جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

ARIAIt was becoming both irritating and strangely pleasant whenever I saw Xavier. He simply refused to stop whatever it was he had decided to do, and did he really think I would welcome him with open arms and eyes brimming with tears of gratitude just because he had started showing me a little affection?I cursed under my breath and buried myself deeper into the fluffy pillow. “Fuck you, Xavier. I would rather trust my burnt bread to taste sweeter than trust you again.”And I was going to keep my word, even if my stupid heart had apparently decided to develop a completely different opinion.By evening, I had managed to avoid Xavier for most of the day, which I considered a personal achievement considering the palace seemed determined to put him everywhere I looked. That man was practically everywhere I turned, and even when I decided to stay in my room, he somehow found an excuse to appear.I had eaten a little, refused three different gowns, ignored two servants who called me Luna,

ARIAThe emotions riled up again and I had to shake my head to get it out of my head. I was becoming too soft towards Xavier, but, I truly underestimated the power of the bond.Although some foolish part of me already knew I probably wouldn't like the answer, I still blurt it out." What do you see?"Xavier looked at me for a long moment, and his hidden spark in his eyes made my heart beat harder than it had any right to.“I see the woman I should have chosen,” he finally said, and the words landed harder than I expected. I looked away immediately, pretending the flowers beside me had suddenly become the most fascinating things in Blackwood. “You're making it difficult to hate you." I muttered, hoping sarcasm would hide the way my chest was becoming pleasantly uncomfortable. I clenched my fist, finding the right words to say when he cut through.There was something almost gentle in his voice that made me glance at him again. “I know."With my eyes narrowed at him, I swallowed hard.“Y

XAVIERShe was beautiful, every second spoke of my heart thumping at every little action of hers. It thumped when she frowned or just glare at everyone. It thumped even harder when it's me.I didn't sleep, I simply couldn't do that. Aria had become a part of my breath, every ticking of my life's clock.I stood on the balcony most of the night, watching Aria move through the garden below, not because I wanted to invade her privacy but because every instinct in me refused to let me look away. The bond had become impossible to ignore since I stopped fighting it, pulling at my chest whenever she was hungry, restless, frightened or even when she tried to convince herself that she didn't need anyone. My eyes stayed glued at the shadow ahead." She is still stubborn. That spark had never dimmed even once."Five years ago, I had convinced myself that distance would make everything easier, but standing there and watching her flinch when a maid came too close made me understand exactly how much

XAVIER For several seconds, I couldn't move. Aria was standing on the other side of that door, separated from me by nothing more than a wall I had spent years believing would keep my secrets safe. My heartbeat became so loud that I was certain she could hear it from the other side, and Sky was already pacing inside me, his claws scraping against every bit of restraint I had left. “She can't see this room,” I whispered, staring at the hidden door while the thought of her discovering everything I had kept hidden made my stomach twist. Sky's growl deepened inside me. “Then open it before she finds another way inside.” I ignored him, although the thought of Aria discovering what I had kept in here made my stomach twist harder. If she saw the drawings, the memories, the little pieces of her life I had collected, she would have every right to think I was some kind of obsessed fool. The footsteps outside shifted again, and I held my breath when I heard the faint rustle of fabric again

ARIA“I let fear decide for me.”Those six words became the reason I couldn't sleep. Xavier's apology kept replaying inside my head long after he had left me alone, and every time I tried to push it away, his voice only became clearer. I hated how sincere he had sounded, hated even more that some foolish part of me believed him. Then there was the other part of me that kept whispering that maybe I was simply looking for excuses not to believe him. Maybe the burn in my heart was still too fresh, the wound was still too deep to suddenly disappear. Those years could not be erased by a few apologies, no matter how genuine they sounded.Five years.Day after day, hour after hour, I had prayed for night to come because waking up to another day in Crestview usually meant discovering a new reason to hate myself. I had lived with the constant fear of what Alec, Diane or anyone else might say about me.So Xavier could tell himself he had lived in fear all those years, but did he truly underst