Chapter 37\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy was Ellie at the racetrack?\u201d Lance asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was speaking to him from my office phone. The sounds of music and laughter were clear in the background and I didn\u2019t even have to ask to know that he was on that damned boat of his.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was irritated by his question, leaning back in my chair and glaring at the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there some reason she shouldn\u2019t be there?\u201d I asked sharply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I guess not,\u201d Lance replied, \u201cexcept that she\u2019s never come to one of my races before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure she wasn\u2019t there for you. It\u2019s probably just something Rae was interested in,\u201d I replied coldly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I guess,\u201d Lance replied, although he didn\u2019t sound convinced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you honestly calling me to talk about why Ellie was at your race today?\u201d I demanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Lance said sharply. \u201cI\u2019m calling because she\u2019s acting weird and it\u2019s\u2026\u201d he paused as if searching for the right words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnsettling.\u201d I sighed. I felt the same way about her behavior lately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Lance agreed. \u201cSo what are you doing about it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that a joke?\u201d I ask, my tone icy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Lance pauses for a moment. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be a dick here, I\u2019m honestly trying to understand what\u2019s happening. Are you sure that her memory loss is faked? She\u2019s like a completely different person. I have a hard time believing that she\u2019s acting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter either way. This is the kind of drama she stirs up no matter what.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The conversation with Lance sent me deeper down the spiral of my concerns about Ellie, but at least it did clear one thing up. The two of them weren\u2019t conspiring to embarrass me together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance was never much of a liar and even through a phone call I could tell that he was genuinely confused by Ellie\u2019s behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie didn\u2019t return home until the late afternoon. By that point, I was more than irritated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t stop spinning over her behavior, trying to find some logical explanation for it, when there doesn\u2019t seem to be any, and it was infuriating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly took your time coming home, didn\u2019t you?\u201d I said as she walked through the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie looked at me, and immediately the smile fell from her face. Everything about her body language shifted into\u00a0<\/p>\n
annoyance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I have a curfew that I don\u2019t know about?\u201d she demandel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing with my brother?\u201d I fired back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat am I doing with your brother? What a stupid question. I\u2019m not doing anything with him. Rae wanted to go see the race today, and he happened to be there, because he has spoiled rich boy hobbies like racing expensive cars and crashing them into walls,\u201d Ellie shot back angrily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 37\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t even argue with her rant about Lance, she was right. But that only fueled my anger more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s so awful, then why did you decide to spend your day with him?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t spend my day with him,\u201d she scoffed. \u201cI spent my day with Rae. Lance just happened to be there for a few minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou interfered with the race results.\u201d It came out sounding more like an accusation than I meant it to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s such an exaggeration.\u201d She laughed. \u201cWho told you that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could respond, the door opened and Felicity walked in. I watched as the expression on Ellie\u2019s face changed, her irritation hardening into something sharper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She took a step toward me, her voice dropping so only I could hear:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you should worry more about your own public image, since you\u2019re the one who\u2019s running around with your mistress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, unable to respond, as she brushed past me and went upstairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she just say?\u201d Felicity asked. \u201cYou know what, never mind. It doesn\u2019t even matter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t look at Felicity. Ellie\u2019s comment had gotten under my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t help that I was still dealing with the fallout from her little meltdown at the dinner party, especially when\u00a0<\/p>\n
it came to the alpha of the Moonstone pack. He was in an absolute uproar over it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He insisted that Ellie was right, that the food must have been tampered with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t matter to him that I\u2019d had it tested and everything came back normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was weird how much interest they had taken in Ellie, both him and his son, Cassian. It bothered me. Made me suspicious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, I\u2019d used some of my contacts to start looking into them trying to discover if there was some reason they were so interested in her. Maybe it was as simple as Cassian having a little crush, but I suspected it was more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all, they looked at Ellie with so much familiarity. And then there was the way they reacted when they heard Felicity insult her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, it was completely out of line for Felicity to call an alpha\u2019s wife a bitch, especially in front of the alpha of another pack, but their reaction seemed\u2026 personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was as if they had history with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that seemed absurd. Then again, if Ellie wasn\u2019t lying about having lost her memory as a child, just as she claimed to have lost it now, there was no telling what kind of connection she might have\u2026 or with who,\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had to get to the bottom of this. There was something more going on here. And the alliance with the Moonstone pack was too important for me to risk it on Ellie\u2019s unpredicability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I needed to have as much information as possible to make sure this deal went off without a hitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHello? Nolan? I\u2019m talking to you,\u201d Felicity said, drawing my attention back to the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felicity\u2019s smile was tight as she looked at me. I knew she hated to be ignored, and I could only imagine that being ignored for Ellie didn\u2019t feel great, but at the moment, I couldn\u2019t bring myself to care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 37\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had too much on my plate right now, too much on my mind, and catering to Felicity\u2019s ego wasn\u2019t something I could handle at the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan!\u201d Felicity called, her voice slipping into a whine. \u201cI said, do you want to get dinner with me tonight?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have time,\u201d I replied curtly. \u201cI have work to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re always working,\u201d she pouted. \u201cCome on, let me help you relieve some of that stress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She grabbed my bicep and looked up at me with a flirtatious smile. I pushed her hand off firmly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity, I said now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t miss the dark look that passed over her features as she stepped away. But her usual pout settled back into place quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she said with a dramatic sigh. \u201cI understand. You have so much work to do over the next few months. Once you\u2019re done with Ellie, our lives are going to be so much easier. I just need to wait for you a little longer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A flash of guilt washed over me but I wasn\u2019t sure if it was guilt for dismissing Felicity\u2019s feelings due to my stress, or guilt at the prospect of sending Ellie away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Either way, I didn\u2019t like the feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 37 Chapter 37\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 \u201cWhy was Ellie at the racetrack?\u201d Lance asked.\u00a0 I […]<\/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-23606","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\/23606","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=23606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}