Nicholas

What I said hadn’t been a lie. I did have other wrist guards, made by artisans and leatherworkers from all across the country.

Yet none of them had been quite as meaningful as the one handmade for me by Piper. Hers was more comfortable too.

I wasn’t sure how she could remember the size of my wrist without having examined me, but she had crafted the guard to fit snuggly but not too tightly. Just how I preferred it.

Did she perhaps remember when I had complained about other wrist guards in the past?

It seemed unlikely.

When I had first found the wrist guard, I had disregarded the thought that Piper had been the one to give

me this gift.

Yes, only one here who had prior knowledge of my condition. But when she had broken up

She was the

with me three years ago, she had done so without warning. And seemingly without remorse.

She left me, dropped out of the Academy, and disappeared straight off the planet. None of our mutual friends had been able to get a hold of her. My own calls never went through, but I had simply thought

she’d blocked me.

Now she was here. And she had given me this gift.

I only wished I knew what it meant.

In the moments where I thought that perhaps she gifted it with honest intentions, a sense of pleasure

spread within me.

But then I remembered when I’d gone to her room to ask her about it, I had found her with Julian. They had been talking in hushed whispers, their heads bowed toward each other as if they were sharing an

Intimate moment

me like a shadow until now, when

her face fell. I steeled myself against the sight of her upset.

moments in which

reemergence with Elva

on me and gotten pregnant? Was that

so close with the brother

Too much

I didn’t want her to know

able to love anyone the same way I

lowered. She held the wrist guard gently in both of her hands. What

been crafted

heart. I wanted

re–accept it. Not without looking like a fool once

she had

I disliked him, maybe better than anyone. Why would

spend time with him?

wasn’t jealousy. It couldn’t be. I’d buried

within myself long ago.

felt a lot like

will excuse me,” I said and motioned

Elva could request more of my time. I’d feel

to give it.

been the most indulgent father. She was everything I wanted in

a big smile. She looked so much like

But Elva wasn’t mine.

moved

these old hurts resurfacing, I hurried to get away as fast as I could without making it look like the retreat that

Chapter 0040

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