Chapter 43\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sitting on the couch, curled up with a blanket over my lap, watching some trashy reality show when Rae lets\u00a0<\/p>\n
out a groan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was that about?\u201d I asked, frowning at her with concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just Steph texting me about her wedding,\u201d Rae said with a dramatic sigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Steph was a friend of ours, or of Rae\u2019s at least. I knew that we used to be close but I didn\u2019t remember her at all, even though Rae had tried to jog my memory with photos of the three of us hanging out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, you\u2019re going to have to explain why Steph being excited about her wedding got that kind of reaction from you,\u201d I said, leaning forward. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just\u2026 I don\u2019t like her fianc\u00e9,\u201d Rae said with a shrug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew Rae well enough to tell there was more to it. She just didn\u2019t want to say. I could see it in the way she avoided eye contact and the tension in her shoulders as she tried to look casual with that shrug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me the truth,\u201d I pressed. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook\u2026\u201d she sighed heavily, clearly reluctant to share. \u201cI think her fianc\u00e9 is cheating on her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you serious?\u201d I asked, my feet dropping to the floor as I leaned even closer. \u201cYou have to tell her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want her to think I\u2019m just lying or being petty or something because I\u2019m single. I don\u2019t want to lose my friend over this. And I don\u2019t have any proof.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing worse than a cheater.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae and I both turned to see Lance leaning in the doorway, a look of distaste on his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t surprised to see him. He\u2019d been hanging around a lot more often lately and honestly, seeing how much it annoyed Nolan and Felicity made it worth putting up with Lance. He seemed to hate Felicity almost as much as I\u00a0<\/p>\n
did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised to hear you say that,\u201d I said, turning my full attention to him. \u201cAren\u2019t you, like\u2026 famously a playboy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRumors exaggerate,\u201d Lance said dismissively. \u201cYeah, I have a lot of fun with single women, but if I see any indication that someone hitting on me is in a relationship, shut it down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said it so matter-of-factly that I found myself believing it, even though I still felt a little skeptical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously?\u201d Rae said, turning to face him as well. \u201cBecause, like\u2026 that\u2019s definitely not what people say about you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait-what have you heard?\u201d Lance asked, frowning as he pushed away from the door and walked over to the\u00a0<\/p>\n
couch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you not know what your reputation is like?\u201d I asked in surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with my memory missing, I\u2019d heard plenty of stories about Lance and his hedonistic behavior. People said that he had a different girl on his arm every night. I\u2019d heard wild stories about the parties he hosted on his boat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People said there were drugs passed around and that every corner was occupied by some couple hooking up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I know I\u2019ve got kind of a questionable reputation, Lance admitted, \u201cbut is it really that bad?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 43\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should hear the things people say happen at your boat parties,\u201d I chimed in. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason I was insulted when you invited me to one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you just got seasick or something,\u201d Lance replic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t want to cause a scandal,\u201d I laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s annoying. My parties get a little wild, but there\u2019s nothing illegal happening,\u201d Lance said defensively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re not just luring people out there to take advantage once they\u2019re drunk?\u201d Rae asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance actually looked horrified by the question. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open as he stared at\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 43 Chapter 43\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 I\u2019m sitting on the couch, curled up with a […]<\/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-23612","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\/23612","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=23612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}