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 I could finally return the

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

certainly moments in which

burned. And now her reemergence with Elva brought its own

me and gotten pregnant? Was

close with the brother she knew

us. Too much raw heartache lingering

want her to know how much she still affected

parted, I had never been able to love

the wrist guard gently in both of her

had been

heart. I

without looking like a fool once

the way she

disliked him, maybe better than anyone. Why would

spend time with him?

jealousy. It couldn’t be. I’d buried all romantic

within myself long ago.

still felt a lot

excuse me,” I said and motioned for Mark to

they came close, I began walking away before Elva could request more of my time. I’d

to give it.

I would have been the most indulgent father. She was everything I

– curious and sweet, with a big smile.

But Elva wasn’t mine.

moved on so

as I could without making it look like

Chapter 0040

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255