Emily\u2019s attempt to push Scarlet toward William was obvious. However, whether she was really sick or just faking it, her poor health was undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet figured a few extra days with her would mean fewer regrets once she was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily requested fruit yogurt, so Scarlet picked the reddest strawberries she could find.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hands were made for surgery, and while she still fumbled with cooking techniques, her knife skills had become impressively exact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each strawberry was cut into uniform, delicate slices, precise enough to rival a laboratory experiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might as well cut them into threads and stitch yourself a strawberry sweater.\u201d William, who had come back unnoticed, leaned against the island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His sudden voice made Scarlet start, and she grazed her finger with the knife. She let out a sharp hiss as she raised her hand to see a small cut on her index finger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William immediately stood upright and grabbed her hand. \u201cWhy are you so careless?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet withdrew her hand as she retorted, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be if you didn\u2019t sneak up on me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t move.\u201d William held her hand firmly as he instructed the housekeeper to bring the medicine kit. \u201cEmily insisted I watch over you. Who knows what danger could happen with fruit? Maybe she\u2019s afraid the strawberries will attack you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you so jumpy?\u201d he muttered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The medicine kit was large and well\u2013stocked, and William rummaged through it for what he needed. When Scarlet reached for the saline, he snatched it first. He then cleaned the cut, disinfected it with an alcohol swab, and wrapped it in several layers of gauze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d he asked confidently. \u201cI\u2019d say my medical skills beat your cooking any day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing that, Scarlet couldn\u2019t help but roll her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet held up her finger, which was as plump as a popsicle, and dealt with it herself. \u201cA simple Band\u2013Aid will do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really don\u2019t appreciate kindness.\u201d William glanced at the thinly sliced strawberries. \u201cSince when did our family go broke that strawberries need to be sliced?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not slicing them for you. They\u2019re for Emily,\u201d Scarlet replied as she carried the bowl of yogurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the meal, she sat next to William as usual, but neither of them looked at the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lately, Arthur and Julian had been coming home early whenever they could.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The meal was quiet, but Emily noticed right away that something was off between Scarlet and William.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy so quiet? Have you two argued again?\u201d With that, she glared at William. \u201cDid you bully Scarlet again?\u201c.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re so biased. I just got home. How could I have bullied her?\u201d William shot back. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you ask if she bullied me\u00a0<\/p>\n
first?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if she did, you had it coming.\u201d Emily hadn\u2019t said much before she started panting slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Worried she\u2019d get upset, Scarlet quickly said, \u201cWe didn\u2019t argue. Everything is fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d Emily asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Scarlet replied earnestly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Withdraw $50 today\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily seemed unconvinced and wanted them to prove it. \u201cThen stand together, hold hands, and look into each other\u2019s eyes for a whole minute. *\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we really have to\u2026\u201d Scarlet protested, unwilling to meet William\u2019s gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily got up, grabbed both of them, and gently pushed them together so they faced each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet resisted, turning her head away. \u201cEmily.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William didn\u2019t even glance at her as he spoke lazily. \u201cWe\u2019re not kids, okay? This is so childish.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily exclaimed, \u201cSee? You two are already at it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine couldn\u2019t help saying, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing for you to fuss over. Let the youngsters handle it themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily glared at her. \u201cI can see you don\u2019t want them to turn out well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfairly accused, Justine had no way to defend herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily clutched her chest and sighed deeply. \u201cI\u2019m at the age where I\u2019ve lived enough. The ones I worry about the most are you two. If you don\u2019t live well, I won\u2019t rest even after I\u2019m gone\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few faint coughs broke through her words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet couldn\u2019t stand it. \u201cStop saying that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily was really being dramatic..\u00a0<\/p>\n
William gave a helpless sigh. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll do it. Satisfied?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that, he looked down at Scarlet, who was clearly resisting. \u201cIf you don\u2019t cooperate, she\u2019ll put on a whole theatrical show for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing that, Scarlet was rendered speechless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emily\u2019s attempt to push Scarlet toward William was obvious. However, whether she was really sick or just faking it, her […]<\/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-13572","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\/13572","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=13572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13610,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13572\/revisions\/13610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}