Chapter 4<\/p>\n
After getting into the car, William leaned back in the black leather seat and crossed his legs. The extended cabin was spacious, leaving plenty of room between them.<\/p>\n
The silence was heavy. Scarlet wasn\u2019t sure if they had talked about their divorce in the study, so she sat quietly for a while before turning to ask him, \u201cDid your mother say anything to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
William glanced at her apathetically. \u201cWhat was she supposed to say?\u201d<\/p>\n
So Justine hadn\u2019t brought it up. Scarlet laced her fingers and hesitated for a few seconds before saying, \u201cThere\u2019s only one month left before\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Before she could finish, his phone rang. He shifted his gaze away from her and answered the call.<\/p>\n
Scarlet had no idea who it was. His responses were brief. His gaze shifted to the window, his profile cold and distant.<\/p>\n
After ending the call, he told the driver to pull over. As soon as the car rolled to a stop, he said flatly, \u201cGet out. I have something to take care of. Someone will come pick you up later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instinctively, she asked, \u201cWhere are you going at this hour?\u201d<\/p>\n
William lifted his gaze when he heard that. His unreadable gaze swept across her face, and the corner of his lips curled slightly. \u201cThat\u2019s none of your business, Mrs. Cooper.\u201d<\/p>\n
His words were like a bucket of icy water emptied all over her, chilling her to the bone. Her fingers curled slightly. Without another word, she opened the car door and got out.<\/p>\n
The luxury car sped away before her eyes. The empty road was soon swallowed by darkness, broken only by distant streetlights casting a dull yellow glow.<\/p>\n
Scarlet was still far from the city, in the middle of nowhere. The wind picked up, rustling through the trees.<\/p>\n
She had forgotten her scarf. The cold wind slipped into her collar, through the gaps in her sweater, and into her bones. In the end, she called for a ride and went home.<\/p>\n
When she arrived home, Ruth was already back. She hurried over with slippers, peering over Scarlet\u2019s shoulder. \u201cDid Mr. Cooper not come back with you, Mrs. Cooper?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d Scarlet changed her shoes and was about to go upstairs when something occurred to her. She led Ruth to the room where the cats were kept and explained how to take care of them.<\/p>\n
The room was full of cat supplies\u2014automatic feeders, litter boxes, and a tall cat tree. Ruth looked around in awe. \u201cDoes Mr. Cooper know you\u2019re keeping this many cats? Won\u2019t he be upset?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure you close the door and don\u2019t let the cats run out,\u201d Scarlet reminded. \u201cI don\u2019t care if he\u2019s upset. No one gets to be happy all the time in the adult world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet used to be easygoing. Wondering if she was still holding a grudge over what happened last time, Ruth fell silent.<\/p>\n
William didn\u2019t come home that night. He didn\u2019t come home in the days that followed either. If Scarlet hadn\u2019t seen him in the news every day, she might have wondered if he\u2019d accidentally died somewhere.<\/p>\n
William had only been back in the country for a few days when he caused a stir in the financial world. Everyone was speculating about the reason behind the Wellton Street rising star\u2019s return.<\/p>\n
\u201cBova Capital\u2019s Return Redefines the Local Investment Banking Game\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur Cooper Is Set to Step Down as CEO of Heritage Bank. William Cooper\u2019s Return Sparks Succession Questions\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even the younger staff in Scarlet\u2019s department gossiped about it at lunchtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is Mr. William. He\u2019s both handsome and successful. God, I\u2019m in love!\u201d<\/p>\n
Clementine Simpson chimed in, \u201cYou\u2019re too late. He\u2019s been married for ages.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously? He got married that young?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I\u2019m serious. I\u2019ve seen him in person. He looks way better in real life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis wedding was grand. How do you not know this?\u201d Clementine spoke as if she knew William well.<\/p>\n
Scarlet looked up at her. Both of them had joined the same hospital and department in the same year, yet Clementine had never liked her.<\/p>\n
Scarlet had still been in graduate school when she married William. She had no family on her side, and the only person there for her was Lucy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bet you\u2019ve never seen that iconic photo, have you?\u201d Clementine continued. \u201cI\u2019m talking about the photo from the wedding, when they were exchanging rings. The bride was behind this misty veil. Their side profile and the atmosphere were just perfect. Here, let me find it for you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Clementine dug the photo out from an old news article. The group chatted nonstop.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t really see her face, but judging from the bone structure, I can tell she\u2019s a total beauty!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want to know who she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t this side profile kind of look like you, Dr. Benson?\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet replied with a poker face, \u201cYou must be seeing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, right.\u201d Clementine rolled her eyes. \u201cAs if she\u2019s that lucky. Marrying into wealth? In her dreams!\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s expression remained stoic. \u201cHow do you know I\u2019m not that lucky?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clementine was about to argue when a nurse slapped her thigh. \u201cDr. Benson would have no problems marrying into wealth with her looks and skills!\u201d<\/p>\n
Clementine scoffed. \u201cIt\u2019s been two years. Have you ever seen her husband? If she really married into money, wouldn\u2019t she show him off?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true. When are you bringing your husband around for us to meet, Dr. Benson?\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet set her cutlery down and wiped her mouth. \u201cI married a ghost. I\u2019m afraid he\u2019ll scare you if I bring him here.\u201d Right after saying that, she picked up her tray and walked away, leaving a row of stunned faces.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
That evening, when Scarlet returned home from work, Ruth had prepared an elaborate feast. The table was full of dishes, though many of them were things Scarlet didn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
Scarlet asked her to cook less next time. Yet, she argued, \u201cEven if you don\u2019t eat it, Mr. Cooper will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can\u2019t finish 12 dishes by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet was gentle by nature. If someone showed her even a little kindness, she would return it tenfold.<\/p>\n
She disliked conflict. As long as they didn\u2019t cross the line, she rarely made things difficult for anyone. However, once she shut someone out, it was almost impossible to let them back in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need you to pinch pennies, but I don\u2019t want you to be wasteful either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth muttered under her breath, \u201cI\u2019m spending Mr. Cooper\u2019s money, and I\u2019m cooking for him. How is that a waste?\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet ate leisurely. \u201cMy ears are fine. If you want to complain, do it farther away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth fell silent.<\/p>\n
William still wasn\u2019t home when Scarlet finished dinner. Ruth glanced at the door several times before asking, \u201cAren\u2019t you going to call Mr. Cooper? It\u2019s been days. Is he not coming home tonight either?\u201d<\/p>\n
Scarlet rebutted, \u201cIf you miss him that much, why don\u2019t you call him yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth appeared awkward. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Just then, a car pulled into the yard.<\/p>\n
Ruth lit up. \u201cIt\u2019s probably Mr. Cooper!\u201d Then, she hurriedly opened the door.<\/p>\n
Scarlet looked over.<\/p>\n
Ruth opened the door and found Lester standing outside with a cardboard box in his arms. From a distance, he said to Scarlet, \u201cThese are the things you left in the car the other day, Mrs. Cooper. Mr. Cooper asked me to bring it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave them there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, Lester set the box down and turned to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere has he been staying these past few days?\u201d Scarlet asked.<\/p>\n
Chapter 4 After getting into the car, William leaned back in the black leather seat and crossed his legs. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-end-of-the-contractstart-of-his-obsession"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}