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Violet might have welcomed him politely and offered him a chair, but right now, Alaric felt like he was seated on coals of fire. The girls all surrounded him, taking positions in various corners of the living room and giving him death stares. And wait a minute, did he just see a glint of metal?

Alaric’s brows furrowed when he saw the short-cropped, blonde-haired roommate with a table knife in her hand, which she ominously caressed while giving him that disturbing look.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have come here. Perhaps he should have cornered Violet before class and made a public apology—even if Roman’s drama had pretty much stolen the limelight of the day.

Violet must have sensed the awkward tension in the air because she said, "Guys, do you mind?"

"We do mind," all three of them answered in unison.

Alaric rubbed his wet palms down his thighs. They were really not going to go easy on him. Not that he blamed them. He deserved this, if not worse. It was even a miracle Violet was being calm right now.

"I need some privacy," Violet insisted.

But the dark-haired one replied coldly, "He didn’t think of privacy when he humiliated you in public."

Alaric opened his mouth to speak but found out he could not let out a word. What could he say anyway? The girl was telling the plain truth.

And she noticed the gesture as well because she raised a brow. "Alright, go on, deny it. I’m waiting. What is it that you want to say now that would make up for what you did?" she taunted him mercilessly.

"Alright, Daisy, that’s enough!" Violet scolded her, eyes flashing. "Yes, he did me wrong, but he’s here to make up for his mistake. That’s something."

"He did it in public. He should have apologized in public. Not scurry in here with his tail between his legs like some coward," she sneered.

"Daisy—!"

"No, she’s right," Alaric cut in before things could get more heated than they already were. Moreover, he didn’t want Violet fighting with her roommates because of him. He’d done enough damage already.

He went on, "Violet doesn’t like attention on her. I wanted to apologize in private before taking it public, so as not to catch her unaware."

"Aww, so sweet," the longer blonde-haired one swooned, but the glare she received from the other two was enough to shut her up.

Violet took his hand and said, "We’ll talk in the comfort of my room."

"What—no way?!"

"Both of you can’t be alone in there!"

"Don’t fall for his tricks again!"

The protests from all three of them rent the room but Violet shouted, "That’s enough!"

Silence cut through the room, and Violet looked at them with a hardened expression, saying, "I am old enough to make my decision and bear the consequences." Then she looked at the short-haired one, whose name he finally got to know. "Lila, get us some refreshments."

Oh hell no. Alaric wanted to object. With the way Lila looked at him, he had no doubt she would do something to his drink. But before he could say a word, Violet was already dragging him in the direction of her room.

"Have a seat," she gestured to the edge of her bed, taking the position right next to him.

Alaric looked around, impressed at what he saw. From the outside of the house, one would think it would collapse any second, but they’d done a good job patching up the inside. Strangely, he didn’t remember when or how they worked on it. The girls must be resourceful.

"You wanted to talk. Talk now," Violet’s tone was firmer now.

Alaric stared into those beautiful golden eyes and let his vulnerability show as he said sincerely, "I know there’s nothing I can say that would undo the past, but I’m sorry.

These are all excuses, but then... Elsie wanted me to hurt you.

It was the only way to satiate her pride and keep you safe.

But I’m not going to deny I went too far, and my jealousy had a lot to do with it. "

Violet didn’t interrupt him. Instead, she listened patiently, waiting for him to finish, and Alaric confessed, "Roman and I have never gotten along, not after he stole my first love, Julia. It wasn’t even the fact that he seduced her that was the issue.

No, they didn’t even date. Roman took what he wanted from her and bam!

That was it. Julia and I could have had a beautiful relationship, but he destroyed it.

Stole it away. So when I saw you together with him that night, something inside me broke.

I know we didn’t even date for long, but would it sound strange if I told you, it felt like I’ve known you forever. ..?"

Violet couldn’t breathe as she found herself enraptured in those beautiful blue eyes, her heart pounding quickly because the truth was... she felt the same. She felt like she had known him forever too.

"I’ve never..." Alaric spoke as he tentatively reached for her hand with his bare hand, and when she let him, he intertwined them together. Electricity crackled between them, making her gasp as the power filled her. "...felt strongly for someone the way I felt for you. Not even for Lucille."

At the mention of Lucille, Violet was intrigued, and she asked honestly, "How did you feel for Lucille? How is it any different from how you feel for me?"

Alaric’s brows furrowed slightly as he thought hard. He said one word: "Excitement. That was how it was with Lucille."

Then he went on to explain. "As you already know, I’m not really great with women, and my powers don’t exactly make it easy either. If I lose control, I could kill someone, even in the throes of passion. But Lucille wasn’t scared. She was brave and daring, just like you..."

Alaric was caressing the top of her palm now, as if drawing strength from her as he narrated.

"After Julia, I was eager for a connection with someone, so we just clicked. I swear nothing could scare that girl, and it was no surprise she brought me out of my shell. So when I found out she was dating Roman, I was mad, but I didn’t want to lose her.

So we shared her. All of us shared her, and somehow made it work,until it twisted into something else.

Not even the puppet master, Asher, who had basically groomed her, was safe.

She turned our affection for her into a thing for sport.

Made us fight and scramble for even a morsel of her attention.

Her affection. And when it seemed like we were beginning to snap out of her charm, that was when she began to threaten us with her life. "