---- Chapter 17 Hanson Ayers POV: Her name was a prayer and a curse on my lips. Ally. | painted her. Over and over again. Not her face, not her body, but the feeling of her. | painted the cold indifference in her eyes, the sharp, cutting edge of her voice, the suffocating darkness of the alley where | last laid a hand on her. My art became famous, celebrated for its raw, visceral pain. Critics called it genius. | called it my penance. Every painting sold for a fortune, but the money meant nothing. | would take the checks and try to send them to her, anonymously, through a dozen different charities. A pathetic attempt to pay back an unpayable debt. They were always returned. | saw her sometimes, from a distance. A flash of her dark hair as she stepped into a taxi. The confident stride of her silhouette against the setting sun. Each glimpse was a fresh twist of the knife in my gut. She was thriving. She was beautiful. She was happy. And her happiness was a universe away from me. My brother and |, we orbited her like two dead planets, our paths occasionally crossing in the cold, empty space of our ---- shared obsession. We' d see each other outside her office building, or near her apartment, and we would just glare, our faces masks of mutual loathing. We were pathetic. Two kings of a ruined empire, fighting over the ashes. One night, | saw her leaving a restaurant. She was with aman He was handsome, in a quiet, unassuming way. He opened the car door for her, and she smiled at him. A real smile. The one | had seen once, years ago in London, the one that had broken me. It was a smile of genuine warmth, of affection, of peace. It was a smile that would never, ever be for me. The sight of it didn't ignite the old, violent jealousy. It just... extinguished the last spark of hope inside me. It was the final, quiet confirmation of a truth | had been trying to outrun for years It was over. It had been over for a long, long time. Later that week, Branson and | ended up in the same place at the same time, outside her apartment building, like the fools we were. It was the first time we had spoken in years. \'We have to stop this,\" he said, his voice sounding old and tired. \'There's nothing to stop,\" | replied, my own voice hollow. \ "She's happy. We lost.\" We stood there in silence for a long time, two brothers united ---- only by the woman they had both systematically destroyed and, in doing so, had destroyed themselves. We saw her then, walking down the street, hand in hand with the architect. She was laughing. The sound was clear and bright in the evening air. It was the most beautiful and most painful sound | had ever heard. She saw us. Her laughter didn't falter. Her smile didn't fade. She just gave us a brief, passing glance-the kind of glance you would give a piece of litter on the sidewalk-and then turned her attention back to the man she loved. She didn't hate us. She didn't fear us. She didn't even pity us. We simply didn't matter. That was our true punishment. Not her anger, but her absolute, complete, and eternal indifference. We were footnotes in a story she had long since finished writing. Branson and | just stood there, watching her walk away, disappearing into the warm, happy glow of a life she had built for herself. A life that had no room for ghosts. Title: A Princess? No! I'm the Female General! In "A Princess? No! I'm the Female General!" by CrushReel, Adela Taylor, a noble family's daughter, disguises herself as her brother to secure their Duke title by joining the army. Despite facing obstacles, she achieves remarkable success. However, upon her triumphant return, her brother betrays her, setting off a chain of events that will test her resolve and reveal hidden truths. This captivating novel delves into themes of secrets, reincarnation, revenge, murder, and drama. Adela's journey from deception to betrayal is filled with intrigue and suspense as she navigates through a world where power dynamics and family loyalties collide. What sets this story apart is its strong female lead who defies expectations and challenges societal norms in a quest for justice and redemption. Experience the riveting tale of Adela Taylor online at CrushReel and witness the transformation of a princess into a formidable female general.