\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the next few days, the dominoes fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emma releases the bank transfers and security footage. Zach\u2019s affair and abuse of power? Confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naomi\u2019s \u201cinnocent student\u201d persona shatters. She\u2019s now the most hated homewrecker on the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stairwell incident becomes a viral meme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The academy moves fast. Zach gets suspended pending investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tries calling. I don\u2019t pick up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He sends walls of text-apologies, excuses, threats. I screenshot every single one without reading them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Evidence of harassment. Unstable behavior. Useful for later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naomi vanishes. Rumor is she\u2019s hiding in her dorm, too terrified to show her face. Her clinical rotation? Dead in the\u00a0<\/p>\n
water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her future? Looks pretty fucking bleak from here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I assume this ends with Zach getting disciplined, Naomi disgraced, and me walking away with a clean divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Naomi calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wants to meet. Some dive coffee shop on the edge of town.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice on the phone is raw, wrecked. Says there\u2019s something about Zach I need to know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I almost hang up. But curiosity wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bring a voice recorder. Show up on time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The girl across from me looks like a ghost. Eyes swollen, face blotchy. Fresh red handprints across her cheek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Ashford\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears spill before she even finishes my name. She laughs bitterly. \u201cPathetic, right? My mom did this. I\u2019m sorry. I know it\u2019s too late for apologies-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet to the point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:53\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Fynosed My Militanu Haohandle Affain\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice is ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She takes a shaky breath. \u201cDo you know why Zach was so obsessed with me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raise an eyebrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I look like his sister.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice goes flat. Hollow. \u201cHis real sister. Zoe Carter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I freeze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zach had a sister. She died in a car accident years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a wound he never talks about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Zoe died saving him. That he\u2019s carried the guilt ever since.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naomi\u2019s staring at nothing now. \u201cHe said the first time he saw me, it was like she came back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, he was just\u2026 nice. Protective. Then we slept together. And he told me I was her replacement. That he was giving me all the love he never got to give her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nausea rolls through me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t just cheating. This is twisted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t care. Not anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what?\u201d My voice is sharp as a blade. \u201cThat\u2019s supposed to justify betraying me? Destroying our marriage?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNaomi, you\u2019re a med student. You should know that\u2019s just a fucked-up excuse he fed you to make his behavior sound romantic instead of sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he really missed his sister, he\u2019d honor his marriage-not use some girl as a stand-in for his screwed-up grief.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naomi flinches. Goes paler. \u201cI know I\u2019m trash! But Dr. Ashford-don\u2019t you feel sorry for him? He\u2019s a victim too!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA victim?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I almost laugh. Stand up. \u201cNaomi, you\u2019re telling me this to ease your own guilt. Or maybe you think I\u2019ll pity him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care why he did it. Betrayal is betrayal. Lies are lies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:54\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower. Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Exposed My Military Husband\u2019s Affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
5.4%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou both made choices. And those choices ruined three lives. Deal with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turn to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naomi\u2019s voice cracks behind me, shrill and desperate: \u201cYou loved him, didn\u2019t you?! If you loved him, why can\u2019t you forgive him?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t turn around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (1)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:54\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Exposed My Military Husband\u2019s Affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
5.7%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart by Mark Twain 7 \u00a0 Chapter 7\u00a0 Chapter 7\u00a0 Over the next few days, the dominoes […]<\/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":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-giving-my-husband-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22875","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=22875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}