Chapter 182\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The afternoon sunlight filtered softly through the curtains, warm and lazy. The apartment smelled faintly of baby powder and pine, the window cracked open to let in the scent of rain from the night before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran sat cross-legged on the floor, holding one of the boys on his knee while the other gurgled happily in the blanket beside him. His laugh filled the space \u2013 low and easy, the kind of sound that made people want to trust him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re getting big fast,\u201d he said, bouncing the baby gently. \u201cAt this rate, they\u2019ll be running the pack by next spring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled faintly from the couch, though it felt strained. \u201cYou\u2019ll give them ideas saying things like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d Kieran said, grinning. \u201cStart them ambitious.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, amused despite myself. The twins loved him \u2013 or maybe they just loved the attention. They were always happy to spend time with their uncles, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, there was something in the air today that made me uneasy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d been coming by often lately, sometimes with food, sometimes with gifts for the boys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Always kind, always considerate. And yet\u2026 I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that there was something beneath it all something calculated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had to remind myself that Kieran wasn\u2019t courting me. At least not in the traditional sense. He wasn\u2019t trying to win my affection; he was trying to show me that I could trust him as a provider and a protector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was a political arrangement, nothing more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how it started anyway. Just a political marriage. But every time he handed her flowers or some sweet treat it felt more like he was pushing boundaries than being considerate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When both babies began to fuss, Kieran moved with easy confidence. \u201cHere, let me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He picked Ian up from the blanket, settling him against his shoulder, rocking back and forth with practiced rhythm. The sound of his humming filled the quiet apartment, smooth and almost hypnotic. Within minutes, both twins were asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled softly. \u201cYou\u2019re good with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked over his shoulder at me, smiling. \u201cI like kids. They\u2019re honest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I returned the smile, but there was an ache in it \u2013 a small, private tug of guilt. Nolan had missed all of this: the sleepless nights, the laughter, the first smiles. I\u2019d told myself it was for the best, that he\u2019d only bring chaos into the fragile peace I\u2019d built. But now, watching Kieran with the boys, that certainty wavered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because even when things were calm, I didn\u2019t feel peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only distance. Only loneliness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure if that was just part of motherhood or if this was more pointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran laid the boys gently in their crib, careful not to wake them. When he turned back to me, the quiet stretched between us. It was soft, heavy, full of things unspoken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 182\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know how to put words to the complicated feelings that swirled every time I had these little domestic moments with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rose from the couch, smoothing the front of my sweater. \u201cDo you want some tea?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d he said, watching me with that steady, unreadable gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I busied herself in the kitchen, grateful for something to do. The sound of running water as I filled the kettle was the only sound, and for a few blessed moments, I could almost pretend we were just friends, that the careful, deliberate closeness between us wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I turned back, he was leaning against the counter near me, closer than I expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKieran,\u201d I said, startled into a laugh, \u201cyou move quietly for someone your size.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled faintly. \u201cOld habit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was something in his tone that made me still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKieran,\u201d I said softly, \u201ccan I ask you something?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, fingers tracing the edge of the counter. There were a lot of questions that I could ask him, but if I was honest with myself, I knew that there was one reason I couldn\u2019t fully relax around Kieran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan had warned me about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you and Nolan hate each other so much?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question seemed to catch him off guard. His expression shifted, not angry, exactly, but guarded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were both young,\u201d he said finally. \u201cAlphas-in-training. Our fathers thought it would make us stronger to learn from each other. We trained together for nearly two years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were in the training camps together?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused, eyes distant. \u201cWe were. But Nolan never liked being challenged. He took everything personally. One day, he took it too far.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 182 Chapter 182\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 The afternoon sunlight filtered softly through the curtains, warm […]<\/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-23751","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\/23751","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=23751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}