Swallowed My Pride Novels & Stories

Didn't even take a breath. "The next time you look at me, you will lower your eyes. The next time you think of my name, you will swallow your bitterness. The next time you open your mouth to speak about me, you better pray the Moon Goddess herself forgives you." My voice grew colder. "Because I won’t." The hallway was dead silent as I turned slowly and started walking again. My legs were still shaking and my heart was still hurting. But my pride? It stood tall. When I reached my door, I paused and turned my head slightly.

I couldn't help but swallow. "Can I have a taste--"

My stomach twisted. I didn’t breathe. “Swallow it,” he said. My eyes widened. I shook my head, barely moving. “I… I can’t…” His gaze shifted subtle, but lethal. That soft edge he sometimes wore disappeared like mist under a flame. I closed my eyes. My throat clenched. And I swallowed. It burned all the way down. Not from taste but from shame. He watched me do it. Watched the way my jaw moved. The way my throat worked.

My voice broke on his name. He stepped closer. “No. Not like that,” he said softly. “Beg me.” I wanted to scream. To spit in his face. To tell him I’d rather die broke than kneel for him. But my pride was a luxury I couldn’t afford. Pride didn’t pay rent. Pride didn’t feed me. Pride didn’t keep Marissa from dragging me back into the pit I was barely crawling out of. My throat burned as I swallowed the lump of my dignity.

For the first time, shame enveloped me, a feeling I'd never known before. Claire has shattered my pride. I slowly rose to my feet, avoiding my father's gaze. The weight of his disappointment hung in the air, a stark contrast to the unwavering confidence I once held. Claire had managed to breach the fortress of my pride, leaving me exposed to a vulnerability I never thought possible. My jaw tightened. "I'd get it if you want to strip me of my position. I've done everything to prove I don't deserve it anymore. Let Adriano take the lead. I'm willing to be a soldier if you'll have me."

Not this time I refuse to be the one to be mistreated and damaged. I had two options at this moment either barge in guns blazing and slap that smug smirk from sin’s handsome face. Choose The lesser one where I would be I retreat quietly and leave with my shredded pride still intact. I chose to swallow my pride and retreat As soon as possible. I have the power to change my future. Starting today I will not be anyone don't mat I vowed. As I passed the kitchen I heard a blood-curdling scream as I passed and a loud thud.

My career was over, my name was ruined, and I would be left with nothing. I took a deep, shaky breath, my knees trembling slightly as the last remnants of my immense pride completely dissolved inside me. I actively swallowed my ego, forcing myself to look down at the floorboards because I couldn't bear the intensity of her gaze anymore. I had to do it. I had to lower myself to the bottom.

And then, he speaks the word that makes my stomach drop. “Beg.” The wind howls around us, but the storm inside me is so much worse. Beg. A growl rumbles in my chest, but it’s weak, pitiful. Every part of me screams to defy him, to show that I still have a shred of dignity left. But I don’t. Not anymore. My pride is in ruins. My body is failing. And despite everything, I want to live. So I do the unthinkable. I let my chin drop. I force my stiff, frozen lips to move. And with the last of my strength, I whisper,

The shame returned again, heavier this time. Not because I was ungrateful, but because the fall from wealth to dependence felt like humiliation. It felt like I had been stripped naked in front of the world. My pride screamed inside me, reminding me of who I used to be. But another voice—stronger and wiser—rose within me.The voice of survival. The voice that whispered that pride could not feed a man. The voice that told me that humility was not defeated. I felt happiness and sorrow clash inside my chest.

An insult. I haven’t been a dumb, eighteen-year-old male in years, but I never revisited my reasoning, never tried to make sense of it as a grown male. Because of my hurt pride. Fucking pride.