\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 26\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 26\u00a0<\/p>\n
William\u2019s calm tone eased Scarlet\u2019s racing heart, giving her just enough courage to speak. She opened her mouth to speak. \u201cI wanted to ask you-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But her words cut off abruptly when a woman\u2019s voice came through the line. \u201cWilliam, do you want some pineapple?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s breath caught.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William pulled the phone away, replying with a flat, \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She caught the faint murmur of the woman saying something else, but it barely registered over the ringing in her ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A moment later, his voice came through clearly again. \u201cWhat did you want to ask me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence stretched for a few seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d Scarlet said finally. \u201cWe\u2019ll talk when you\u2019re back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could respond, she hung up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The late-autumn chill sliced through her thin sweater, seeping straight into her bones. Her fingers had grown numb, and even calling for a ride felt clumsy with her numb fingers. A shiver ran through her, likely from the cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sleek black car pulled up, and Chris leaned out of the lowered window. \u201cMrs. Cooper, do you want me to drive you back to the hospital?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t refuse. She didn\u2019t have the energy to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The heater inside the car was blasting. Warm air flushed her cheeks within minutes, yet the cold inside her bones wouldn\u2019t fade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The half-hour drive from Bova Capital Tower to the hospital was silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet stared out the window, lost in thought, while Chris occasionally glanced at her through the rearview mirror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, he parked in the hospital\u2019s underground garage and turned off the engine. \u201cWe\u2019re here, Mrs. Cooper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet unbuckled her seatbelt and slid back into her white coat. As she lowered her head to button it, she asked quietly, \u201cMr. Hemworth, have you ever met Nicole?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chris froze, caught off guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve met her, then,\u201d she said, finishing her buttons with a faint, unreadable smile. She looked up at him, eyes sharp despite the softness in her expression. \u201cAm I prettier than Nicole?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chris shifted uncomfortably. He was William\u2019s most trusted aide. His title might have been just an executive assistant, but his influence matched that of a vice president. At Bova Capital, his word carried the weight of William\u2019s own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He could negotiate calmly at multinational acquisition tables, help secure major IPOS without breaking a sweat, but this question was impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, you\u2019re prettier than Ms. Jameson,\u201d he said quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a lie. Scarlet\u2019s beauty was undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that so?\u201d she murmured, finding it amusing. \u201cThen, why does William love Nicole more?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chris went silent. \u201cActually, Mr. Cooper-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Scarlet had already opened the car door and stepped out, walking straight to the elevator, her white coat trailing behind her, thin and stark in the cool air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 26\u00a0<\/p>\n
The female voice she\u2019d heard on William\u2019s phone had been unmistakable. It was Nicole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t contact William again. She didn\u2019t know if he was still in Nevaia or had returned home. She no longer wanted an answer, knowing seeking one would only humiliate herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few days later, one afternoon, Justine called.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAugust passed away. The memorial service will take place on Saturday morning. Remember to request leave and attend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet glanced at her meticulously arranged schedule. \u201cI have a surgery that morning\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is more important, your surgery or August\u2019s memorial?\u201d Justine\u2019s voice was sharp. \u201cYou\u2019re an adult. Don\u2019t you have any sense of priorities?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet did a quick mental check. The surgery scheduled for the day after tomorrow wasn\u2019t complicated. It would only take at most an hour. If everything went smoothly, she could head over to the memorial in time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t argue further. \u201cGot it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But plans rarely went exactly as expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The surgery went smoothly and was wrapped up in under 50 minutes. Before Scarlet could even leave the operating room, however, an emergency patient with severe chemical burns to the eyes was rushed in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Acting on instinct, she stayed behind and began emergency irrigation and treatment. The moment the patient was stabilized, she hailed a cab and rushed to the memorial.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 Chapter 26\u00a0 1\/2\u00a0 Chapter 26\u00a0 William\u2019s calm tone eased Scarlet\u2019s racing heart, giving her just enough courage to speak. […]<\/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-134","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\/134","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=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}