Bound by lies Trapped by Desire novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Tlaughed quietly to mysell, shaking my head at my own stupidity at walked down the stairs. Another morning, another lonely bej Mom had leh without waking me up. She probably thought I needed the sleep and she wasn’t wrong. But it hated the silence that grei

The kitchen was dimly lit with the so orange hor of morning light leaking through the blinds Treached for the coffee machine, stretching slightly att tapped the switch on.

But then I paused.

My fingers hovered mid–air. I looked down at mysell, hand settling alisently on the lower curves of my belly Still fat. Still nothing to show. But my thoughts swirled anyway.

Does coffee harm a fetus?

The question came unbidden. A quiet mumur from the part of me that hadn’t quite accepted this yet.

I frowned, letting my hand drop.

Why do even care? I was getting an abortion. I had made that decision

Hadn’t 17

I shrugged to myself, lips pressed into a thin line. But just in case–or maybe because my conscience needed an illusion of control–1 turned the machine

Topened the fridge instead and pulled out a cold bottle of water. Then grabbed a banana from the ceramic fruit bowl. It was slightly bruised, the peel mottled brown in places, but I didn’t care.

Bag slung over my shoulder, water tucked inside, I peeled the banana and stepped outside, locking the door behind me.

The air outside was crisp with the bite of early morning. I tucked my jacket tighter around me as I made my way toward the bus stop

I took a slow bite of the banana, chewing without tasting. One hand pushed the headphone buds into my ears, and the calm, melodic voice of my audiobook narrator filled the void.

The bus was already there when I arrived. I boarded, tapping my pass, and settled into a window seat near the middle. The city y rolled past in a blur of

color and motion

It was somewhere around the second chapter that I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Iturned, blinking, and found a familiar face.

“Oh my God, Priya?”

She beamed. “Hey! I was wondering if it was you! You’ve changed your look a bit–the cap threw me off.”

laughed, tugging the headphone out of one car. “You’re one to talk. You look like you walked out of a fashion magazine”

She did. She wore a beautiful dark green dress, embroidered at the edges with gold thread. Her makeup was subtle but flawless, her hair styled into loose curls. She smelled faintly of rose water and cardamom

“Well,” she said with a smile, smoothing her dress as she sat beside me, “my brother’s getting married. It’s an Indian wedding, so you know–festivities for days. Mehendi’s tonight”

“Oh wow,” I said, genuinely surprised. “Congratulations! You must be so excited.”

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Chapter 90

She nodded kapotty Every much My sister hilaw in my childhed best fiend take we’ve drained about the chưa là đài

Tamiled, warnth Blooming in my chest for her. “That sounds like a dream.”

His shewald. Tjut couldn’t leave the house looking homeless. My mom would’ve killed me)

We both laughed.

But the joy in her voice stirred something inside me. Something bitter and aching. A sharp little jah of longing I wan’s prepared for

Fiona

Thadn’t seen her in werks

She’d been so busy with school and work and dorm life, and ‘been wrapped up in the hellstorm that was my life, we hadn’t really connected in s while.

It wasn’t that we’d grown apart. I will loved her. We still shared times and random late night texts. But that closeness we used to have?

Conn.

We were neighbors once. She was the first friend I ever made after Mom Back when everything was new and scary and different

I missed her.

God, I missed being with her all the time

The bus ride ended sooner than I expected. We hugged quickly before parting ways, and I promised to text her soon,

University grounds were buzzing with students. I blended into the crowd, my cap low over my brow, hoodie zipped all the way up. I looked like a student. Normal Invisible.

The first exam was automotive engineering. It passed in a hace of diagrams, torque equations, and component labeling. I wasn’t even sure I remembered everything I wrote..

y later.

Then came project management, a day

ing those two days, I lived in the library.

During

Nose buried in textbooks. Fingers cramping from notes. Eye sockets burning from too much screen time.

I stayed away from

y from the drama. From Dmitri. From Lazar

But even as I tried to avoid them, I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering.

Her

The girl from the janitor’s closet.

I still didn’t know her name. Still couldn’t erase the haunted look in her eyes from my memory. I mean I could probably be overthinking this. It was a strange sixth sense that made me want to make sure she was okay.

I searched faces, scanned groups, kept my ears open.

But she never appeared

Three days. Nothing

Maybe if I remembered her name, this would be easier.

Chapter 99

I sighed, rubbing my temples as tried to focus sgrin, Lony had ene mora Viborg avin

Just a linte lonter.

I was walking out of the university gates, headphones back in, audiobook resumed, when i noticed something of

Teammen in uniformi.

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