Chapter 207\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart twisted. \u201cYou took the blame.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI took the silence,\u201d he corrected. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter what I said after that. Kieran made up his mind\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room fell quiet again. Outside, the fog pressed against the windowpane, the faint outline of the forear beyond blurred and indistinct.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I might have guessed it was something like this. Nolan was a great alpha, but he had no head for public relations He tended to avoid addressing scandals for fear of drawing more attention to them and making things worse\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched him closely. There was no defensiveness in his voice, no bittemess-just the heavy weariness of someone who had carried too much guilt for too long,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know,\u201d I said finally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t expect you to,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cHe\u2019s had years to tell the story his way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated. I didn\u2019t want to disturb whatever was happening between us lately. This peace, this quiet trust that was growing with Nolan was important to me. But this conversation needed to happen \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He met my eyes then, and something in his expression softened \u2013 the guarded mask slipping just slightly.\u201d Because it wouldn\u2019t have changed how you saw me back then. You already thought I was dangerous. It would have seemed defensive if I\u2019d tried to explain away my issues with Kieran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit harder than I expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI never-\u201d I started, but he gave a faint, sad smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did,\u201d he said gently. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t blame you. I gave you every reason to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat burned. \u201cYou\u2019ve changed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cBut I can\u2019t undo the past, Ellie. All I can do is try to be better now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a long moment, I just looked at him. The boy he\u2019d been, the man he was now \u2013 the lines between them blurred in my mind, and for the first time, I could see how much he\u2019d been shaped by pain and pride and duty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t just been cruel for the sake of it or because it was his nature. He\u2019d been raised that way \u2013 taught that control was strength, that emotion was weakness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now he was unlearning it piece by piece, right in front of me. Because of the boys. Because of me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled shakily. \u201cKieran showed me the scar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan nodded. \u201cI\u2019m not surprised. I have one too, from him. He shoved me back and I slid on the rocks, caught myself, but a jagged edge caught my hand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I see your hand?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He blinked, a slight frown creasing his brow, but held it out\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment my fingers touched his hand the familiar warmth of the bond snapped sharply into place. The jolt stole my breath for just a moment. I watched Nolan\u2019s hand stiffen, then slowly relax in my grip and I knew that he could feel it too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The connection between us was as strong as ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned it over gently, tracing the faint silvery line near his thumb \u2013 a long-healed mark I hadn\u2019t noticed before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 207\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s from him,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sight of it so small, so human-made my chest ache. It seemed like a apt metaphor for so much in Nolan\u2019s life. He\u2019d tried to help someone, but ended up marked for life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to believe,\u201d I admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gave a faint, humorless smile. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to. I\u2019m not asking you to pick sides.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cIt\u2019s not about sides. It\u2019s about truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s gaze softened. \u201cThen you already know mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence filled the space between us, thick and heavy and strange.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, I stood. \u201cThe boys are waking soon. Do you want to stay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hesitated, then nodded. \u201cIf you\u2019ll let me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled faintly. \u201cI will. I wouldn\u2019t offer if I didn\u2019t want you to stay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He exhaled \u2013 not quite relief, not quite peace\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
and for a moment, the pressure between us eased.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I left to check on the twins, I couldn\u2019t shake the image from my mind: the young Nolan, desperate to protect, punished for trying. The older Nolan, still carrying that same guilt, still reaching out with hands he wasn\u2019t sure how to use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe all he needed was for someone to meet him half way!\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 207 Chapter 207\u00a0 My heart twisted. \u201cYou took the blame.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI took the silence,\u201d […]<\/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-23776","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\/23776","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=23776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}