Chapter 155: The Unexpected Praise
Evaline:
Sunday arrived with a pale grey sky and a heart heavier than it had been the night before.
It should have been a good day considering it was payday.
I got my salary, more than I had ever held in my hands before. River kept his word about the bonus, letting me earn twice my usual salary.
I should have been thrilled. Proud. Excited to finally make real money from honest, hard work, especially with no one else to depend on.
But instead, I was feeling... nothing.
There was no joy. No pride. Just a hollow ache in my chest that hadn’t eased since Friday evening.
Forty hours. That’s how long it had been since I stood in that cottage and watched my mates walk away. Since I dropped the truth on them like shattering glass, one shard after another. Since I saw Draven’s back as he stormed out, and Oscar’s detached voice as he told me he would drop me off like I was some stranger.
It had been forty long hours without a single message from either of them, let alone a call.
That’s right! A foolish, desperate part of me - one that I thought I had buried long ago - kept checking my phone. Hoping. Praying.
But there was nothing.