Chapter 520\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the call ended, Sydney turned and saw Julian standing quietly under the eaves, hands in his pockets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What surprised her most was that, even though he clearly knew she was talking to Caleb, he hadn\u2019t tried to eavesdrop. He just stood there, watching from a distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had expected him to be clingy and hover the moment she picked up the phone, but he hadn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although she never admitted it aloud, part of her almost wished he had. She didn\u2019t mind when he meddled. If anything, she liked it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It reminded her of their younger days, when he used to insert himself into everything. He had intercepted every love letter meant for her. She had never opened a single one or even seen what they said-he had destroyed them all before they reached her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when she first realized she felt something for her \u201cbrother\u201d that wasn\u2019t very sisterly. Because when he did those things, she couldn\u2019t get angry. She\u2019d be secretly thrilled by the thought that maybe, just maybe, he cared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, Julian would always wear that serious expression, frowning down at her like an old-fashioned guardian. \u201cYou\u2019re still a kid, Precious. Those boys are up to no good. Listen to your brother. Ignore them. Focus on your studies and on medicine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He sounded like a prematurely aged elder lecturing a child, as if she really were nothing more than his little sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, before Sydney could walk over, Julian spoke first, his tone smooth and casual. \u201cDone with the call? Grandma\u2019s already gone inside. Let\u2019s eat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He sounded completely indifferent, as though he didn\u2019t care at all what she and Caleb had discussed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Fake composure,\u2019 she thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney raised a brow with a teasing smile. \u201cDon\u2019t bother pretending. Your face is already saying six words.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh?\u201d he asked, amused. \u201cWhich six?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey spell out, \u2018What did you two talk about?'\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He fell silent. Then, licking his lips, he met her gaze and admitted without shame, \u201cYeah. So what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had never forbidden her from doing anything, but he couldn\u2019t quite hide that flicker of jealousy. After all, what man could stay indifferent toward a rival?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney looked at this tall, confident man trying so hard to seem reasonable, and her eyes curved like crescents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, alright. Totally fair.\u201d To show she wasn\u2019t teasing, she slipped her arm through his as they walked back toward the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice softened. \u201cHis grandmother\u2019s not feeling well. I\u2019ll go check on her at the Hampton estate tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She left out the part about Caleb wanting to bring cookies. There was no need to mention that and irritate him for nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
To her surprise, Julian didn\u2019t object. \u201cWant me to accompany you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need.\u201d He was busy enough already, and she didn\u2019t want to take up his work hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to come home at noon just to eat with me, either,\u201d she added lightly. \u201cDinner\u2019s enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t. I\u2019ve got a dinner meeting tonight,\u201d he said with a low chuckle. \u201cSo I\u2019m making it up at lunch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d Her lips flattened into a playful pout. \u201cSo it turns out I was overthinking it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She made a show of pulling her arm free, but he caught her around the waist before she could step away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo meetings tomorrow night, though. I\u2019ll pick you up after work at the Hampton estate.\u201d His voice was low, rich, magnetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I-\u201d She meant to refuse. Her car was still at the clinic, and she could drive straight there from work. He didn\u2019t need to go out of his way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, when she saw the faint glint of possessiveness in his eyes, she sighed and gave in. \u201cAlright, alright.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pinched her cheek with a smirk. \u201cSo is it no, or alright?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright! Fine!\u201d She had barely said the words when she noticed Agatha glancing their way from across the\u00a0<\/p>\n
room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 520 Chapter 520\u00a0 When the […]<\/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-22700","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\/22700","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=22700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}