\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
The realtor found a buyer fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the paperwork went through, I took the money and checked into a hotel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I kept my therapy appointments and took walks when I felt like it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stellan and Leah seemed to have faded out of my life completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time in years, I felt\u2026 peaceful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until Stellan called.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet to the hospital. Now. Right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I figured I should at least tell him face-to-face that we were done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I got there, everyone was crowded into a hospital room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stellan looked at me like I\u2019d betrayed him in the worst way possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me why you did this to Leah.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been dealing with depression this whole time, and you sent people to her hotel to threaten her? What the hell is wrong with you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His grip on my shoulders was crushing. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn\u2019t let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No one stepped in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These were people I\u2019d lent my life savings to. People I\u2019d helped when they had nowhere else to turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now they were all staring at me with pure hatred.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t me. I haven\u2019t even seen her. And I didn\u2019t know she had depression until right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oceane cut in. \u201cDon\u2019t lie. You\u2019re her legal guardian-you told the doctors not to give her medication!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Leah had been taking her meds, none of this would\u2019ve happened! And you\u2019re still making excuses? She almost died!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Exposed My Military Husband\u2019s Affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
18.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I noticed Leah, huddled behind Stellan, trembling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLeah? What\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second she heard my voice, she flinched violently. Then she went still, head down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped closer, trying to see if she was okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, she screamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStay away from me!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She started grabbing things off the table and hurling them at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have time to dodge. Something hit me square in the forehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blood poured down my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stellan immediately shielded Leah. \u201cGet out! Don\u2019t come near her!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath, pressed my hand to the wound, and walked out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through the glass, I watched Stellan carefully bandage Leah\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone was comforting her, telling her the bad person was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned away and asked a nurse for gauze and bandages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She took one look at my face and rushed me to get stitches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While they were patching me up, Stellan found me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He froze when he saw the bandage on my forehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLeah\u2019s not stable right now. She didn\u2019t mean it. Don\u2019t take it personally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cIt\u2019s fine. I\u2019m not going to hold it against someone who\u2019s sick. You must be exhausted, though. Taking care of her can\u2019t be easy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He blinked, clearly thrown. He\u2019d been ready for a fight-and now he didn\u2019t know what to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2026 you understand. That\u2019s good. Does it hurt? Is it bad?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reached out to check my wound. I stepped back instinctively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Exposed My Military Husband\u2019s Affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
19.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hand hung in the air for a moment before dropping to his side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could say anything, I spoke first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Leah-it wasn\u2019t me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He immediately shot back, \u201cThe guys who showed up at her hotel already said you sent them. Who else would it be? You think she scared herself?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went quiet. \u201cIf that\u2019s what you think, there\u2019s nothing I can do about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI came here because I needed to tell you something. We\u2019re-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could finish, Oceane came running over, out of breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStellan! Leah woke up and you weren\u2019t there. She\u2019s having a breakdown!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t hesitate. Didn\u2019t say a word. Just turned and ran back to her room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched him go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*Goodbye,* I thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In nine days, I\u2019d have my final memory erasure session. After that, I wouldn\u2019t remember any of this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned and walked away-leaving behind ten years of my life, and all the pain that came with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But before I could make it out of the hospital, someone grabbed me from behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could fight back, something hit the back of my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything went black.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
19.4%<\/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 23 \u00a0 Chapter 4\u00a0 Chapter 4\u00a0 The realtor found a buyer fast.\u00a0 After […]<\/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-22891","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\/22891","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=22891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}