Page 100 of The Daredevil

Motivation Star:You are awesome. You are fearless.

Coins and Gems: One hundred new coins and three diamonds.

My avatar grew another inch, and I bought her a crown as she gained a new backyard with a cool obstacle course that offered her opportunities to earn new coins. This bonus section didn’t have any enemies to fight. The faster I cleared the obstacles, the more coins I received.

Thirty minutes later, I felt like I’d purged enough stress to make me feel lighter. Was that why Royce and his friends played video games all the time? It had the power to eliminate stress by tossing you into a world where you lost yourself. Not only that, but I also became someone new during that role-playing game.

I never realized that a video game could help me deal with my stress.

“How are you doing?” Royce pulled up a chair beside me. “I like the smile on your face. You look like you just defeated someone.”

“I defeated a beast and earned a crown for my bunny.”

“Sounds fun.” His eyes sparked. “The image has been removed and replaced by ‘Down for Maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.’”

I gasped with joy. “That was fast! How did you manage it?”

“I know some people.” He smiled. “It’s down, but my guys are working on getting to the source. You need to get away for a bit. I want to take you on a brief vacation with me.”

“Where?”

“To a place that’s on your Wonders of the World list. It’ll be good to get away.”

My heart veritably jumped onto his lap, and I wondered if he felt it. I knew he’d help me resolve this website issue, but he achieved it in a manner that was efficient and painless for me. I had so much appreciation for him.

Too emotional, I choked, “You are truly a gift.”

“Then I suppose we’re a gift to each other.” He grinned.

Royce thought of everything. My brain was beaten to a pulp, and I couldn’t think of a better idea than a surprise vacation. This entire scenario had unsettled me to the core. I didn’t think anyone could hate me this much. Despite the alarming situation, Royce was by my side and made everything easier to deal with. He met my immediate needs with a smile, and a flame burst in my soul.

I had a gift for him, but it was still in the works. Hopefully, he’d love it.

“Sure. I can’t wait to see what wonderful place I can cross off my list. Let me go pack some clothes, and we can head over to your place.” My stomach growled, and I had a craving. “Can we order a deep-dish pizza and fries?”

“You can have whatever you want. I’ll place the order.”

See? Efficiency.

As I packed my clothes, a thought occurred to me. I had just requested a deep-dish pizza and fries without a sliver of guilt. It was as though my relationship with food had changed. Normally, I’d feel guilty eventhinkingabout eating something so bad for me. But I didn’t care today. Pizza and fries would give me the comfort I craved.

Was it because I was with him that I didn’t feel the guilt?

My brain was too exhausted to care what the reason was. All that mattered was that guilt and fear stood at bay.

CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO

ROYCE

While Michelle slept,I conducted more research regarding Fiona, Brittany, and Dominic. The PI was working hard on uncovering who the fuck created that image of Michelle and hacked into her account. Arrow knew some hackers and sent me their contact details. I didn’t care who got me answers first—I just wanted to know who I had to destroy.

Fury had spiraled in me when I saw the image. It escalated when she shattered against me. I felt her pain reverberate in my body, my cells. The despair was unbearable, and I understood why. She was portrayed in the most disgraceful way for the world to mock. I had contained myself so she didn’t see how irate I was. She needed my composure and support to help her at that vulnerable moment, and I tried my best not to pop a vein.

Seeing her broken devastated me. I wanted to burn down the fucking world for making her cry. I wanted those responsible to scream in pain as I watched lava devour their bodies slowly, eating up their flesh and bones.

There was more to this predicament than simple slander. I had to proceed with caution if I wanted to uncover everything.

Michelle was important to me, and someone knew this.

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