Sydney didn\u2019t know why her eyes suddenly burned. She jumped down from the table and walked out without looking back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian watched her go, her sudden flight striking him like a slap to the chest. The restless heat beneath his skin only intensified. When the front door slammed shut, he swung his long leg and sent a dining chair crashing to\u00a0<\/p>\n
the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On December 29th, Tiffany left for home to celebrate the New Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After seeing her off, Sydney crawled back into bed for another round of sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Half\u2013dreaming, she remembered that Bruce and the others would gather at Julian\u2019s for a housewarming. She had promised to go. But now she and Caleb were \u201cfake divorced,\u201d and Julian might not welcome a mistress showing up in front of his friends. Thus, she simply rolled over, buried herself deeper in her pillow, and fell back asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doorbell rang just as Sydney finished washing up near noon. She hurried to answer, phone in hand. \u201cJul\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word froze on her tongue. Something hollowed her chest, yet her smile remained. \u201cAgatha! Happy New Year. What a surprise. Come in, come in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agatha entered, her kindly face soft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy New Year, child. It\u2019s the holiday, so I fried some food for you\u2013meatballs and banana fritters,\u201d she said warmly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sudden warmth bloomed in Sydney\u2019s chest. \u201cI thought you\u2019d be busy with your grandson, so I planned to visit in a few days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, don\u2019t even mention him.\u201d Agatha feigned annoyance as she bustled about, tucking the food neatly into the fridge. \u201cHe\u2019s too busy to care about me. I don\u2019t even know if he\u2019ll come home for New Year\u2019s Eve.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s that busy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBusy, aye!\u201d She hesitated, then looked at Sydney with a hint of guilt. \u201cThis is my fault. When I tried to match you two, I didn\u2019t realize he already had a girl he liked. These past few days, he\u2019s been chasing after her, burning hot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAh?\u201d Sydney smiled easily. \u201cThat\u2019s wonderful! It means he finally gets what he wants. And you won\u2019t have to worry about his marriage anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The matchmaking had never weighed heavily on her. The last time she went, she had only wanted to meet once so she could stop mentioning it. When she showed up and the man did not, she knew they had shared the same thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe so.\u201d Agatha sighed, troubled, \u201cThe only thing is that I don\u2019t know how the girl feels.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him to bring her home for me to meet. He refused. Said they\u2019d just started dating and she\u2019s still adjusting. He was afraid that bringing her home too soon would scare her off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney couldn\u2019t help thinking of what she had told Julian in his car\u2013that she was still in her \u201cadjustment period.\u201d Still, their situations were hardly the same. That girl was a proper girlfriend. Sydney was nothing more\u00a0<\/p>\n
than a mistress hidden in the dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She smiled to comfort Agatha. \u201cYoung people have their own pace. Just wait, and he\u2019ll bring his future wife home soon enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully he doesn\u2019t push her away.\u201d Agatha\u2019s worry was clear. \u201cThat boy is hard\u2013mouthed and soft\u2013hearted. He could chase her off without realizing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney laughed softly. She thought of Julian again. He was indeed hard\u2013mouthed, but his heart was anything\u00a0<\/p>\n
but soft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because it was nearly New Year\u2019s, Agatha did not stay long. At the door, she extended one final invitation.\u201d Sydney, why don\u2019t you come to my house tomorrow night? Spend New Year\u2019s Eve with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney knew Agatha feared she would spend the holiday alone. However, she had grown used to that long ago. She smiled. \u201cNo need. Let me wish you an early New Year. May all your wishes come true, and may you meet your granddaughter\u2013in\u2013law soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After sending Agatha off, Sydney returned to find her refrigerator crammed full. She laughed softly. Before leaving the country, Eliana had stocked her up with food as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\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 172 Sydney didn\u2019t know why […]<\/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-22154","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\/22154","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=22154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22290,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22154\/revisions\/22290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}