Chapter 255\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t get a chance to try.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire bolted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was out of her chair and through the caf\u00e9 door in a blur panic etched across her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae surged forward instinctively, but Kieran was already on his feet, blocking her path with infuriating calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRae,\u201d he said gently. \u201cThere\u2019s no need for-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shoved past him hard enough that he staggered back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t touch me,\u201d she snarled. \u201cYou manipulative snake!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRae,\u201d he said with exaggerated innocence. \u201cThis is all a misunderstanding. Just let me-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pushed past him and ran from the cafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She burst out into the street, scanning desperately for Claire. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair vanishing around a corner and ran, her lungs burning, her thoughts chaotic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire was fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But fear made people sloppy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae followed her through the crowd, down an alley, across a small square-and then she was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae skidded to a halt, chest heaving, dread pooling low in her stomach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She ran. She wouldn\u2019t have done that if she were innocent. This was worse than Rae had ever imagined. She\u2019d fled Moonstone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae took off again, in the opposite direction. She didn\u2019t stop moving until she reached Cassian\u2019s office in the packhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t knock. She was too frantic to bother with formallies or propriety. She just needed Cassian right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian looked up from his desk as the door banged open, sartled, and immediately stiffened at the look on her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Claire,\u201d Rae said, voice shaking. \u201cShe\u2019s spying for Kieran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hung between them, heavy and irrevocable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian stared at her, disbelief flooding his expression. \u201cThat\u2019s not-Rae, that doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood and quickly walked around the desk, coming to stand in front of her. He gently tripped her arms, just above the elbows. It wasn\u2019t until he made contact that Raealized she was trembling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw them,\u201d she said. \u201cTogether. She admitted it. She thinks Nolan is manipulating Ellie. That Kieran is the right choice for her. She\u2019s been feeding Kieran information about Ellie to help him win her over. To manipulate\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian\u2019s face drained of color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe fled,\u201d Rae continued. \u201cShe knows I saw.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 255\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
He rubbed her arms slowly, his eyes fixed on hers as he absorbed her words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire had been his friend since they were young. She\u2019d supported him through Ellie\u2019s disappearance. He\u2019d trusted her to take care of his little sister, his nephews. He\u2019d trusted her completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was my responsibility,\u201d he said hoarsely. \u201cI brought her into this. I vouched for her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae stepped closer, gripping his arm. \u201cYou didn\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have,\u201d he snapped, anger flaring briefly before collapsing into something hollow. \u201cI trusted her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae\u2019s chest ached at the raw hurt in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had access,\u201d Cassian said quietly. \u201cTo Ellie. To information. To-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the boys,\u201d Rae finished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was unbearable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire could have told Kieran anything. She could have helped him get to Ellie, to the boys. She could have helped him work around security. If things had gone differently\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t bear thinking about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He felt sick to his stomach, but he knew that now wasn\u2019t the time to fall apart. The damage was done; now all that he could do was try to manage the fallout.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian straightened suddenly, resolve hardening. \u201cI\u2019m contacting Nolan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Rae said immediately. \u201cHe needs to know Kieran isn\u2019t done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly for a long moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were right,\u201d he murmured. \u201cAbout everything. Thank you for not listening to me. But don\u2019t you ever go off by yourself like that again. If Kieran was a more violent person\u2026 if you\u2019d seen something more damning\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d Rae admitted softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been reckless. She could have been hurt, and she knew that Cassian wouldn\u2019t forgive himself if that had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t lose you,\u201d Cassian whispered, his voice breaking with emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t,\u201d Rae promised, pulling him firmly against her Cassian let his head fall to her shoulder. She rubbed his back, trying to soothe him through the rare display of vulnerability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae closed her eyes, leaning into him. The contact helped to ease the panic in her chest-but the sense of dread didn\u2019t fade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Claire wasn\u2019t just gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was running.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And wherever she was headed, the chaos that had been swirling around them all would follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 255 Chapter 255\u00a0 He didn\u2019t get a chance to try.\u00a0 Claire bolted.\u00a0 She was […]<\/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-23824","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\/23824","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=23824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}