Tiffany gave a detached smile. \u201cSee, Mr. Hutton, we were never from the same world. You know it, and so do I-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me some time,\u201d Raymond\u2019s voice cut in, low and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiffany narrowed her eyes, trying to clear the feverish haze clouding her mind. \u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the apartment, Sydney slipped off her shoes at the door and glanced at the man across the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for helping with Tiffany.\u201d Relief softened her voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s mouth curved, barely a smile. \u201cThank me? Wasn\u2019t that what you earned?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heat crept up Sydney\u2019s neck, and she lowered her gaze. She understood perfectly. He meant her body had paid the price.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before embarrassment could take hold, Julian placed a document on the dining table. \u201cSign this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stepped closer and glanced down. Bold black letters spelled: Contract of Servitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her head snapped up to meet his steady eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to protect my interests somehow, don\u2019t I?\u201d he said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFine.\u201d Sydney reminded herself that Julian was a businessman, first and foremost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His gaze pressed on her as she skimmed the contract line by line, then quickly scrawled her name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He set a stamp pad beside her. \u201cHandprint.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Meticulous, as always,\u2018 she thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pressing her fingertip into the ink, she muttered under her breath, \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere anyway.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s lips curved with meaning. \u201cAnd if one day you decide you\u2019ve gotten over your tantrum and are ready to dive back into your love\u2013brained devotion, could I possibly stop you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was pointing straight at three years ago, when she had insisted on marrying Caleb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney knew there was no way to explain. To him, trading marriage for a sliver of freedom would always look like blind infatuation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot anymore.\u201d She pushed the contract back across the table. \u201cSigned and stamped. That\u2019s enough, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hadn\u2019t read the fine print, but she noticed it was light on restrictions. There were no clauses about tracking her whereabouts or rules about keeping their affair secret.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps those were simply assumed. The basic etiquette of being a mistress was too obvious to write down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she stood, Julian\u2019s brows lifted faintly. \u201cLeaving already?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her nerves jumped, mind spinning where it shouldn\u2019t. Last night, her focus had been all on saving Tiffany, so she hadn\u2019t been flustered. Now, her earlobes burned red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTiffany\u2019s waiting for me\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the rush?\u201d He rose and closed the distance with swift strides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The faint scent of sandalwood surrounded her. Sydney stumbled back, nearly falling onto the sofa, as his arm swept around her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hand clamped firmly at her waist, just like that night in the car. The only difference was the thin layer of fabric between them. Still, the air felt no less charged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s grip on her waist tightened as he leaned closer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s heart slammed against her ribs, her voice trembling. \u201cI\u2019m still on my period.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smirked faintly. \u201cI don\u2019t forget things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lowering his gaze, he studied her small face\u2014the nervous flutter of her lashes, the delicate slope of her nose, the soft curve of her mouth, pink and full, begging to be kissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The skin under his palm was just as soft. He kneaded lightly, and his voice dropped to a coaxing murmur. \u201cKiss\u00a0<\/p>\n
me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 165 Tiffany gave a detached […]<\/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":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-when-love-is-gone-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147","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=22147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22283,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147\/revisions\/22283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}