❝ You make this messed-up world look so much more beautiful. ❞ Gathering me in his arms, he pulled me close -- his lips seeking mine hungrily.
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The only thing Summer Hale has ever wanted was to live peacefully away from her secrets...
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I've been holding on to hope That you'll come back when you can find some peace Cause every word that I've heard spoken Since you left feels like an hollow street — Bruises by Lewis Capaldi
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My father wanted me to bring Summer to him, so he could explain to her the duties she was meant to take over. Hyo-Jin left the responsibility to Summer to find The Marchioness. It was only she who could retrieve and access the thumb drive.
Telling her meant involving her. It meant dragging her to the darkness. But if I allowed this chase to go on, then I might end up losing her for good.
I slumped on the chair and threw my head back.
Liam told me they were back in Brickfields, so she was safe with them, for now. My eyes flitted across the room to the painting she gave me. Perhaps, she was truly meant to follow in her mother's footsteps. Alexander would be pleased, no doubt. Summer was very much like her mother, anyway. But less brutal, less merciless.
I needed the thumb drive to find The Marchioness. But I couldn't possibly send Summer to my father without letting her know what was up. It would be like sending a sheep to the slaughter. I had to ease her in slowly, surely. I wasn't about to do another massive information dump on her. At least the foundation had been solidified; she was already aware of the secret society. The only things that she had to know now were our forgotten past and what the other world was.
I could deal with the consequences of going against what I was assigned to do.
Defeated, I pushed myself up to my feet and exited my room, descending the steps in a rush.
I stopped in my tracks as soon as I reached the threshold to the living room. My brain was playing tricks on me; I was so fucking sure of it. There was no way she was here, no way she would know about this house.
Summer's eyes met mine, and we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
"Hey," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"How did you know about this place?" I questioned, walking past her to the kitchen. She was right behind me, her footsteps light against my floorboard. It was terrifying that I could even recognize the way she walked.
