Winning the Heir Who Bullied Me novel Chapter 153

Chapter 153

Entering Nathan’s room hits me with déjà vu.

Just like last night, he’s standing in front of his bathroom door, toweling his hair dry, naked from the waist up.

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Except this time, it’s not his toned body that snags my attention. It’s the bruises, reddish–purple and blue, blooming on his skin like violent flowers in a garden.

A sob lodges in my throat as my eyes lock on them, tracing each and every one–a map of brutality.

Nathan is rigid, staring at me like he’s seeing a ghost.

My gaze shifts to his face, and the sob tears out of me.

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The same eye that was bruised the last time is now swollen shut. There are two fat bruises–one on his forehead and another on the line of his jaw. I was mistaken last night–his lip is split in three places.

“Oh, Nathan.” I take a step towards him, but halt when he takes one back.

I frown. “Nathan?”

“I thought you’d left.”

1 inhale slowly. “You thought I’d left,” I repeat.

Something is wrong. I can sense it in the way the air between us thickens, that step he took back, the stiffness in his body, the blankness on his face. The way he can’t look at me.

*You…you weren’t even going to say goodbye?”

He shrugs–and immediately winces. God, the bruises are everywhere.

“What’s the point of a goodbye?”

1 blink. “Right. Right, because it doesn’t matter that I’m eliminated…” I hold my breath. “Right?”

Nathan doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t move or look at me.

“It doesn’t matter, because we have a plan.” My voice is shaky. My whole body trembles. My mind is screaming. “Right?”

Something is not right.

“I’m sorry you got eliminated, April,” Nathan sighs, still not looking at me. “It was my fault.”

I shake my head. “It was nobody’s fault.” I swallow. “But it doesn’t matter…right?”

Why won’t he look at me? Why won’t he assure me it doesn’t matter? We were going to boycott the competition altogether, leave, and get married. So why won’t he-

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Chapter 153

“You should get going,” he says. “Since you’re no longer a contestant, technically, you’re trespassing in our home.”

My jow unhinges, and it’s like I’m the one who’s seeing a ghost.

“Nathan,” I force myself to speak through the hump growing in my throat. “You’re scaring me.”

He finally moves. Not towards me–towards his closet.

I don’t follow. Somehow, I don’t think this is the right situation to admire his naked ass.

When be reemerges, he’s wearing a dark long–sleeved shirt and black sweatpants, all the bruises but the ones on his face hidden.

He glances in my direction, his gare fixing on a spot over my head. “You’re still here.”

A sound that’s half–incredulity, half–irritation snaps out of me. “I’m still here?”

He sighs, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room. “You’re eliminated, April, it’s over.”

Over.

Four letters. Two syllables. One stabbing pain in my chest.

I struggle to breathe around it, struggle to keep my composure. Struggle to understand what the fuck is going on.

“What do you mean by…over?” The word is like tar sliding out of me.

Nathan’s jaw clenches, and he doesn’t say anything.

“We were going to leave,” I whisper. “The competition didn’t matter anymore, so what does it matter if I’m eliminated?”

Nathan shakes his head. “I can’t…” He pauses like his next words will hurt, but he forces them out anyway. “I can’t leave my family.”

The incredulous bark of laughter rips out of me reflexively. “You can’t leave your family? Your family that you hate?

He shrugs, holding back his wince this time. “They’re my family.”

I scoff. “Even Lucas?”

Nathan tenses, and his hands form into fists by his side. The blank mask is replaced by that fury from last night, and I watch him close his eyes, trying to breathe through the rage that must be swimming inside him.

Oh.

“I get it,” I whisper.

His eyes open, and they fix briefly on me before darting away. “Get what?”

“What you’re doing.”

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Chapter 153

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He crosses his arms, hiding his fists away. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re putting on a show. 1-1 hold up air quotes–“‘leave‘ and when the heat dies with your family, when they believe all is back to normal, you’ll come for me.”

I exhale. “I get it, but it’s just me and you here, Nathan. You can drop the act.”

His lips press so tightly together, they disappear. “I don’t know what you mean.”

I run my hands down my face. “It’s just us here, okay?” I start to move towards him, stretching my hands out. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night, I was so worried about you. At a point, I almost-”

“Don’t touch me.”

I wince, my hand hovering over his arm. “Does it hurt that bad?”

I reach for the hem of his shirt. “Let me see. Will you get Penny or should I—”

He moves, shifting away from me. My hand skims the cotton of his shirt before hanging uselessly in the air.

I frown. “You don’t want me to help?”

He swallows tightly, standing as if his spine has been replaced with a flag pole. “I don’t want you here,” he grinds out.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I get it. I’m eliminated, I should leave. But I just want to make sure you’re okay. That was horrible, Nathan.”

He exhales. “I’m–I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped the bomb on you like that.”

“You did nothing wrong,” he says firmly, residual anger slipping into his voice.

I bite my lip. “Still-”

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