\u00a0250\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Borus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae set her cup down slowly. \u201cYou think it\u2019s fake?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire shrugged. \u201cI think people can play whatever role benefits them most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian\u2019s posture stiffened. \u201cThat\u2019s not fair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire waved him off. \u201cYou\u2019ve always been too generous with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae felt it then-sharp and unmistakable. The same cold prickle she\u2019d felt weeks ago, the first time Claire had mentioned Kieran\u2019s name with something like reverence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know him like Ellie does,\u201d Rae said carefully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire\u2019s mouth tightened. \u201cEllie doesn\u2019t know him as well as she thinks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence fell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian glanced between them. \u201cOkay,\u201d he said slowly. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d Claire replied quickly. Too quickly. \u201cI\u2019m just saying people don\u2019t change overnight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae stood. \u201cI need some air.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t wait for a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later that evening, Rae paced the length of the apartment, arms folded tight against her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian watched her from the doorway, concern etched into his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re really worked up,\u201d he said gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause something\u2019s wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Claire?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian sighed, running a hand through his hair. \u201cRae, she\u2019s been my friend since childhood. I chose her to help Ellie because I trusted her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly why this matters,\u201d Rae shot back. \u201cShe\u2019s not just opinionated, Cassian. She\u2019s\u2026 invested.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He frowned. \u201cIn what way?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Kieran,\u201d Rae said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian stiffened. \u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it?\u201d Rae challenged. \u201cShe keeps comparing them. Minimizing Nolan. Framing Ellie like she\u2019s being manipulated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian hesitated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just for a moment-but Rae saw it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s worried about Ellie,\u201d he said finally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I,\u201d Rae replied. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why I know this isn\u2019t concern. Besides that, she keeps minimizing the fact that Nolan saved you. If she\u2019s your friend, why is she doing that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 250 \u00a0250\u00a0 +25 Borus\u00a0 Rae set her cup down slowly. \u201cYou think it\u2019s fake?\u201d\u00a0 […]<\/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-23819","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\/23819","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=23819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}