\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 178 The One Who Showed Up\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 178 The One Who Showed Up\u00a0<\/p>\n
Max finally relaxed a little.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t say anything else and followed Troy out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they were gone, Ayla pulled her gaze back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven stood there, calm and unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t said a word, yet his presence alone was enough to make Troy back off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Storm, when did you get here?\u201d Ayla asked, warm as always.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven had arrived much earlier, right when Ayla bumped into Troy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had seen everything clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
+10 Free Coins\u00a0<\/p>\n
He saw how Ayla looked at Troy the moment she saw him, checking if he had been hurt in the fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were divorced now, but the only person Ayla still reacted to without thinking was still Troy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven tightened his hand. He didn\u2019t speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Casey called out softly, \u201cAyla.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have something to take care of. I\u2019ll head out first,\u201d Casey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He avoided looking directly at Draven, but in the corner of his eye, he caught Draven giving him a light glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That one look almost scared him speechless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d met important people before, but no one had ever scared him like Draven did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla knew Casey was intimidated and gave him a small nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment Casey left, Draven\u2019s phone suddenly rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not far away, James walked out waving his own phone. \u201cDraven, want to grab a drink?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halfway through the sentence, he spotted Draven and Ayla standing together,\u00a0<\/p>\n
James was shocked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did I miss something?!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla wasn\u2019t surprised Draven was here, mostly because of James. He loved drama more than anyone. Once Max finished making a mess and left, James definitely wouldn\u2019t sit still. Of course, he\u2019d drag Draven over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
over\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:10 Thu, Jan 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 178 The One Who Showed Up\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla silently decided to stay away from James for the rest of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
65\u00a0<\/p>\n
+10 Free Coins\u00a0<\/p>\n
But James walked over anyway and looked rather surprised. \u201cWhen did you get here? I didn\u2019t even call you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla blinked and looked at Draven.\u00a0<\/p>\n
James didn\u2019t call him?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did he come on his own?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven ignored James completely. He looked at Ayla instead and asked in a low, steady voice, \u201cAre you now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
free\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if she wasn\u2019t, she\u2019d have to be. \u201cI\u2019m free,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those three words left no room for refusal. Ayla nodded. \u201cMr. Storm, wait for me. I need to grab my bag.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second she walked away, James rushed over. \u201cI knew it! I totally guessed it right!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven shot him a cold warning look. He warned him icyly, \u201cStop stirring things behind the scenes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
James instantly understood Draven wasn\u2019t happy. He wasn\u2019t dumb enough to push it. \u201cI was just venting in the group chat. I didn\u2019t think Ayla would actually order a male escort.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven fell silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Male escort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned his eyes toward the direction Casey had left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
James lifted the corner of his mouth. \u201cDon\u2019t tell me you\u2019re not surprised. I was shocked too, okay? That\u2019s the only reason I shared it in the group chat. I wasn\u2019t trying to stir anything up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even James didn\u2019t believe his own excuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven\u2019s cold stare made it very clear he didn\u2019t either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
James raised both hands. \u201cFine, fine. I won\u2019t do stuff like that again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tried to explain, \u201cLast time we played tennis, Will pulled me aside and said you didn\u2019t like Ayla at all. And you saw it; I went straight back to Zheron after that I didn\u2019t even have time to mess around. I only flew in today because I honestly wanted to throw Ayla a\/party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when Draven remembered the ten men James had lined up for that party, his face went even colder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
James muttered, \u201cAyla didn\u2019t even go anyway. She didn\u2019t give me the slightest bit of credit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven\u2019s gaze swept past him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:11 Thu, Jan 1 Thu\u00ea A\u2022\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 178 The One Who Showed Up\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla had already stepped out with her bag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only then did Draven cut James a sideways look. \u201cStay away from her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
James had no words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Excuse him. Was he some kind of virus?\u00a0<\/p>\n
65\u00a0<\/p>\n
+10 Free Coins\u00a0<\/p>\n
He practically laid out his whole heart in front of Draven, and Draven didn\u2019t appreciate his effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
James tried again. \u201cDraven, just tell me the truth. Do you actually not like-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJames,\u201d Ayla interrupted evenly, \u201cwhen my friend comes back, can you explain things to her for me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
James\u2019s question died in his throat. He grinned, flashing perfect white teeth. \u201cYou got it. With me here, no friend of yours is getting ignored.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla nodded and followed Draven out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven had already walked away the moment she started talking to James..\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla quickly caught up with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been drinking, so she couldn\u2019t drive. Ayla didn\u2019t say anything; she simply followed Draven quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no driver tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven drove. Ayla sat in the passenger seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She still smelled like alcohol and didn\u2019t want it to bother him. She rolled the window down. Cool air rushed in, clearing her head a little. She still didn\u2019t plan to talk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She assumed the whole ride would stay silent, but Draven spoke. \u201cYou got divorced. Is that why you\u2019re so happy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Half her attention had drifted away, but half of it remained tuned to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She answered without hesitation. \u201cYeah. I\u2019m very happy,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Draven glanced at her. \u201cHappy enough to hire a male escort?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:11 Thu, Jan 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Editorial Board Our editorial team works behind the scenes to refine each chapter, maintain consistency, and deliver the best reading experience.<\/p>\n
Unwritten Feelings Drift by Austen 178 \u00a0 Chapter 178 The One Who Showed Up\u00a0 Chapter 178 The One Who Showed […]<\/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":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retired-from-your-heart-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24613","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=24613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}