My Beloved Has Risen from Death's Embrace novel Chapter 140

The rich, intense aroma and the refreshing sweetness of the high-concentration wine smoothed down Xanthea's throat, quenching the fiery blend of fear and anger boiling inside her. It made her feel significantly better.

She had been running, and now, utterly exhausted, she gripped her sides, panting as she looked towards Leonard and Cedric. "I need to go home. It's too dangerous here, especially the backwoods! And Orion, that jerk, always picking on me, playing his games. I don't want to see him anymore!"

Cedric, at that moment, was too stunned to pay attention to her words, just watching her every move in disbelief.

"Ms. Nightshade, you just downed a glass of strong red wine. Are you sure you're okay?"

Leonard was shocked. She had left looking so dignified and neat, but now she returned disheveled, her dress in disarray and her hair tousled, as if she had been through a rough ordeal. The words she muttered—'Orion,' 'backwoods,' 'playing games,' 'I don't want to'—sparked a wild scene in his mind.

No, it couldn't be.

Had Orion really behaved like a beast?

Leonard had expected Orion to be captivated by Xanthea's beauty, but he hadn't anticipated such an immediate and forceful advance in the secluded forest.

It was outrageous!

"Xan, are you alright?" he asked with concern.

Xanthea, visibly upset, pointed at herself. "Do I look alright to you?"

She had nearly been scared to death by a snake and by Orion!

"No, not really."

It was clear she and Orion had a crazy night.

Leonard felt a pang of guilt, realizing he might have inadvertently played a role in this mess. "Xan, you don't blame me, do you?"

Why would she blame him?