Chapter 81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood in the hallway, struggling to calm the racing of my heart and the burning sensation behind my eyes. Crying in front of Ellie wasn\u2019t an option-she was the victim here. I had no right to let my emotions get in the way of her recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I owed her space to process what was happening. She wouldn\u2019t be able to do that with me hovering over her. I was probably the last person in the world she wanted to see right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Besides, she had Cassian and Lance, and I knew Rae would be back soon. It wasn\u2019t as though I was leaving her all alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All of those justifications went through my mind, but deep down I knew that the truth was I couldn\u2019t stand to face her right now. This was a tragedy and it was all my fault. For the second time in my life, my selfishness had cost the lives of people that I was supposed to help protect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears burned my eyes as I tried to force the thought away. I wouldn\u2019t cry in the hallway like a child. I would swallow it all down the way I always did. There was work to do, losing control of my emotions wouldn\u2019t do anyone any good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My thoughts were cut short by the ringing of my phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the first time Felicity had called since she left that I wasn\u2019t excited to speak to her. News of what happened must have reached her by now, it was everywhere. The fact that cameras had caught the entire incident was both frustrating and humiliating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I failed to protect Ellie, and that failure was being broadcast across the kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity,\u201d I said by way of greeting as I answered the phone and held it to my ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, are you back at the pack house yet, or are you still stuck at the hospital? I\u2019m going to be coming home soon, so I want to know if I should plan on eating with you there or if I should get something in town before I come back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity\u2026\u201d I said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited to be coming home. I\u2019ve just missed you so much. I mean, it\u2019s been hell being so far away,\u201d she continued. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to cuddle up on the couch with you again and-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity, shut the hell up,\u201d I snapped, a low growl undercutting my words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan?\u201d she gasped. \u201cWhy are you growling at me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t pretend you don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened. Everyone knows what\u2019s happened,\u201d I replied angrily. \u201cIt\u2019s all over the damn news. The entire thing was caught on camera.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this about Ellie? The news is reporting that she\u2019s recovering in the hospital. I\u2019m sure she\u2019s fine. She\u2019s probably just being dramatic as always, playing it up for your attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity, she was pregnant. The babies didn\u2019t make it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d Felicity paused for a long moment before speaking again. \u201cBut you were planning to divorce her anyway. There\u2019s nothing to worry about. I can still give you your heir. It\u2019s better this way. You\u2019d be stuck with that rogue if she actually gave you an he-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 81\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hung up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt sick to my stomach. The fact that she could talk that way at all disgusted me, but the callousness in her tone, the complete lack of empathy\u2026 she almost sounded like she was happy about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made my heart twist. I knew Felicity could be harsh, especially when it came to Ellie, but this was something else. And right now, I just didn\u2019t have the strength to deal with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third person POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan? Can you hear me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felicity looked down at the screen of her phone and saw the call had disconnected. \u201cHe hung up on me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her mouth fell open in shock, completely unable to believe that Nolan would do such a thing-and over Ellie, of all people. She\u2019d clearly miscalculated. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since she left, Ellie had been getting under Nolan\u2019s skin, manipulating him. Felicity would never have believed it until now, but she really was the only thing standing between Nolan and Ellie\u2019s little games. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
She needed to get back home immediately and make sure Ellie couldn\u2019t do any more damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least her plan had worked. That pregnancy wasn\u2019t going to be a problem anymore, and there was nothing Ellie could do to keep Nolan from her now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Nolan was so much more upset than Felicity had anticipated. Of course he\u2019d be disappointed to learn that he\u2019d lost the heir he\u2019d been trying for, but the way he\u2019d growled at her-the anger in his voice-he was genuinely\u00a0<\/p>\n
upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Ellie was hurt? Because the baby was gone? She wasn\u2019t sure. But it made her realize she needed to be far more careful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shouldn\u2019t have called sounding so excited; she should have pretended to be upset. But her happiness over the reports had gotten the better of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had worked so long and hard to prepare everything: finding a rogue she could hire, someone who could act, someone who could pretend to have a history with Ellie-something shameful enough to ruin whatever reputation she had left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That, Felicity knew, would push Nolan to distance himself from her. He wouldn\u2019t be able to stomach the rumors of Ellie\u2019s \u201crogue lover.\u201d It was the perfect solution to all of Felicity\u2019s problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan would go through with the divorce as planned. The revelation about Ellie\u2019s shameful past would override any drama caused by the divorce in the press. People would see it for what it was: a good thing. Then she and Nolan could marry without backlash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she hadn\u2019t expected him to be angry. Felicity would have to be very careful with her next moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Nolan ever found out she had been responsible for the attack, he\u2019d be furious. He might get over it, yes-but it would hang over their marriage like a dark cloud, and Felicity wanted to avoid that at all costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She slid her phone back into her pocket and stepped into the car waiting for her. Her excitement about returning to Nolan was diminished, but not gone. Now she had the opportunity to comfort him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he was as upset as he sounded, then he would need a shoulder to lean on, and Felicity could be that for him. This wasn\u2019t a lost cause, not a failure-it was just another opportunity. And if she was careful, things would work out even better than she had planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 81\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
She only had to make sure Ellie didn\u2019t cause any more issues until they could get rid of her. She had hoped, of course, that the attack would have taken Ellie out too, but the main objective had been met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDirectly to the pack house?\u201d the driver asked, glancing at her through the mirror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Felicity replied. \u201cTake me straight home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drive would take several hours, and it would be late by the time she arrived, but that didn\u2019t matter. Once she was there, everything would be smooth sailing. She would have Nolan. He would become king, and she would be his queen.41\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything she had ever wanted was finally going to be hers-all because she had the conviction to do what had to be done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 81 Chapter 81\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 I stood in the hallway, struggling to calm the […]<\/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-23650","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\/23650","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=23650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}