Chapter 277\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla\u2019s unease sharpened. \u201cHe thinks something is going to go wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Lance said. \u201cAnd when Nolan gets like that\u2026 it\u2019s usually because his instincts are picking up on something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She folded her arms loosely, a familiar defensive posture. \u201cCrescent River feels strange too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That caught his attention. \u201cHow so?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s excitement, yes,\u201d she said. \u201cBut also nerves. People are watching Kieran more closely now that Nolan\u2019s pulling ahead.\u201d She lowered her voice slightly. \u201cAnd there are rumors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s expression tightened. \u201cWhat kind of rumors?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he\u2019s been acting\u2026 erratically,\u201d Isla said. \u201cSnapping at advisors. Cancelling meetings at the last minute. Then showing up unannounced at others.\u201d She hesitated. \u201cAnd that he\u2019s obsessed with controlling the narrative. More than usual.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance frowned. \u201cThat tracks with what Nolan\u2019s been seeing. It makes sense, too. Kieran has always been all about controlling the narrative, and this has gotten out of his control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are saying he\u2019s desperate,\u201d Isla continued. \u201cOthers think he\u2019s planning something dramatic. A final move.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance leaned forward, forearms resting on the table now. \u201cThat concerns me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should,\u201d Isla said quietly. \u201cDesperate people don\u2019t stop just because the odds turn against them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he agreed. \u201cThey escalate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word lingered between them, heavy with implication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance thought of Claire, of the way Kieran had manipulated Ellie without anyone knowing. If his subtle tactics had failed, would he try something more direct? What would that even look like from him?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla swallowed. \u201cDo you think Nolan is safe?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance didn\u2019t answer immediately. \u201cI think he\u2019s prepared,\u201d he said finally. \u201cBut preparation doesn\u2019t always stop chaos. It just means you\u2019re not blindsided when it hits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She nodded slowly. \u201cAnd Ellie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s strong,\u201d Lance said. \u201cStronger than most people realize.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla managed a small smile. \u201cI can see why he loves her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo can I,\u201d Lance said without hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The honesty surprised her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked at him then, really looked at him\u2014at the steadiness in his posture, the quiet certainty in his eyes. The way he wasn\u2019t trying to convince her of anything, wasn\u2019t asking her to promise something she couldn\u2019t give\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 277\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was just there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still want this,\u201d she said softly. \u201cUs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Lance replied immediately. \u201cEven knowing it won\u2019t be easy. Nothing worth having comes easily.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd even knowing I\u2019m\u2026 complicated,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled faintly. \u201cI\u2019d be disappointed if you weren\u2019t. Besides, I\u2019m just as complicated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her breath caught, just slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance had a reputation that everyone across the kingdoms knew about. When her parents had announced that she would marry him, Isla had expected to find herself shackled to a handsome, irresponsible playboy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was reckless, cocky, lazy, and disloyal. That\u2019s what she\u2019d been told. None of that mattered, of course, because the marriage was meant to be a farce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that first day they\u2019d met when she crashed the party on his boat had proven that the rumors about Lance were wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t reckless; he just craved action. He wasn\u2019t cocky; he was confident. He wasn\u2019t lazy; he just didn\u2019t waste energy on things just because they were traditional or expected of him. He wasn\u2019t disloyal, he reserved his loyalty for those who earned it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance wasn\u2019t what she expected him to be, and that was why she\u2019d fallen for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what happens after the debate,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything feels like it\u2019s balanced on that moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we deal with what comes after,\u201d Lance said. \u201cTogether, if you\u2019ll let me stay by your side.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked down at the table, then back up at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid,\u201d she admitted. \u201cNot of you. Of what people will do when they realize they\u2019re losing. So many people have based their plans for the future on what they thought they knew about Nolan and about you. Now that they\u2019re being proven wrong\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance reached across the table then, this time taking her hand. His grip was warm, steady, grounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFear doesn\u2019t mean you walk away,\u201d he said. \u201cIt means you pay attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She squeezed his hand in return, tentative but real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around them, the restaurant hummed with quiet life-laughter from a nearby table, the clink of glasses, the soft rush of the river carrying everything forward whether they were ready or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somewhere beyond the lantern light, rumors spread. Plans shifted. Lines were drawn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for this moment, Isla let herself sit in the present.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not because she believed the storm would pass without consequence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 277\u00a0<\/p>\n
But because she finally believed she didn\u2019t have to face it alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 277 Chapter 277\u00a0 Isla\u2019s unease sharpened. \u201cHe thinks something is going to go wrong.\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-23846","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\/23846","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=23846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}