Chapter 60
Author: Purplescent
last update2025-10-21 09:25:17

“Watch it, lady!” a young woman snapped, her eyes barely visible under a heavy fringe of synthetic hair.

Ari was shoved, her black dress a perfect target for spills and clumsy elbows. Then came the murmurs. Not shouted, but hissed—low enough to be cruel, loud enough to cut through the music.

“God, what’s she doing out here?”

“Like she doesn’t have kids to take care of.”

The words struck her like physical blows. The urge to flee, to crawl back into the safety of the dark corner, was overwhelming. Her shoulders sagely slumped. She had thought a night would be great. Now, she regrets ever getting out of bed. She regretted not just staying home and finding a new soap opera to lose herself in. It would have been a thousand times less painful.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she began to whisper, an automatic apology escaping her lips, not even sure who she was apologizing to.

But before she could retreat, a hand—firm, warm, and strangely possessive—grabbed her wrist.

Ari gasped and spun around
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