Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
The women in the room erupted in suggestive giggles. \u201cIt\u2019s barely ten, and you\u2019re already trying to drag him upstairs? Talk about thirsty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair blushed and blurted, \u201cStop it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice was so soft and melodic that even Scarlet had to admit it was pleasant to the ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William lowered the cigarette from his lips. His hands were those of a man born into privilege-refined, with lean wrists and fingers as clean and elegant. He tapped the ash into a dark grey crystal ashtray and let out a dry chuckle. He looked every bit the reckless playboy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not paralyzed. I don\u2019t need you to help me get to bed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s temper flared again. \u201cIt\u2019d be better if you were!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet acted like she hadn\u2019t heard Blair flirting with William. She kept her head down, focused on eating the nuts. \u201cDon\u2019t curse him just yet. If he ends up in a wheelchair, I\u2019m the one who has to wheel it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy thought about that for a second. \u201cFine, then I hope half of his body gets paralyzed!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that even mean? You want him brain-dead?\u201d Scarlet asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy let out a cold laugh. \u201cNo. I want him to be a walking dick. Nothing more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet immediately stuffed a nut into Lucy\u2019s mouth. \u201cZip it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silas brought over two bottles of beer. Scarlet looked up and offered a brief thank you. He leaned in and lowered his voice, offering a quiet explanation. \u201cIt\u2019s just a bunch of guys hanging out. I didn\u2019t want you or your friend to feel out of place, so I didn\u2019t mention we were up here when I saw you downstairs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet met his gaze with a clear, calm smile. \u201cI get it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She understood perfectly. People just wanted to relax with beautiful women around and the liquor flowing. This club had rooms upstairs for a reason. Having the wife show up was a total mood killer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes were so calm and knowing that Silas felt a sudden, sharp wave of guilt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that moment, Blair leaned closer to William, her chest nearly brushing against his arm. \u201cWilliam, I have a concert next week. Any chance you\u2019ll come hear me sing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So Blair was a singer. That explained why her voice was so distinctive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUgh!\u201d Lucy made a loud, exaggerated gagging sound right next to Scarlet. \u201cI\u2019m going to throw up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet usually took her own sweet time. She was always the last in gym class and could never finish a single sit-up. Yet, she managed to yank her legs up onto the couch in a split second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you dare get any on me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William answered in a seemingly teasing tone. \u201cSorry, I\u2019m allergic to music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair pouted. \u201cMaybe if you heard me sing, it would cure you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy finally snapped. \u201cWhat are you, an ultrasound machine? If you\u2019re that magical, why don\u2019t you donate your vocal cords to a hospital and do some real good?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair looked at Lucy, then shrank back against William as if she were terrified. \u201cWilliam, who is she?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy was about to say more when Scarlet whispered, \u201cDon\u2019t make a scene, Lucy. If this gets out of hand, I might not be able to cover for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy immediately backed down. It wasn\u2019t that she was afraid of the fallout. She was worried about Scarlet. She knew better than anyone what Scarlet had been through these past few years. If a fight broke out and William took the other woman\u2019s side, Scarlet would be humiliated in front of everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet kept a firm hand on Lucy\u2019s arm to keep her seated. Only then did she finally look up and lock eyes with Blair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m free next week. Do you have a ticket for me?\u201d Scarlet asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair looked at her before breaking into a wide smile. \u201cSure. Why don\u2019t you get my assistant\u2019s number later? I\u2019ll have him mail the ticket to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, but let\u2019s not make it that complicated.\u201d Scarlet pointed a slender finger toward William. \u201cJust send it to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William glanced over at Scarlet, his expression unreadable as he watched her across the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t have William\u2019s number yet. What should I do?\u201d Blair pouted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William leaned back, looking bored. He tossed the problem right back to Scarlet. \u201cAsk her about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He showed zero guilt for lounging there with another woman in front of his wife. He didn\u2019t even bother to play the part of a decent husband. He just sat there, cool and collected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet silently cursed them, but she maintained a perfectly calm composure and spoke in a gentle demeanor. \u201cIt\u2019s fine. Just add me, and I\u2019ll forward his contact to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The men around the table looked utterly stunned. They couldn\u2019t imagine what kind of wife would hand over their husband\u2019s private number to another woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair was completely thrown. She didn\u2019t know what the play was here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been quietly sizing Scarlet up since she arrived. It was clear that she didn\u2019t have much standing against William.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He treated her like an afterthought. Scarlet seemed used to it, too, sitting there quietly picking at a bowl of nuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t dressed to impress-just a baby-blue sweater and a simple skirt-but her facial features were flawless. She was a natural beauty without even trying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, whatever Scarlet\u2019s angle was, Blair wasn\u2019t about to turn down the chance to get William\u2019s number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She flashed Scarlet a sweet smile. \u201cThank you so much!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t mention it. I deserve this anyway,\u201d Scarlet replied gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room turned silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William let out a cold, mocking laugh. He took his eyes off Scarlet and said lazily, \u201cDon\u2019t thank her so quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair was confused until she saw him pull out his phone. Her heart leaped. Why go through a middleman when she could get it straight from the source?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She fumbled for her own phone, ready to save his number the second he pulled it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William opened WhatsApp, but he didn\u2019t bother showing Blair his number. Instead, he pulled up his contacts and looked at\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou actually reminded me. I forgot to delete you, didn\u2019t I?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet didn\u2019t know what to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had quite a knack for deleting people. William quickly scrolled through his contacts and asked, \u201cWhich one is your number?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Y PLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
The entire room went dead silent. They had no idea what kind of twisted game this couple was playing tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One was flirting with a singer in front of his wife. The other person watched it happen, as if it were a boring movie. Then, she tried to hook her husband up with the other woman. And now, the husband was publicly deleting his wife because he couldn\u2019t even remember what name he\u2019d saved her under.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cheap plastic toy was more durable than this marriage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep looking then,\u201d Scarlet said, tossing a nut onto her plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair seized the moment, pestering William for his number again. William looked annoyed, probably because he couldn\u2019t find Scarlet\u2019s name in the hundreds of contacts on his phone. He eventually gave up on the search, his expression turning bored\u00a0<\/p>\n
again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really want my number?\u201d he asked Blair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair nodded meekly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watching the two of them flirt right in front of Scarlet was more than Lucy could take. Her temper flared, and Scarlet couldn\u2019t hold her back as she bolted upright.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William sat with one arm draped over the back of the couch, idly twirling his phone between his fingers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes you think you\u2019ve earned that?\u201d he asked coldly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair was speechless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy dropped back into her seat with a thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Damn. Maybe his mouth was the thing that needed to be paralyzed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0 1\/3\u00a0 Chapter 7\u00a0 The women in the room erupted in suggestive giggles. \u201cIt\u2019s barely ten, and you\u2019re already […]<\/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-115","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\/115","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=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}