\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 28\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 28\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet had never been good at pretending.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment it ended, Justine called her over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet steeled herself for a scolding over being late and embarrassing the family in public. As she had for more than a decade, she didn\u2019t argue or talk back. She stood there quietly and took it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justine was still grieving and didn\u2019t drag it out for long. With an irritated wave of her hand, she dismissed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time Scarlet stepped outside, William was already gone. He had probably left with Nicole without waiting for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t feel disappointed. There wasn\u2019t even a pang of loss. It was what she had expected all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the location itself was inconvenient. After August\u2019s health declined, he\u2019d moved to a house halfway up the mountain to recuperate. Getting there by car was easy, but getting a ride back down was another matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet walked along the winding mountain road for a while. Even after adding extra fare, no driver accepted her ride request. She thought about increasing the fare, but her wallet winced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just as she was gritting her teeth, debating whether to give in, a car pulled over beside her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cScarlet, I\u2019ll give you a ride,\u201d Julian said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, thanks,\u201d she said quickly. \u201cI\u2019m waiting for William.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian studied her for a few seconds, his calm gaze making her cheeks flush. She just wanted an excuse to refuse, but it was obvious he knew William was long gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet in,\u201d he said simply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a brief hesitation, she chose the back seat. After her public embarrassment, she didn\u2019t feel right sitting in the front.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While it might feel like treating Julian as a driver, compared to that jerk William, Julian was polite and composed. He wouldn\u2019t hold it against her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scrolling through her social feed, Scarlet paused on a post Nicole had made that morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The caption read, \u201cLanded.\u201d The photo showed her on an airport tarmac, her long hair and trench coat lifted by the wind as she looked off into the distance. It was styled with an effortless, artistic flair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet\u2019s eyes, however, went straight to the aircraft partially visible behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Gulfstream G650-the private jet William always used between Nevaia and home. He had brought Nicole back with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they neared the city, Scarlet received a call from the hospital. A patient\u2019s condition was complicated, and her supervisor, Jeremy Chesson, wanted her back to discuss a treatment plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hanging up, she said, \u201cJulian, just drop me at the subway entrance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you heading to the hospital?\u201d Julian guessed from her brief words. \u201cIt\u2019s not far. I\u2019ll take you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soon, Scarlet stepped out in front of the hospital, bent slightly to hold the door, and thanked him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re family. No need for formalities,\u201d Julian said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She thought grimly, \u201cThat won\u2019t be the case for long.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even on weekends, the hospital never really closed. For doctors in public hospitals, overwork was the norm, and staying late was just part of the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time Scarlet finished and got home, it was already late. She dragged her tired body inside and noticed a light on in the\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 28\u00a0<\/p>\n
living room. Someone was home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She set down her bag, and there was William, sitting on the couch, his left arm draped over the backrest. A half-smoked cigarette was held between his fingers, smoke curling through the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
His jacket was off, the crisp black shirt only making his face look colder and more commanding. When he saw her, he glanced at his watch, and his expression darkened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet was exhausted. She changed her shoes and stepped inside. Just as she reached the stairs, she heard him speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting comfortable sitting next to Julian, huh?\u201d he said, his casual tone unreadable. \u201cDo you often do this when I\u2019m not around?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She answered flatly, \u201cI admitted my mistake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William scoffed, sarcasm lacing every word. \u201cYou could even get your husband wrong\u2026 and it took getting into his bed to realize it wasn\u2019t me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 Chapter 28\u00a0 Chapter 28\u00a0 1\/2\u00a0 Scarlet had never been good at pretending.\u00a0 The moment it ended, Justine called 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-136","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\/136","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=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}