1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet felt a little cold from the wind blowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William closed the door, shutting out the cold. He took off his coat and walked over to the bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took down a clean, transparent glass. Its base made a crisp sound as it met the enamel surface of the counter. He then grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had just moved to climb the stairs when his voice came from behind, cold and cutting, like frost\u2013laden wind whipping across a snowy field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t think that just because he called off the engagement, you suddenly have a shot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s steps halted at these words, and she turned back. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He dropped ice cubes into the glass, then poured in the amber whiskey. The liquid pooled around the ice, coloring the surface but leaving the core of the cubes untouched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t marrying Julian all you ever wanted? Hearing that he canceled the engagement must make you very happy.\u201d William took a sip of his drink. \u201cIt\u2019s too bad that even after divorcing me, you still have no chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mocking expression stung. Scarlet wanted to snap back, but part of her knew he wasn\u2019t entirely wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Compared to William, who had a knack for cutting deep, she really did prefer Julian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, Scarlet had even asked Justine why Julian wasn\u2019t the one she married.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian wasn\u2019t engaged at the time, while William already had Nicole by his side. Logically, given both age and feelings, Julian was the obvious choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine felt she was being unrealistic. \u201cJulian is the firstborn son, and he\u2019ll inherit the family business. His wife has to be from the right background\u2013not just anyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had no choice in the matter of her marriage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she had a choice, she wouldn\u2019t have married into the Coopers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she had a choice, she would have chosen to marry Julian, not William.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019d married Julian back then, it would\u2019ve been way better than marrying you,\u201d Scarlet said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William\u2019s knuckles tightened around the glass, and he scoffed. \u201cScarlet, what are you dreaming about?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because you could marry me doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re eligible to marry Julian. His marriage is a business deal. It\u2019s a bargaining chip to be negotiated at the table\u2013layered with interests, resource consolidation, and shared connections. Everything has to benefit the Coopers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tone was icy and direct. \u201cDo you even measure up?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was stating facts, very realistic facts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet didn\u2019t have a family background strong enough to benefit the Coopers. She couldn\u2019t bring them the slightest advantage. When she got bullied, she didn\u2019t even have someone to stand up for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her only value to the Coopers was what the psychic said \u2013 Scarlet could help lift the family\u2019s curse and maybe give Emily a few more years to live.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t. So what? If I don\u2019t measure up, can\u2019t I even dream?\u201d Scarlet retorted. \u201cAt least Julian is a gentleman. He wouldn\u2019t be like you, letting his impulses run wild and creating a scandal out of cheating while married.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William\u2019s temple throbbed, and he was about to crush the glass in his hand. \u201cCheating? You keep throwing every damn\u00a0<\/p>\n
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accusation at me. Thank God you went into medicine, not law. Otherwise, how many innocent people would\u2019ve ended up dead by your hands?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet didn\u2019t understand why he wouldn\u2019t admit it. \u201cYou dared to do it but not own up to it. I never realized you were such a coward before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William laughed coldly. \u201cNow I\u2019m a coward too? You really have a vivid picture of me in your mind, huh?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t be bothered to argue with you\u201d With that, Scarlet turned and went upstairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William was so irritated that he wanted to smash the glass. He lifted it, but then he became worried about disturbing Emily, so he just brought it to his lips and took a brooding sip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had just finished showering when William returned to the bedroom. The doorknob clicked under his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, it didn\u2019t open\u2013she had locked it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William, locked out, almost laughed in frustration \u201cScarlet, this is my room. Why are you locking the door?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This bedroom belonged to William, while Scarlet\u2019s childhood room was a tiny one downstairs, right next to Ellen\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
After they got married, all her things were moved here. She and William had rarely stayed here together, and the nights she\u2019d spent in this room could be counted on one hand\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, she no longer had her own room, for the small space had been converted for his use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enjoy Ad\u2013Free Reading>>\u00a0<\/p>\n
Go\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0 Scarlet felt a little cold from the wind blowing.\u00a0 William closed the door, shutting out the cold. He took […]<\/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-13567","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\/13567","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=13567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13605,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13567\/revisions\/13605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}