Novel & Cerita The Player Hides His Past

“You knew what last night meant. Don’t pretend it was just some heat-of-the-moment decision.” He stepped behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m not pretending. I meant every second of it.” I let myself lean into him, just a little. “Then stop running from it.” He nodded against my neck. “Fine” “I’ll figure something out,” he said. “But I need you to be careful. They’re digging into your past now. Trying to find dirt on you to make this look worse.” “Let them dig,” I muttered. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

She said Liam walked over to me, and Tiara quickly put her hand behind her back, hiding the gun from him. "I don't think you want Liam seeing this. You should have him go to his room," Tiara said "Liam, why don't you play with the toys in your room? You remember where that is, right?" I asked. Liam nodded and then ran upstairs to his room. "So you decided to move in with the Player. I thought you were smarter than that, Cami," Tiara said

“I don’t know if you remember me, but we have met a few times. Since I couldn’t actively be a part of your life, I wanted to try at least to get to know you. I have gone to every one of your games. I have also watched you often in the park when you were little. I usually sold ice-cream at the park, but I always gave you a free one. The best part about seeing you grow up was being able to see your lovely smile. You look so much like Mathew, and it helped to fill a void in my heart.” The video was cut out again, and I figured it was to give him a little privacy when he was getting too emotional. “I often thought about telling you who I was, but I didn’t want to disrupt your life. Also, as I am

“I thought that was obvious.” A pause. “The truth.” Lena’s voice trembled. “We’ve told you—” “No,” Adrian interrupted smoothly. “You’ve told some of it.” The room fell silent again. “Now,” he continued, “we do things properly.” Emma felt a chill crawl up her spine. “This is how it works,” Adrian said. “Each of you will take turns. You will confess something you’ve hidden. Something real. Something that matters.” Marcus shook his head. “We’re not playing this game.”

“No, Grandma. Just… just a bit dizzy.” She clucked her tongue. “You need to eat more. You’re getting too thin.” I forced a smile, a brittle mask. “I’m fine, Grandma.” But I wasn’t. I was trapped. Trapped by a man who was a monster in a prince’s disguise. Trapped by a secret that could destroy me. I looked around the small store, my home, my life. It was all I had. And I would protect it. I would protect my child. From him.

His voice was a low rumble that seemed to settle deep in the floorboards beneath my feet. "I was thinking about my mother," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. I sat down across from him, the wood of the chair cool against my legs. I felt exposed in the lamplight, as if the secret I’d kept for a decade was written in the sparks still dancing in my eyes. "There are things you don’t know, things you don’t understand about this place. About me." Jareth leaned forward, his large hands resting on the table. The lamplight traced the scars on his knuckles, the maps of a life spent in violence. "Then tell me. Make me understand."

He wanted the structure of the old world to anchor him against the chaos of the new one. "He wants to probe me," Lyra whispered to the shadows. "He wants to see if the girl he knew is still buried under the soot." "He wants to be near you," Hokan’s voice drifted from the dark corner. The old man looked weary, his ember-eyes dimmed. "He is an Alpha who has lost his pack and his son. You are the only thing left that is real to him." "I am a landlord, Hokan. I am a mercenary who lost her prize."

"But does he know who he is? Where he came from? Don’t you think he has the right to know his roots? Or are you just going to keep hiding him from us forever?" His words pierced through me like a blade. My vision blurred with unshed tears. I wasn’t hiding Raven out of spite. I was protecting him—from the past, from the truth… from the pain. "I’ll think about it, Lolo," I whispered. "You’ve been thinking for years, hija. Think faster. I'm not immortal," he said gruffly before hanging up. The call ended, but the weight of his words stayed with me. I sat on the edge of my bed, the silence of the room closing in.

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm team Marvelon all the way. Just as long as you don't try to harm Ophelia, we will be cool." I didn't even look at him. His mate and I were on two separate sides. There would be a point in time when we would be fighting against each other. This meant Alex would never be on my team. He was on team Alexander and Ophelia. "Whatever," I kicked up my feet on the hand rest. "Are you leaving?" "Nah," he breathed out. "Have you not seen my apartment? It's the shittiest. I only rented that place to hide. Now that I'm better there is no way I am going back to that dump."

“Ash, take me to them. I want to see for myself that they are fine.” He turned and gave me a weak smile. “I thought you knew when I was lying?” “I also know when you are hiding something from me.” “You’ve been out for a week. It got to a point I thought you’d never wake up.” He pulled me closer to him. “You mustn’t have missed me that much or I would be the one fighting you off. By the way, how come I don’t have any scars?” “I gave you some of my blood.” The grave look was back on his face. Whatever he was keeping from me was really bad.