Chapter 33\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 33\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet frowned. William and Nicole really did talk about everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy, who had been eavesdropping by leaning in when the traffic light turned red, couldn\u2019t hold it in any longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She snatched the phone from Scarlet\u2019s hand and immediately put on an exaggerated, high-pitched voice. \u201cOh my gosh, it\u2019s Nicole! How come you didn\u2019t tell me you were back?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicole sounded a little confused. \u201cUh\u2026 Who\u2019s this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Lucy!\u201d Lucy didn\u2019t care if that triggered even the faintest memory of her. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen each other in ages! I\u2019ve missed you so much! There\u2019s no way we\u2019re skipping your welcome-back party.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome hell or high water, we\u2019re making it there! Send me the address, and we\u2019ll see you tonight! Mwah!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And just like that, she hung up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet was speechless. \u201cWhat are you doing? Are you planning to start a food fight or something?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had never liked confrontation growing up. She avoided it whenever she could, because she knew she didn\u2019t have anyone in her corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously, are we some kind of crazy drama queens?\u201d Lucy rolled her eyes at the address Nicole had sent, slapping the steering wheel. \u201cShe\u2019s definitely up to no good. Worst case, I\u2019ll handle the chaos. You just stay sharp and find a good hiding spot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet felt a surge of gratitude. \u201cLucy, you\u2019re the best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy said, a little disdainfully, \u201cNope. I\u2019m just afraid a weakling like you would slow me down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet, the weakling, was at a loss for words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The party was at a private villa. When Scarlet and Lucy arrived, Alexis Jems just happened to be walking out of the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alexis was Silas\u2019 girlfriend, whom he\u2019d chased for a long time before getting her to accept him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silas and William had grown up together, so Scarlet had met Alexis a few times, once for dinner. Alexis had asked for favors, like helping family members see hard-to-book specialists or saving her cousins a bundle on eye surgery. They were not exactly friends, but acquaintances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy didn\u2019t like Alexis, finding her painfully polite and hypocritical. She kept calling Scarlet intimately, acting like Scarlet\u2019s younger sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alexis was holding a tray of fruit. Seeing Scarlet, she gasped. \u201cScarlet?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, she glanced toward the second floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet followed her gaze and caught a snippet of conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shaun asked, \u201cHave William and Nicole come down yet? How long has it been?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone nearby warned him, \u201cRelax. Don\u2019t ruin things for William.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hint was obvious. Scarlet understood perfectly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alexis looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. \u201cScarlet, you shouldn\u2019t have come here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSee? I told you she\u2019s up to no good!\u201d Lucy rolled up her sleeves and charged forward. \u201cIt\u2019s my first time seeing a woman invite someone over just to catch her hooking up! Watch me\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halfway across, William and Nicole appeared, stepping down the staircase from the second floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William walked as usual, casually adjusting his sleeves. Scarlet noticed he wasn\u2019t wearing the same shirt from that morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 33\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halfway across, William and Nicole appeared, stepping down the staircase from the second floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William walked as usual, casually adjusting his sleeves. Scarlet noticed he wasn\u2019t wearing the same shirt from that morning. Why would a guy even change shirts in the middle of the day?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, William\u2019s gaze flicked over Lucy, froze for a moment at her stormy expression, then slid past her to Scarlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cScarlet?\u201d Shaun looked bewildered. He\u2019d invited everyone except Scarlet. Since this was Nicole\u2019s welcome-back party,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet felt out of place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing Lucy, his expression darkened even further. \u201cWhy are you everywhere? What are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air grew noticeably tense. His words sounded directed at Scarlet, blatantly unwelcoming and disdainful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone in Lebavia knew Shaun had grown up with William. But it wasn\u2019t that he had the guts to treat Scarlet like that-he just knew William didn\u2019t give a damn about his wife. And Shaun himself had no clue how much of a problem he was causing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy got even angrier. She rolled her eyes and scanned the room with a glare. \u201cHmm? Who\u2019s the idiot talking?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shaun, like a fuse just waiting to blow, snapped, \u201cWho are you calling an idiot?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s expression shifted to mock realization. \u201cAh, so it\u2019s you, idiot!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou motherf-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Shaun could finish swearing, a swift kick landed squarely on his backside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 33\u00a0 1\/2\u00a0 Chapter 33\u00a0 Scarlet frowned. William and Nicole really did talk about everything.\u00a0 Lucy, who had been eavesdropping […]<\/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-141","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\/141","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=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}