All Chapters of Pathetically Beautiful : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Willow's POVWhen Steve finally left, the room was a void, even the moonlight refusing to pour any sympathy through the curtains. I remained motionless for a moment, limbs heavy, feeling as if they'd been pinned down by invisible weights. In this silence, I fought against the shadowy grip that tried to pull me into that dark place in my head. It was a sanctuary built of despair and survival, a useful lie to mask pain. But I couldn't hide forever. I dragged myself up, muscles protesting, and rolled off the bed onto the floor. My body felt cold against the hardwood, a stark contrast to the heat of shame still burning my skin. Wincing, I crawled towards my clothes, each stretch and pull of muscle reminding me painfully of everything I wanted to forget.I dressed with mechanical efficiency, my mind a tiring hum of self-preservation tactics. The dress felt heavy and wrong, unlike the armour it was meant to be. But I didn't have time to dwell on the broken pieces. Grabbing my backpack, I s

As I sat on the edge of my worn bed, the darkness of my room seemed to blur the boundaries between waking and dreaming. The pill bottle I received from Dillon lay on the table beside me, a symbol of escape that was both temporary and illusory. In one swift motion, I picked it up, meeting its rattle with my own trembling.A sudden vibration interrupted my thoughts. I fumbled for my phone, half-expecting Dillon’s unwavering concern to be etched across the screen. But it was another name, one that sent a shiver down my spine—Nat. The message was brief, and the request was clear: a meeting.For a moment, hesitation clung to me like a second skin. But there was no time for fear, no space for uncertainty when the stakes were this high. More than ever, this encounter with Nat could shift the fragile balance I held, each word exchanged potentially altering the tide of my existence.I rose, determination propelling me forward as I pulled a jacket over my thin frame. My reflection in the mirror

Brax’s POVMy mind was an unending loop of worry that circled around Willow. Weeks had passed since I last saw her face or heard her voice, and her absence carved a hollow ache in me that I couldn't ignore. The reports from the men I had watching her became increasingly sparse, as though she had somehow worked out that they were following her and had found a way to avoid them. She wasn’t at school, avoided parties, and anywhere I expected her to be.Work from my father kept me preoccupied, but it brought no peace. Meetings filled with strained respect and unspoken threats blurred together with each assignment he gave me. This life, the one paved for me before I was even born, was all I had known. But since Willow, all I ever did was wish for an escape. My father’s expectations loomed over me like a persistent shadow, whispering of future obligations I didn’t want, but I would take if it meant keeping her safe.I stood at my front door, the day’s stress weighing on me heavily. The fami

Willow's POVWatching Brax leave the room felt like watching safety slip through my fingers. The clatter of the lock was a reminder of the mess my life had become. It was ironic being locked in a room that felt more like a sanctuary than a trap.My mind was a mess of worry; Brax could have just wrecked everything I had been working so hard towards. However, Macro had already been useful in getting me into places that I would have never been able to do on my own. But now it all might have been for nothing, all because Brax couldn’t do as I asked and leave me alone.As I sat there trying to work out how I was going to get out of this mess, I felt the pills I had taken before going into the room with Marco take effect, which wasn’t a good thing. I needed a clear mind to talk my way out of this with Brax and get back to Marco before he went to Steve and everything that I had done was worked out.Getting up, I headed for the bathroom, not because I was obeying Brax but because I hoped a co

Brax's POVThe taste of whiskey burned like fire, numbing every part of me that still felt pain. It was my armour of choice tonight—a shield against memories that refused to stay buried. Dylan and Kasey watched with eyes full of quiet concern, but they understood. Sometimes, all you could do was let the liquor drown the ghosts before they drowned you.Stumbling through the party, the music pounded around me, a relentless rhythm that shook the ground. It promised a temporary escape, a distraction from Willow's haunting presence. But tonight wasn't about peace; it was about surrendering to something primal, something that roared inside me at the sight of Lana across the room.Lana had been an escape before—a fleeting, physical release. As I staggered towards her, the rage inside me simmered. Her friends barely blinked when I grabbed her wrist, pulling her away. We lived in a world where such bold moves were neither new nor shocking."Brax," she breathed, a sultry promise layered in ever