\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 37 The Bruised Friend\u00a0<\/p>\n
84%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire\u2019s face was a mess of bruises, one eye swollen completely shut. When she removed her hat, clotted blood and patches of missing hair were visible across her scalp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett marched over, her voice tight with anger. \u201cWas that bastard Elias again?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire didn\u2019t cry. She simply nodded. \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been let down countless times, yet she still couldn\u2019t bring herself to leave. Staying by the devil\u2019s side, keeping her life intact was already a stroke of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett frowned and reached for her phone. \u201cI\u2019m calling the police.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Claire caught her hand. \u201cCould you just help me clean these wounds first?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a frustrated sigh, Scarlett reluctantly agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After treating the injuries on Claire\u2019s face, Scarlett was about to remove her gloves when Claire rolled up her sleeve. Her pale arm was covered in bruises and bloody marks-a shocking sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Struggling to control her anger, Scarlett asked as she worked, \u201cWhat did he even do to you? After all this, you still won\u2019t leave him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire shook her head, offering a bitter smile. \u201cWe\u2019ve been together eight years. I know he doesn\u2019t mean it. He\u2019ll come around someday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett pressed an alcohol-soaked cotton ball firmly against a wound. \u201cWhat matters more-your life, or some man?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire flinched but made no sound. \u201cIt won\u2019t happen again,\u201d she insisted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett grew even more furious, tossing the tweezers into the tray with a clatter. \u201cNext time, I\u2019ll be identifying you in the morgue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt won\u2019t come to that,\u201d Claire murmured, though her voice trembled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett\u2019s frustration mounted. \u201cClaire, can you really not live without a man?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire kept her head down, avoiding Scarlett\u2019s gaze. \u201cIf I leave Elias, no one else will want me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett wanted to argue, but then she remembered how the Therons-and Claire herself-had tried to reason with her in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She let it go. Sometimes, no amount of good advice can save someone determined to self-destruct.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Claire\u2019s personality, talking until she was blue in the face wouldn\u2019t make a difference. Some lessons had to be learned through pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett stopped pressing and continued treating the wounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps sensing her disapproval, Claire said quietly, \u201cTalk to Elias about this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett didn\u2019t respond, only adding, \u201cYou know, with injuries like these, if you reported it now, the police would classify it as assault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:25 Wed, Jan 7 u\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 37 The Bruised Friend\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire fell silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, her phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett glanced at the screen-it was Elias.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire\u2019s face brightened as she showed Scarlett. \u201cSee? He still cares.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
84%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett kept her head down, offering only a noncommittal, \u201cMm.\u201d It wasn\u2019t that she didn\u2019t care-she just knew Claire too well. Words were useless; she would have to learn the hard way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire answered the call. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d Elias asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m at the hospital,\u201d Claire replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though her wounds throbbed, she hadn\u2019t shed a tear until hearing his voice. Now her eyes welled up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elias sounded indifferent. \u201cI want steamed fish and Texas Brisket for lunch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing this, Claire\u2019s tears finally fell. She agreed quickly, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll go buy groceries and start cooking right away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To her, his request was an invitation to come home-proof he still wanted her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett paused as she packed up the medical tray, struck by how easily Claire forgave him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at her friend, she saw a reflection of her former self-the version of her that had known Vincent only loved Sabrina, yet still hoped having another child would bind him to her. Looking back, she realized how foolish she had been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Claire left, Scarlett saw only three or four more patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unable to shake her concern, she sent Claire a message, Remember to take your medicine. Keep your wounds clean.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t mention anything about the relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After her shift, Scarlett decided to grab lunch at a nearby diner. With an early afternoon shift ahead, she planned to take a short walk before returning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as she passed a steakhouse, she happened to glance hrough the glass-and there were Elias and a woman, seated across from each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman was dressed provocatively, her entire deme nor screaming trouble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elias speared a piece of steak and held it to her lips. Instead of taking it directly, she slowly ran her tongue over the meat before finally biting into it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the table, her foot was brazenly rubbing against lias\u2019 leg.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elias, unable to resist, grabbed her slender ankle. She leaned forward, revealing far too much cleavage-the sight was practically blinding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:25 Wed, Jan 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Awakened Housewife: Ignore Betrayer\u2019s Begs\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silent Dreams Never Die \u2014 Author: John Miller 37 \u00a0 Chapter 37 The Bruised Friend\u00a0 84%\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 Claire\u2019s face 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":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-impossible-condition-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27401","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=27401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}