+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 569\u00a0<\/p>\n
Medical staff moved through the corridor in steady streams. They sensed the tension between the two men, yet no one stepped in. Everyone slipped around them in silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caleb adjusted his watchband. Whatever gentleness he had carried drained from his face. His expression turned cold, edged with mockery. \u201cI said I don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he added, tone cutting but steady, \u201cMr. Sterling, we have been friends for many years. Let me offer you a piece of advice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted the corner of his mouth and met Julian\u2019s sharp gaze without a flicker of hesitation. \u201cUntil the very end, no one knows who will win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He leaned in, his challenge clear. \u201cWhether it\u2019s my ex-wife or my child, I intend to claim both.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment the last word left his mouth, a heavy punch crashed into his cheekbone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thrown off balance, he steadied himself to strike back. Julian seemed to anticipate it and moved first, seizing him and driving him against the wall with a sharp crack, one arm pinning him tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their difference in skill showed at once. Caleb could not break free.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian looked at the man he had grown up beside and let out a soft, humorless laugh. \u201cTell me, how did I never realize you were such a petty, dirty-handed coward?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caleb stopped struggling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d Leaning back against the wall, he let out a dry laugh. \u201cI\u2019m a coward. And you\u2019re not? You knew I hadn\u2019t divorced her yet, but you still moved in across from her. What did you think you were doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caleb had trusted Julian and even asked him to look after Sydney. He never imagined he had sent her straight\u00a0<\/p>\n
into the lion\u2019s den.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCal.\u201d A gentle voice carried from the far end of the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney stood there in a soft wool sweater, her tone quiet, warm, and steady. \u201cIf anyone must bear\u00a0<\/p>\n
responsibility, it can be you or it can be me. It\u2019s never his fault. From the start of our marriage, you knew exactly what you wanted. Things only went wrong because of an unexpected accident.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice remained soft, yet it laid everything bare with clear precision. \u201cAnd I wasn\u2019t innocent either. I got\u00a0<\/p>\n
what I wanted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had wanted a well-behaved wife who would not interfere in his private life. She had wanted freedom from the Sterling family. They had both achieved their aims.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only, he had chosen the wrong woman. And the universe had turned its back on him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian paused. Then he watched the woman he had raised walk toward him. She slid her hand into his and gently pushed him back a step. \u201cEnough. Let\u2019s go. Eliana\u2019s alone in the room. I\u2019m not at ease.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Julain left the ward earlier, she had believed he meant to meet Elliot. But the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she grew. She stepped out and arrived just in time to hear Caleb\u2019s accusation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 969\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian did not care about reputation. He could shoulder any blame. But she cared. She knew the good in him and planned to protect his name from now on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her palm felt soft and warm. The tips of her fingers carried light calluses from years of acupuncture. Julian always lingered there, brushing those fingertips again and again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now it was no different. He relaxed his grip on Caleb, the violent edge in him fading at once. He held her hand and answered with quiet obedience, \u201cAll right. Whatever you say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He raised a brow slightly and glanced at Caleb. \u201cMr. Hampton, I won\u2019t see you out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the two walked away hand in hand, Caleb felt a sudden sting in his\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wondered if he and Sydney had ever shared a moment like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Memories tumbled through him in scattered pieces. For a long while, he found nothing. He realized he had never even held her hand, not once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lowered his gaze in defeat. Her words echoed through his mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had defended Julian with such conviction. He had no way and no right to refute any of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind them, the faint sound of the ward door closing drifted down the hall. Caleb straightened slowly and stepped into the elevator. He pressed the button for the ground floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside, evening lights glowed. The season hadn\u2019t turned to winter, yet the wind cut straight into Caleb\u2019s bones. For the first time in his life, an absurd wish rose in him. If only time could go backward. He would treat her well. He would love her, only her, for the rest of his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reached his car. The moment he opened the door, his phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caleb slid into the driver\u2019s seat and answered, his voice icy. \u201cAren\u2019t you afraid I\u2019ll hand this to the Hutton family? Where are you right now? Give me the antidote.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 569 +25 Bonus\u00a0 Chapter 569\u00a0 […]<\/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-22749","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\/22749","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=22749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}