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The Stoic Nurse's Obsession: My Secret Queen
img img The Stoic Nurse's Obsession: My Secret Queen img Chapter 6 6
6 Chapters
Chapter 8 8 img
Chapter 9 9 img
Chapter 10 10 img
Chapter 11 11 img
Chapter 12 12 img
Chapter 13 13 img
Chapter 14 14 img
Chapter 15 15 img
Chapter 16 16 img
Chapter 17 17 img
Chapter 18 18 img
Chapter 19 19 img
Chapter 20 20 img
Chapter 21 21 img
Chapter 22 22 img
Chapter 23 23 img
Chapter 24 24 img
Chapter 25 25 img
Chapter 26 26 img
Chapter 27 27 img
Chapter 28 28 img
Chapter 29 29 img
Chapter 30 30 img
Chapter 31 31 img
Chapter 32 32 img
Chapter 33 33 img
Chapter 34 34 img
Chapter 35 35 img
Chapter 36 36 img
Chapter 37 37 img
Chapter 38 38 img
Chapter 39 39 img
Chapter 40 40 img
Chapter 41 41 img
Chapter 42 42 img
Chapter 43 43 img
Chapter 44 44 img
Chapter 45 45 img
Chapter 46 46 img
Chapter 47 47 img
Chapter 48 48 img
Chapter 49 49 img
Chapter 50 50 img
Chapter 51 51 img
Chapter 52 52 img
Chapter 53 53 img
Chapter 54 54 img
Chapter 55 55 img
Chapter 56 56 img
Chapter 57 57 img
Chapter 58 58 img
Chapter 59 59 img
Chapter 60 60 img
Chapter 61 61 img
Chapter 62 62 img
Chapter 63 63 img
Chapter 64 64 img
Chapter 65 65 img
Chapter 66 66 img
Chapter 67 67 img
Chapter 68 68 img
Chapter 69 69 img
Chapter 70 70 img
Chapter 71 71 img
Chapter 72 72 img
Chapter 73 73 img
Chapter 74 74 img
Chapter 75 75 img
Chapter 76 76 img
Chapter 77 77 img
Chapter 78 78 img
Chapter 79 79 img
Chapter 80 80 img
Chapter 81 81 img
Chapter 82 82 img
Chapter 83 83 img
Chapter 84 84 img
Chapter 85 85 img
Chapter 86 86 img
Chapter 87 87 img
Chapter 88 88 img
Chapter 89 89 img
Chapter 90 90 img
Chapter 91 91 img
Chapter 92 92 img
Chapter 93 93 img
Chapter 94 94 img
Chapter 95 95 img
Chapter 96 96 img
Chapter 97 97 img
Chapter 98 98 img
Chapter 99 99 img
Chapter 100 100 img
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Chapter 6 6

The dining room was a study in tension. The chandelier was too bright. The silverware clinked too loudly against the china.

Aunt Nora was trying. She was fluttering around, serving roast beef, smiling too much.

So, Dallas, Nora said, her voice high and brittle. How is the first week?

Fine, Dallas said. She focused on cutting her meat. Precision cuts. One inch by one inch.

Inger took a sip of red wine. Fine? I heard you got a zero on your placement exam. A zero, Dallas. Do you know how hard it is to get a zero? You have to actively try to be that stupid.

Erika was sitting across from Dallas. She was smiling into her water glass.

Maybe she just froze, Erika said sweetly. It happens to people who aren't... prepared.

Mason, Nora's son, was sitting next to Dallas. He was twelve, a quiet kid with glasses. He kicked Dallas gently under the table. A signal of solidarity.

I didn't freeze, Dallas said without looking up.

Then what? Inger snapped. You're just lazy? You're trying to embarrass me? The Bentleys paid for your tuition, Dallas. Do you have any idea what that cost?

I didn't ask you to, Dallas said.

Inger slammed her wine glass down. Wine sloshed over the rim, staining the white tablecloth red like blood.

Ungrateful, Inger hissed. You are exactly like your father. Useless. A waste of space.

The air left the room.

Nora gasped. Inger!

Dallas stopped cutting. Her knife screeched against the plate.

She looked up. Her eyes were dark, bottomless pits.

My father, Dallas said, her voice dangerously low, was a kind man.

He was a drunk! Inger shouted. And he died broke! Just like you will!

Erika chimed in. Mom, don't upset yourself. Dallas can always go to community college. They have... vocational programs.

Miley, Nora's daughter, giggled. Like plumbing?

Dallas looked at them. The perfect family. The perfect facade.

She felt a burning in her chest. It wasn't tears. It was fire.

She stood up. Her chair scraped back.

I'm not hungry, Dallas said.

Sit down! Inger commanded.

No, Dallas said.

She walked out of the dining room. She grabbed her backpack from the hall.

Nora ran after her. Dallas! Wait!

She caught Dallas on the porch. Nora's eyes were wet. She shoved a roll of cash into Dallas's hand.

Take this, Nora whispered. Please. Buy yourself something nice. Don't listen to her.

Dallas looked at the money. It was a few hundred dollars. Pity money.

I don't need it, Aunt Nora, Dallas said. She tried to give it back.

Take it! Nora insisted, shoving it into Dallas's pocket.

Dallas let her. She hugged her aunt briefly. A stiff, awkward embrace.

She walked down the driveway into the dark.

Once she was around the corner, she reached into the hidden lining of her backpack and pulled out a cheap, battered burner phone. She powered it on.

A single encrypted text message waited for her.

Notification: Escrow Release Authorized. Balance Update: +$50,000.00.

It was the payment for the Black Eagle defense. A bounty from the underground.

Dallas touched the crumpled bills in her pocket from her aunt. Then she looked at the number on her screen.

She laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound. She popped the battery out of the burner phone and shoved it back into the hidden lining.

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