heart immediately reacted and I hated myself for it.I lowered my eyes and pressed my lips together. It was just my name. I had heard it my whole life, so why did it suddenly sound different because he said it? Why did it suddenly settle somewhere inside me like warmth I wasn't ready for?Ridiculous.I had never exactly been the perfect daughter anyway. I wasn't some innocent girl who always got things right. I made mistakes. Big ones too. Sometimes I made decisions before thinking them through, throwing myself into situations first and dealing with consequences later.Reckless decisions.Maybe that had always been my problem.My hand unconsciously rested against my stomach and I swallowed.Not

“We are here! Suit yourselves, people!”The driver's voice cut through my sleep like a stone through glass.I blinked awake and sat upright, disoriented for a second before remembering where I was. The long journey had left my neck stiff and my body aching. Outside the bus window, the city stretched before me in all its noisy glory.People moved in every direction. Cars crawled through traffic. Street vendors called out to passing customers. Life seemed to spill from every corner of the place.For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn't looking at familiar streets.I had actually done it.I swallowed hard and grabbed my bag.The moment my feet touched the ground, a strange mix of excitement and fear settled inside my chest. The city was bigger than I had imagined. Louder too. Everything felt fast, alive, overwhelming.I tightened my grip on my bag and walked toward a small waiting area nearby.Taking a deep breath, I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone. My fingers

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it? Run to your mama and cry?” Enisa sneered.The moment those words left her mouth, something inside me snapped.She grabbed Seth's hand and tried pulling him away, but he immediately jerked free, disgust flashing across his face.Before I could even think, I stormed toward her and slapped her hard across the face.The sound cracked through the club.Her head snapped sideways.For a second, everything around us seemed to freeze.The music was still blasting, people were still dancing, but all I could hear was my own breathing.Enisa slowly turned back to me, one hand pressed against her cheek. Red fingerprints were already blooming across her skin.“How dare you!” she shrieked.She lunged toward me, i didn't move or even flinch. My fists clenched at my sides as I stood my ground.Let her try, i was done being the one who walked away.Before she could reach me, Seth stepped between us and grabbed her arm.“Enough!”The sharpness in his voice ma

The people around us quickly lost interest and returned to whatever they had been doing before the interruption.Everyone except the man.His eyes moved from Enisa to me, and from the look on his face, it wasn't hard to figure out who she had been talking about."How dare you call me that?" I snapped, folding my arms across my chest.Enisa let out a short laugh.The kind that instantly made your blood boil."Why?" she asked. "Did I lie?"She tilted her head and looked me up and down."Who even knows what you're doing here? Or who you've come looking for this time."The smirk sitting on her face was enough to make my stomach churn.I clenched my jaw.Some people just had a gift for getting under your skin.Before I could respond, the man stepped between us."Excuse me, ladies."His voice wasn't loud, but it carried enough authority to cut through the tension."This isn't the place for this."I felt his hand lightly touch my arm,just enough to guide me away.I opened my mouth, ready to

The house felt unusually quiet after Aunt Dana left.It wasn't the peaceful kind of silence either. It was the sort that reminded you someone was missing. No music drifting from the kitchen. No random conversations from across the hallway. No cheerful voice asking whether I'd eaten or insisting I carry a sweater because I was "too stubborn to notice when I was cold."She had flown to Los Angeles for her friend's wedding, where she would be serving as the chief bridesmaid, leaving me with countless reminders and one bone-crushing hug before heading to the airport."Don't miss me too much," she'd teased."I'll try."Neither of us believed that.I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the closed front door long after the taxi had disappeared down the street.The apartment suddenly felt too big and empty… or maybe that was exactly what I needed.A chance to stop hiding behind familiar routines.The bar had never been my destination. It had simply been where life pushed me whe