Chapter 121\u00a0<\/p>\n
His expression was unreadable, polite mask firmly in place, but his eyes-those sharp, calculating eyes-flicked to Ellie across the room, then back to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Damn it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of all the careless, reckless things I could have said, I\u2019d chosen the one that would hand Kieran ammunition against me on a silver platter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cursed under my breath, clenching my fists to keep from showing just how much the slip unnerved me. The last thing I could afford was for Kieran to think there was distance between me and Ellie, or worse, that I didn\u2019t value her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d seize on it in an instant, twist it, and use it to drive a wedge between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance didn\u2019t seem to notice\u2014or didn\u2019t care\u2014that Kieran might have overheard. He shoved past me, muttering, She deserves better than you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood frozen for a long moment, jaw tight, chest burning. My wolf snarled inside me, torn between rage at Lance and the cold dread coiling through me at the thought of Kieran using my own words against me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finally looked back toward Ellie, she was still with Alaric, still smiling, still oblivious to the storm gathering around her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time that night, I felt like I was already losing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems too strange to be true,\u201d I said, looking at Alaric closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a physical resemblance between us if I really looked, but it wasn\u2019t as though I really resembled him. It was so strange to think that he could be my father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should probably be feeling stronger about this. Ever since Cassian had confessed to me back on the boat that he suspected I was his long-lost sister, I\u2019d been turning the idea over in my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vision from the goddess seemed to confirm it. Maybe that was why I found it so easy to accept this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t remember anything really, little bits and pieces.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes sense,\u201d Alaric said, lightly touching the scar behind my ear. \u201cYou had a serious head injury. And it seems you\u2019re prone to memory problems.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that a joke?\u201d I laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled at me, amused but not unkind. \u201cJust an observation. It makes me think of how you acted as a child. Always so forgetful. You misplaced your necklace constantly. I told your mother not to let you have it, that you were too young. But she insisted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNecklace?\u201d I asked with a slight frown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA moonstone necklace,\u201d he explained. \u201cPerhaps\u2026 one day soon, after we\u2019ve confirmed who you are for certain, there will be many things to teach you about the family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had a faraway, almost dreamy look in his eyes for a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t interrupt. I could only imagine how strange it was for him to be in this situation. The thought of losing the\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 12)\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
boys for most of their lives only to meet them again as adults\u2026 I couldn\u2019t even begin to imagine how it would make me feel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His restraint was honestly impressive. He had managed to keep his feelings under control through everything, even after he was convinced that I was the lost child he\u2019d been looking for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, there\u2019s no pressure on you,\u201d he added after a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that you\u2019re a grown woman with a family of your own. I don\u2019t expect you to drop everything and rejoin Moonstone. Whatever you choose to do in the future, I\u2019m happy just knowing that you\u2019re safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart swelled with an odd warmth at his words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was strange to think of him as my father, but somewhere deep down, a part of me knew that this feeling wasn\u2019t wrong. It wasn\u2019t just wishful thinking. It was too much like what I felt for my children to be anything but real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 121 Chapter 121\u00a0 His expression was unreadable, polite mask firmly in place, but his […]<\/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-23690","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\/23690","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=23690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}