The cold, mechanical beep echoed through the office. Even Chris, standing at the desk waiting for documents, heard it clearly. William pulled the phone away from his ear and let out a short, mocking laugh. \u201cShe hung up on me that fast? Did I hit a nerve? Did it only take her a few days to find someone new?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since he\u2019d returned to Lebavia, his mood had been all over the place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment\u2019s thought, Chris reached for the bottom file in the upper\u2013left stack on the desk and pulled out a yellow folder. \u201cThe agreement was drafted by the lawyer four days ago. I put a sticky note on it. You might not have noticed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William gave him a look that was impossible to read, took the folder, and flipped it open at an unhurried pace. \u201cYou seem to have a problem with me lately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That accusation came out of nowhere. Chris had no idea how William had jumped to that conclusion and felt completely wronged. \u201cMr. Cooper, I swear on my conscience, I absolutely do not!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William leaned back lazily in his leather executive chair. \u201cOh. Then I guess I just don\u2019t like the look of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What could Chris say? William was his boss, after all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had been right. Without disputes over assets or child custody, this was about as simple a divorce agreement as it could get.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, William tore through it like he was grading an exam, scrutinizing every page and nitpicking every line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s with the font? It\u2019s ugly as hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should be a semicolon. Why is it a period?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBreakdown of the marriage? What kind of term is that? Does a divorce automatically mean the marriage broke down?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He picked up his pen and crossed out the words \u201cbreakdown of the marriage\u201c, then apparently felt that wasn\u2019t enough. He drew a box around it and filled it in black with a few swift strokes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chris was genuinely puzzled. \u201cMr. Cooper, hasn\u2019t your relationship with Mrs. Cooper already broken down?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That question made William pause mid\u2013pedantic rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shot Chris another glare, looking even more displeased. \u201cDid you ever pay attention in school? Something has to exist before it can break. There was never a relationship between us. What exactly is there to break?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chris decided not to argue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William slapped the folder onto the desk. \u201cWhat kind of garbage is this? Did that lawyer buy his license with cash?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla had been discharged from the hospital, but she still wouldn\u2019t leave Scarlet alone, pestering her every few days to have a meal together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet was busy and hard to pin down, but Xyla had figured out the trick. As long as she brought Lucy along, Scarlet would mostly show up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy, after all, had zero principles. Anyone who treated her to a meal was instantly a best friend. The two of them often waited for Scarlet to get off work outside the ophthalmology department together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A colleague joked, \u201cDr. Benson, you look like you\u2019re raising two kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet laughed. \u201cThey\u2019re harder to handle than kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cossyp Mareor\u00a0<\/p>\n
I finally found a game\u00a0<\/p>\n
that can help mother and\u00a0<\/p>\n
daughter renovate\u00a0<\/p>\n
a broken boues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Play now\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 81\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Xyla was constantly hovering around, so Scarlet ended up seeing Ryan more often as well. He usually came to pick up Xyla. Sometimes he happened to be dining with friends or clients at the same restaurant they were in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they ran into each other, he\u2019d usually just come over to say hello, quietly pay their bill, and leave. He was polite and restrained, never overstepping or lingering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet wasn\u2019t blind to Xyla\u2019s painfully obvious intentions. \u201cMy divorce with William isn\u2019t officially finalized yet. For your brother\u2019s reputation, you really shouldn\u2019t be playing matchmaker.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s there to worry about? The whole world already knows you\u2019re divorced,\u201d Xyla said dismissively. \u201cThe paperwork can be done in minutes. Besides, you and Ryan haven\u2019t even started anything, whereas William and Nicole are about to get engaged.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they do has nothing to do with me,\u201d Scarlet replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William had been entangled with Nicole even during the marriage, so of course, he didn\u2019t care about details like this. However, she did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJumping into something new before the last marriage is settled is irresponsible, to yourself and to other people. I don\u2019t like messy situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s messy about it? You\u2019re avoiding Ryan at all costs.\u201d Xyla pouted. \u201cYou don\u2019t even talk to him. Do you just not like him? What\u2019s wrong with him anyway?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI never said there was anything wrong with him,\u201d Scarlet said calmly. \u201cEven if my paperwork were done, I still wouldn\u2019t be looking to date.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d only ever loved one person, and that love had wrecked her completely. It took everything she had to pull herself out of it, bit by bit. After something like that, she couldn\u2019t imagine ever opening her heart again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
COSSIP<\/p>\n
The cold, mechanical beep echoed through the office. Even Chris, standing at the desk waiting for documents, heard it clearly. […]<\/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-13558","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\/13558","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=13558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13596,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13558\/revisions\/13596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}