Chapter 215\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think,\u201d Cassian said thoughtfully, \u201cthey\u2019re already trying\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla glanced between them, her expression curious. \u201cSo this is normal for them? The whole traty eye contact, doomed tension thing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance gave a short laugh. \u201cCompletely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFascinating,\u201d Isla said dryly. \u201cRemind me never to get caught between them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian chuckled. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t survive it. None of us would.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s for sure. Some of us have tried,\u201d Lance said with a slight smile. \u201cThose two truly are Lated. Nothing c keep them apart. I think they\u2019re finally starting to accept that, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a few minutes, the four of them stood together in companionable silence, watching the dance unfold. The music had shifted again, the rhythm softer now, more intimate. Around Nolan and Ellie, other couples had joined, but somehow they still seemed isolated, like nothing else existed beyond them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae was the first to speak again, her voice gentle. \u201cShe\u2019s different with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s gaze flicked to her. \u201cDifferent how?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s\u2026. more alive,\u201d Rae said slowly. \u201cWhen she\u2019s with him, even when she\u2019s angry, it\u2019s like every part of her is awake. When she\u2019s with Kieran, she\u2019s careful But with Nolan\u2026\u201d She smiled a little. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t hold back\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t used to be like that,\u201d Lance added. \u201cThere was a time there during the wedding when Ellie was afraid of her own shadow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were all silent for a moment. Rae made a face, showing that she was remembering the same thing Lance was. Ellie\u2019s shrinking, desperate longing for Nolan to love her and his cold, heartless dismissal of ber\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had both been lying to themselves about the situation, and they\u2019d driven each other into the depths of their flaws.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s desperate need for control and Ellie\u2019s longing to belong somewhere had been a truly toxic combination They\u2019d hurt each other in ways that Lance and Rae knew they could never fully understand, despite how much of it they\u2019d witnessed themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla broke the silence. \u201cSounds like being around them is messy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian nodded in quiet agreement. \u201cThat\u2019s how you know it\u2019s real. It\u2019s messy. But real\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance didn\u2019t argue. He couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d told himself for months that he was past his own feelings for Ellie \u2013 that what he\u2019d felt had beets admiration, sympathy, not love. But watching her now, radant and secure in Nolan\u2019s arms, he understood ther\u00a0<\/p>\n
truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever had existed between them had never been love. Not really\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because love, the kind that left marks and stitched souls together, was what was happening in front of him\u00a0<\/p>\n
He swallowed the thought and forced a wry smile. \u201cReal or not, they\u2019re driving me insane. He keeps pretending he\u2019s okay, and she keeps pretending she wants the divorce it\u2019s exhausting\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla\u2019s lips curved. \u201cMaybe they\u2019re both waiting for the other to say it first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance turned to her, amused. \u201cSay what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 215\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat it isn\u2019t over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae laughed softly. \u201cYou might be new here, but I think you already understand them better than most.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOccupational hazard,\u201d Isla said lightly. \u201cI watch people. Helps me survive politics.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian grinned. \u201cYou\u2019ll fit in just fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance rolled his eyes, but there was no heat in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the song ended, Nolan and Ellie didn\u2019t move at first. They stood there, breathless, still close enough that the air between them shimmered with tension. Then Ellie stepped back, giving a small, polite nod, and slipped into the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan remained where he was, watching her go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae sighed. \u201cThere it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere what is?\u201d Isla asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment where you realize they both just broke their own hearts again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian slipped an arm around Rae\u2019s waist, drawing her close. \u201cCome on,\u201d he murmured. \u201cLet\u2019s give the goddess a little more time to fix them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the only one who can,\u201d Lance added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they walked away, the laughter and music rose again a celebration still in full swing, though for some, the night had taken on a different tone entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance stayed a moment longer, glancing toward Isla. \u201cYou know,\u201d he said, half-grinning, \u201cfor someone who didn\u2019t want to be here, you\u2019re handling all this drama surprisingly well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She arched a brow. \u201cThat\u2019s because I\u2019m not part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smirked. \u201cYet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She met his gaze evenly, then smiled \u2013 small, sharp, and dangerous. It made her amber eyes gleam with mischief that made Lance\u2019s heart do a strange little flip. \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time in a long while, Lance felt something stir that had nothing to do with regret.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 215 Chapter 215\u00a0 \u201cI think,\u201d Cassian said thoughtfully, \u201cthey\u2019re already trying\u201d\u00a0 Isla glanced between […]<\/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-23784","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\/23784","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=23784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}