Chapter 32\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d taken it everywhere, even to school. And then one day, it was gone. Stolen, probably. I remembered how I\u2019d cried until I made myself sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat frozen in that half\u2013formed memory \u2013 so real I could almost feel the weight of the stone in my palm \u2014 until Nolan\u2019s voice cut sharply through the haze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie,\u201d he said, his tone tight with forced civility. \u201cIt\u2019s time for the opening dance. The final guests have arrived.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at him sharply, my annoyance flaring all over again. But I couldn\u2019t argue. I\u2019d promised him signed my name on those papers, promising to act the dutiful wife for the sake of appearances. That included his precious ceremonies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t look thrilled either, which was the only consolation as I rose to my feet. Without a word, I followed him to the dance floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
We were a mess. Completely out of sync. I had an excuse half my memory was gone but Nolan had none. He stepped on my dress. I tripped on my heels when he spun me. We scowled at each other, our irritation plain for\u00a0<\/p>\n
everyone to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The band must have sensed the tension \u2013 they cut the song short, speeding up the tempo until it mercifully ended. When it did, Nolan and I didn\u2019t even pretend. We turned and walked off in opposite directions without a single word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was quite a performance,\u201d a friendly, gentle voice spoke from behind me. I turned to see a tall, attractive blonde man giving me a charming smile. I looked him up and down, trying to place him, but I wasn\u2019t sure if I\u00a0<\/p>\n
knew him or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled a handkerchief from his jacket and knelt, wiping the dusty footprint from the hem of my dress. I looked down at him in surprise \u2013 it was a kind and oddly submissive gesture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood to his full height, towering over me, and stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket. \u201cIt\u2019s no trouble at all, though you seem troubled. Are you and your husband doing all right? That was quite a tense scene.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long day,\u201d I said dismissively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, allow me to make it a bit better by making up for that mess of a dance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated. I wasn\u2019t sure if dancing with someone else would violate the contract \u2013 Nolan had been more than a little annoyed that I was even looking at another man earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He leaned in, that charming smile turning just a bit mischievous as he said, \u201cBesides, if you dance with me, he\u2019ll get really angry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled. \u201cWell then, let\u2019s dance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He held my hand and led me out to the dance floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the complete opposite of my earlier dance with Nolan. We moved with ease, twirling around the dance\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 32\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
floor, his hand firmly at my lower back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a feeling you were much more elegant than that dance would have let on,\u201d he said, that mischievous glint coming back to his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled at the flirtation and let him pull me a little closer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third\u2013Person POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan was predictably angry watching Ellie dance with another man. The fact that the other man was his personal rival only made it worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran. The alpha of the Silver Fang pack that borders his. Nolan\u2019s opposite in almost every way and a snake in the grass. Seeing his hand pulling at Ellie\u2019s made Nolan\u2019s blood boil beneath the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t reacting as if she knew him, and maybe that was all part of her amnesia game. Nolan couldn\u2019t be sure. The beta, who was standing nearby, seemed to sense the anger in Nolan\u2019s stare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie is too much. We need to control her better,\u201d the beta said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not breaking any rules,\u201d Nolan responded coldly. \u201cShe\u2019s allowed to dance with someone else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The beta wasn\u2019t convinced by Nolan\u2019s response; he could see the tension in his shoulders as they watched Ellie dance. The slight crease between his brows showing the anger that he was failing to hide behind his usual icy exterior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment the dance ended, Nolan was there. He shot a cold glance at Kieran and grabbed Ellie by the arm, leading her away from the dance floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pretended not to notice that he was irritated. Though she could feel it and so could everyone else. The jealousy she\u2019d seen flashes of from him was on full display now as he held her arm almost posessively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of Ellie was gratified to have gotten a reaction out of him, but another part was furious that he would behave this way after completely dismissing her concerns over the food earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t sure it was possible for her opinion of him to get any worse, but he kept finding ways to sink even lower.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 32 Chapter 32\u00a0 I\u2019d taken it everywhere, even to school. And then one day, […]<\/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":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23601","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=23601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}