Chapter 518\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Peter, slow as he could be, understood what to do now. He hurried over and handed the phone to Julian, muttering in frustration, \u201cHere, Mr. Sterling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Ms. Wilson, this isn\u2019t my fault! Blame Elliot, that sly, conniving bastard!\u2019 he grumbled inwardly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian took the phone without even glancing at the screen and immediately hit Decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d His voice came out flat but edged with danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That \u201cshe\u201d could only mean one person.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Peter could respond, Elliot spoke up eagerly. \u201cOut back, watering the flowers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian gave a quiet hum and strode toward the garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Peter rounded on Elliot through gritted teeth. \u201cYou played dirty!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re just slow,\u201d Elliot replied with a grin. *Why would we let Ms. Wilson answer a call from her ex-husband? A proper ex should stay buried, not crawl back to ruin Mr. Sterling\u2019s mood.*\u00a0<\/p>\n
In matters like this, Julian\u2019s \u201cmood\u201d was as small as the eye of a needle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man with that needle-sized tolerance walked into the back garden, phone still in hand. When he saw Sydney happily tending her plants in the midday sun, some of the coldness in his eyes softened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stood bathed in golden light, her hair loose around her face, glowing like a small, living sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could speak, she spotted him and smiled. \u201cYou\u2019re back already? It\u2019s only noon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have lunch with you.\u201d His tone was simple as he crossed the garden in long strides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted the phone between his fingers, and his voice turned cool and teasing. \u201cSomeone called you.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d Sydney asked in puzzlement and reached for the phone. She thought it was probably a telemarketer or a scam call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before she could check, he added mockingly, \u201cCaleb.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her heart gave a small, sharp thud. She knew exactly why he minded. He believed that the child in her womb was Caleb\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had thought about telling him the truth more than once-that apart from him, she had never been with another man.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But her past held her back. If she really was the descendant of a drug trafficker, then no matter who the father was, she would drag Julian down with her. 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither the Sterlings nor public opinion would ever allow someone like Julian to marry the child of a criminal. And if Julian learned the baby was his, he would sacrifice everything for her without hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney couldn\u2019t let that happen. He had clawed his way to the top through blood and near-death, and too many eyes watched for the slightest chance to bring him down. She would and could not become his weakness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been waiting for news from Jeremiah, but nothing had come yet. Next time she visited him, she would have to ask if there had been any progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, Sydney steadied her voice and said lightly, \u201cOh, Caleb?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all?\u201d Julian arched a brow. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to call him back?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can eat first,\u201d she said calmly. \u201cI\u2019ll return it later if I have time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His lips curved faintly. Of course he was still the more important one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they turned toward the house, her phone buzzed again. Caleb\u2019s name flashed on the screen once more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s expression darkened instantly. \u2018Caleb\u2019s sticky, clinging like chewing gum.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney answered the call and stepped toward the edge of the garden. Instinctively, Julian started to follow until a soft cough came from behind him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned. On the veranda, Agatha sat serenely in her chair, watching him in amusement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, these days, you can\u2019t see anyone but Sydney,\u201d she said with a chuckle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 518 Chapter 518\u00a0 Even Peter, […]<\/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-22698","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\/22698","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=22698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}