\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 8\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 8\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next morning, Stellan woke up to a splitting headache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunlight stabbed through the window. He reached up instinctively to block it-and his hand brushed against something warm. Soft. Skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes flew open. His heart plummeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Next to him, Leah lay curled up against him, completely naked, fast asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sheets were tangled. The air smelled like sex. And he was naked too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stellan\u2019s mind went blank. He couldn\u2019t process how this had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could move, the bedroom door creaked open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLeah! We came to see you! The door was unlocked, so we just-oh my God, we brought you\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oceane\u2019s cheerful voice cut off abruptly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She and the friends behind her stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gift bag in Oceane\u2019s hand hit the floor with a loud *thud*.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leah jolted awake. She saw the people at the door and let out a short, startled cry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\u00a0<\/p>\n
She yanked the blanket over herself, face flushed, and shrank behind Stellan, looking mortified-but there was a flicker of triumph in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stellan sat there, frozen. Ice cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He watched as Oceane and the others went from shock to understanding to something that looked almost like\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
approval,\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wanted to explain. But the words wouldn\u2019t come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caught red-handed. No way out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leah started crying softly, her shoulders trembling. She looked helpless. Pitiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oceane sighed and stepped forward, her tone a mix of scolding and resignation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot Shower, Cold Heart: How Water Temperature Exposed My Military Husband\u2019s Affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
22.2%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 8\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStellan, come on\u2026 Look, it\u2019s already done. Leah\u2019s a young woman. You can\u2019t just leave her hanging.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Stellan. Leah\u2019s been waiting for you this whole time. And Ella left her in your care before she left\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou two were meant to be together anyway.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The voices piled on, one after another, like chains wrapping around him, tighter and tighter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at Leah, hiding behind him, looking so fragile and vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he thought about that \u201cwill\u201d Ella had supposedly left behind-*\u201dTake care of her for me.\u201d*\u00a0<\/p>\n
A crushing, nauseating sense of inevitability closed around his throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shut his eyes. Took a deep breath. When he opened them again, all that was left was hollow resignation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019ll take responsibility.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice came out flat. Emotionless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\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 27 \u00a0 Chapter 8\u00a0 Chapter 8\u00a0 The next morning, Stellan woke up to […]<\/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-22895","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\/22895","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=22895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}