Chapter 87\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t you have surgery today? Instead of resting at the hospital, why did you come all the way here?\u201d William asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to visit Mrs. Cooper Senior,\u201d Nicole said before glancing at Scarlet. \u201cYou\u2019re here too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her tone implied that Scarlet shouldn\u2019t be there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily had returned today, and given that it was a Cooper family dinner, Nicole\u2019s presence made her seem like the Coopers\u2018 future daughter\u2013in\u2013law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ironically, it seemed Scarlet was the one who looked out of place now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s expression remained indifferent as she shot back, \u201cIf you can be here, why can\u2019t I?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
One belonged to the past, the other to the future\u2013neither of them was William\u2019s current partner. Who was to say one was better than the other?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicole seemed a bit flustered, and she glanced at Justine. \u201cMrs. Cooper\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine frowned, lecturing Scarlet, \u201cIs this what I taught you? You\u2019ve got no manners at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the past, while living under the Coopers\u2018 roof and relying on their generosity, Scarlet endured Justine\u2019s lectures without a word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, that was no longer the case. Scarlet didn\u2019t have to tiptoe around anyone, and she wasn\u2019t about to take it silently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou haven\u2019t actually taught me anything,\u201d Scarlet said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William lifted an eyebrow, giving Scarlet a look she couldn\u2019t quite read.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine never expected her to talk back. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellen had raised Scarlet, and while Justine had plenty of criticisms for her, she never actually taught her what to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s tone remained calm and unhurried as she replied, \u201cIf you think I was shaped by your teaching, then when you call me ill\u2013mannered, aren\u2019t you really just insulting yourself?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Coopers actually practiced family values, unlike some other wealthy families who looked polished on the outside but were rotten underneath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though Arthur was busy with work, he never picked up any bad habits. Both of his sons, Julian and William, were accomplished in their own right and respectful toward Justine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only person who ever gave Justine a hard time was her mother\u2013in\u2013law, but Emily lived on Mount Plato year\u2013round and rarely came home. No one in the entire Cooper household had ever dared to talk back to her like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine\u2019s expression turned unpleasant, yet she couldn\u2019t refute what Scarlet said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William, clearly entertained, asked with amusement, \u201cDid you pick that up from me? I\u2019ve never talked back to Mom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine\u2019s anger cooled a bit at his interruption. \u201cHaven\u2019t you talked back plenty yourself? You\u2019re the biggest troublemaker\u00a0<\/p>\n
here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that moment, Emily, supported by Ellen, emerged from the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Cooper Senior!\u201d Nicole immediately put on a sweet smile. \u201cYou\u2019re finally back!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily looked at her, displeased. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen you in years. Mrs. Cooper told me you were coming back today. I wanted to go to the airport with William to pick you up, but I had surgery this afternoon and couldn\u2019t make it. I\u2019ve been thinking of you the whole time and came over as\u00a0<\/p>\n
$25M\/$50M $500B\/SIT $58\/S108\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\u00a0B<\/p>\n
soon as I finished.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicole knew exactly how to charm the elders. Her smile was sweet without any signs of being awkward, and she knew exactly how to fish for compliments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s there to see?\u201d Emily didn\u2019t bother being polite. \u201cYou\u2019ve been unlikeable since you were a kid, and I sure don\u2019t feel like seeing you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicole\u2019s smile faltered at that. Anyone who put themselves out there and got shot down like that in front of everyone would feel totally mortified.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine quickly smoothed things over. \u201cEmily, Nicole was just trying to be thoughtful. Her leg isn\u2019t even healed yet, but she was eager to come see you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she\u2019s injured, she should rest and heal properly. I\u2019m not a doctor. How will seeing me help her recover?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily, as someone much older, wouldn\u2019t usually put a younger person on the spot in public. However, Nicole brought it on herself by walking straight into her line of fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
FIRST\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 87\u00a0 \u201cDidn\u2019t you have surgery today? Instead of resting at the hospital, why did you come all the way […]<\/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-13564","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\/13564","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=13564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13602,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13564\/revisions\/13602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}