Chapter 205\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s gaze flicked to him. \u201cYou could say that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence stretched taut,\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel it the unspoken weight of years between the, the rivalry that had never healed. It was more thas old resentment; it was instinct. Two Alphas, both protective, both unwilling to back down\u00a0<\/p>\n
But where Kieran\u2019s energy bristled-sharp, outward-Ngan\u2019s was quiet, centered, watchful. He wasn\u2019t posturing, He was guarding\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Jan stirred in the other room, Nolan\u2019s head turned instantly toward the sound. Every muscle in his body tensed, the reaction instinctive and raw,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran noticed too. His jaw clenched. \u201cYou don\u2019t trust me with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s gaze cut back to him. \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word hung in the air like static.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart pounded. \u201cThat\u2019s enough,\u201d I said firmly. \u201cBoth of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran looked at me then, his expression tight but composed. \u201cEllie, can I speak to you alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, then nodded. \u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan looked like he wanted to argue, but after a tense moment he nodded once, his voice low. \u201cI\u2019ll wait here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I led Kieran into the small sitting room off the kitchen and shut the door behind us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then Kieran said quietly, \u201cWhy are you letting him back into your life?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned, \u201cHe\u2019s their father.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hurt you,\u201d Kieran said, his tone sharp. \u201cHe\u2019s dangerous. I\u2019ve seen what he\u2019s capable of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I folded my arms. \u201cI\u2019ve seen it too. But he\u2019s trying\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying?\u201d Kieran\u2019s eyes darkened. \u201cYou think that changes what he\u2019s done?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt changes who he is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared at me for a long time. \u201cYou don\u2019t see it, do you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSee what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he looks at you. The way you look at him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My breath caught. \u201cKieran-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stepped closer, voice low. \u201cHe\u2019ll ruin you again, Ellie. And when he does, I won\u2019t be able to save you from it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to meet his eyes. \u201cI don\u2019t need you to save me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran\u2019s jaw worked. For a moment, anger flickered restrained, but real. Then he exhaled and looked away. \u201cI thought you wanted peace. A future for your boys. That\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever wanted for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI still do,\u201d I said softly. \u201cBut peace doesn\u2019t come from running away from what hurts.\u201d When I said it, I knew I wasn\u2019t talking only about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chester 20\u00a0<\/p>\n
425 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked back at me then, the tension in his shoulders easing just slightly. \u201cDo you still plan to go through with the marriage?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question landed like a stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, then shook my head. \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran\u2019s face went still. \u201cI see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled faintly, though it didn\u2019t reach his eyes. \u201cDon\u2019t be. You\u2019ve always been honest. It\u2019s one of the things I admired about you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a heartbeat, his gaze softened \u2013 then he turned toward the door. \u201cTake care of yourself, Ellie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he left the sitting room, Nolan was standing by the front door, the twins\u2019 toys still clutched loosely in one hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran gave him a curt nod as he passed. Nolan\u2019s expression didn\u2019t change, but his eyes followed him until the door closed behind him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood in the doorway, heart pounding, as silence settled over the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan looked at me, something fierce and complicated burning behind his gaze. \u201cYou okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded slowly. \u201cI will be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He studied me for a long moment, then exhaled softly. \u201cGood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tone surprised me. It wasn\u2019t sarcastic or even forced, he sounded relieved. I stared at him for a long moment, trying to understand his reaction. Was he actually worried about my feelings?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tension between us lingered-heavy, unspoken-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013 heavy, unspoken \u2013 but underneath it, something else had shifted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time, I realized Nolan\u2019s protectiveness wasn\u2019t about control. It was instinct. A reflex born from love and fear and the memory of everything he\u2019d lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The revelation shook me to my core. It shifted my understanding of everything that had ever passed between us. Nolan\u2019s instincts were sharp and strong. His cold demanor was the mask he worse to hide that. To keep himself from acting on his wolfs impulses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hid behind that icy demeanor to hide how strongly he fell everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t excuse anything. It didn\u2019t take away the pain he\u2019d caused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it did show me that the man I thought I had known for many years was only one part of the real Nolan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe it wasn\u2019t too late to get to know the rest of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 205 Chapter 205\u00a0 Nolan\u2019s gaze flicked to him. \u201cYou could say that.\u201d\u00a0 The silence […]<\/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-23774","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\/23774","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=23774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}