Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lilly looked deeply apologetic as she turned to Scarlet. \u201cDr. Benson, I\u2019m so sorry. Xyla has been nothing but a headache for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not much to do with her,\u201d Scarlet replied. \u201cI have rounds to finish, so I\u2019ll head out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Scarlet left, Lilly turned and glared at Xyla. \u201cLook at the mess you\u2019ve made with that big mouth of yours! Are you happy now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla pouted, still defiant. \u201cTheir marriage is a disaster anyway. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m making things up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir marriage is none of your business,\u201d Lilly snapped. \u201cYou\u2019d be blind if it weren\u2019t for Dr. Benson. You will be respectful from now on, and I don\u2019t want to hear another word about her being the Coopers\u2019 adopted daughter!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy? It\u2019s not a secret. Everyone knows it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re too young to understand what really happened back then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lilly hadn\u2019t intended to say more, but Xyla wouldn\u2019t let it go. Thinking it might actually make Xyla show Scarlet some respect, Lilly finally relented.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Benson\u2019s father was a high-level executive at Heritage Bank. Years ago, their family was kidnapped during a corporate power struggle. Her parents were murdered, and Scarlet was the only one who made it out alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHer father was a loyal man. He chose to die rather than betray the Cooper family. If it weren\u2019t for that tragedy, she wouldn\u2019t have lost everything and spent years in the orphanage,\u201d Lilly recounted what had happened back then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla had no idea of Scarlet\u2019s tragic past. Everyone in their circle called Scarlet lucky, assuming she had hit the jackpot by being taken in by the Coopers. But if the success of Heritage Bank had been bought with her parents\u2019 lives, then the Coopers owed her a debt they could never truly repay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thinking back to the nasty things she\u2019d said, Xyla felt a flash of genuine shame. \u201cYou should have told me sooner. I wouldn\u2019t have been so mean\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019s that my fault?\u201d Lilly nudged her shoulder. \u201cNext time you see Dr. Benson, you\u2019d better apologize.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way. That\u2019s too embarrassing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, now you\u2019re embarrassed? You weren\u2019t embarrassed when you were running your mouth!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t hear you! I can\u2019t hear you!\u201d Xyla shoved her head under the covers, but she moved too fast, causing her wound to reopen, and she yelped in pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That afternoon, Scarlet had just finished a surgery when a nurse hurried into her office. \u201cDr. Benson, the patient in Room 23 is claiming there\u2019s a knife in her eye. She\u2019s demanding to see you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be right there.\u201d Scarlet finished updating Madison on the current patient and headed to the patient room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lilly was out, leaving Xyla alone and bored. She was staring at the ceiling with her one good eye. Scarlet\u2019s professional demeanor hadn\u2019t changed at all despite the morning\u2019s drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with your eye?\u201d Scarlet asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts like hell,\u201d Xyla groaned. \u201cAre you trying to get revenge on me? Did you leave a scalpel in there?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour head isn\u2019t big enough to fit a scalpel,\u201d Scarlet said dryly. \u201cThe anesthesia is just wearing off. It\u2019s normal to feel pain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Y CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet carefully checked the eye. Everything looked fine. \u201cLook up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla obeyed. Scarlet leaned in, her movements practiced and gentle as she applied a drop of local anesthetic. Watching Scarlet\u2019s focused expression from such a close distance, Xyla blinked her good eye. \u201cDr. Benson\u2026 you\u2019re actually really pretty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t just wake up looking like this today,\u201d Scarlet replied flatly, turning to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait!\u201d Xyla called out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there something else?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla fidgeted for a long moment before mumbling something under her breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t catch that,\u201d Scarlet said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I\u2019m sorry!\u201d Xyla blurted out. Now that it was out, she dropped the act. Her tone was sheepish but sincere. \u201cAbout this morning. I didn\u2019t know about your parents and the Coopers. I spoke without thinking. Just pretend I never said anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment, Scarlet replied, \u201cOkay. I heard you.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla waited, but Scarlet said nothing else. \u201cThat\u2019s it? Aren\u2019t you supposed to say it\u2019s fine and you forgive me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet looked her in the eye. \u201cBecause it\u2019s not fine. And I\u2019m not forgiving you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone had pride. Did Xyla think Scarlet wanted to be an orphan? Did she think Scarlet enjoyed a childhood spent walking on eggshells?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet never asked for her loved ones to get hurt. She never wanted to live a life full of humiliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Scarlet turned seven, her life had been perfect. Her father was a top banking executive, and her mother was an associate professor at Sanferd University. She had private tutors for piano and art, and she had traveled the world. By the time she turned six, she was already fluent in four languages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They might not be filthy rich like the Cooper family, but they were more than comfortable. If her parents were still alive, Scarlet would have grown up as sheltered and loved as any other child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That kidnapping was the turning point that shattered her world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had an aunt, but shortly after her parents were killed, her aunt abandoned her, dumping her at an orphanage. Even though every child there came from a broken background, the place was still a breeding ground for bullies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a child, Scarlet looked innocent and fragile. It was obvious she came from a well-off family. She was still traumatized from witnessing her parents\u2019 murder, so she was skittish and rarely spoke, which quickly made her the favorite target of the house bully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bully faced no consequences since Scarlet never told anyone about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It would make no difference even if she did. The bully had been left at the orphanage as an infant and was practically raised by the staff, who naturally favored him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every child there lived for the day they might be adopted. They saw potential parents as saviors, but saviors were rare to come by.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once, a couple had come looking for a child. They had seen a photo of Scarlet and were instantly drawn to her quiet, angelic\u00a0<\/p>\n
face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were kind and gentle. When they held her hand, she felt a warmth she hadn\u2019t known in years. For a moment, she really thought she was being saved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But after spending a day at the home, the couple found themselves charmed by a more extroverted girl-someone bubbly who knew how to sweet-talk. And they chose her instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Y CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Introverted children were rarely the first choice to be adopted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet remained in the system until she was 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that time, a journalist dug up her story and wrote a viral piece about her father\u2019s sacrifice. The public hailed him as a hero of unwavering loyalty and argued that the Cooper family owed it to him and that they should take in his orphaned daughter. The Coopers were suddenly thrust into a public relations nightmare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, news like this barely affected the powerful Cooper family. Ten years ago, the internet wasn\u2019t what it was today. With their power, the Coopers could have made the story vanish with a single phone call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet was only brought into the Cooper household because Emily Miller, William\u2019s grandmother, insisted on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur had great respect for his parents and obeyed Emily without any questions. Justine, however, never wanted to take Scarlet in. She had been forced into the arrangement and resented it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet was a quiet child. She didn\u2019t know how to sweet-talk the adults. Justine found her to be ill-mannered, so she never liked her. She paid for Scarlet\u2019s school and food, but gave her zero affection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Scarlet didn\u2019t live with the housekeepers, she was essentially raised by a housekeeper, Ellen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellen would buy her clothes and help cut her hair. She was kind to Scarlet, but she was a simple woman from the countryside with no sense of style. She always dressed Scarlet shabbily and gave her a bowl-cut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William used to make fun of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d smirk and tease her. \u201cWho did your hair? You look like a boy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
From then on, Shaun and the others gave her the nickname \u201cBowl Head\u201d. Scarlet never liked any of them. The feelings were\u00a0<\/p>\n
mutual on both sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was called the Coopers\u2019 adopted daughter, but her name was never on the family registry. No one treated her like a real heiress. She and William grew up under the same roof, but they lived in different universes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was the golden boy-loved, pampered, and worshipped. He could be as reckless or as arrogant as he wanted. Meanwhile, Scarlet spent every ounce of her energy just trying to survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spoiled heiress like Xyla, backed by a fortune and unconditional parental love, could never understand how Scarlet felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re so petty,\u201d Xyla grumbled from the bed. \u201cI already apologized.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet ignored her and walked toward the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey! I\u2019m not done yet!\u201d Xyla shouted. \u201cWhy did you marry William anyway? He doesn\u2019t love you, and you don\u2019t look like you even like him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet didn\u2019t slow down. \u201cGossip won\u2019t help your eye heal. Silence will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bova Capital\u2019s office had been under a heavy cloud of tension all day. From the executive assistants down to the interns, everyone was walking on eggshells, terrified of making a mistake that might trigger the CEO\u2019s foul mood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William was famous for a tongue sharper than a double-edged sword. A few words from him could send an employee straight\u00a0<\/p>\n
to tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier, the secretary, Helen, had accidentally misplaced a decimal point on a report. William hadn\u2019t yelled at her. He had simply looked at her with a deadpan expression and asked, \u201cA missing zero isn\u2019t a big deal. Why don\u2019t we just move it over from your salary next month? Does it sound fair?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Helen left the office and complained to Chris, \u201cMr. Hemworth, don\u2019t you think Mr. Cooper\u2019s mood has become harder to read after he returned?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I have a sign on my back that says \u2018Talk Trash About Me\u2019?\u201d he asked. \u201cEveryone seems remarkably obsessed with dissecting my life today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Helen\u2019s knees buckled. \u201cI\u2026 I didn\u2019t\u2026 That\u2019s not what I\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William sneered, \u201cSince I\u2019m just a heartless scumbag that\u2019s worth nothing, why don\u2019t you just fire me? You can find a CEO who actually meets your standards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Helen was speechless. She never said he was a scumbag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shot Chris a pleading look, but he just stood there with his hands folded, staring intently at nothing, clearly wanting nothing to do with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her heart sank. At that moment, she felt like she was done for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Act Fast: Free Bonus Time is Running Out!\u00a0<\/p>\n
X\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claim\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0 1\/4\u00a0 Chapter 15\u00a0 Lilly looked deeply apologetic as she turned to Scarlet. \u201cDr. Benson, I\u2019m so sorry. Xyla […]<\/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-123","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\/123","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=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}