\u201cDid I fail that exam, Ricki? If I did, I\u2019m blaming it entirely on\u00a0<\/p>\n
you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She continued to complain about his years of childish antics\u00a0<\/p>\n
without pausing for breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From him putting a caterpillar in her backpack in kindergarten to blowing out the candles on her twelfth birthday cake, she\u00a0<\/p>\n
listed them all, one after another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Roderick wasn\u2019t truly listening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His pupils, usually so devoid of emotion, contracted violently as he took in her lively expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine was undeniably beautiful, a fact acknowledged by everyone who knew her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had been a vibrant, pretty teenager, and in her twenties, she had matured into a woman with a magnetic vibrancy. At every stage of her life, she was breathtakingly attractive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes traced her now\u2013animated features, bit by bit. It had been so long since he had last seen her like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since their marriage, she had only ever looked at him with\u00a0<\/p>\n
detachment and disgust, as if every additional glance at him\u00a0<\/p>\n
was pure torture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, hey, hey! I\u2019m talking to you! Are you listening?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine waved her hands impatiently in front of Roderick\u2019s face. \u201cI\u2019m telling you, I\u2019ve forgotten everything from the last few\u00a0<\/p>\n
years. I don\u2019t even know who I\u2019m supposedly having an affair\u00a0<\/p>\n
with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That last sentence made Roderick\u2019s expression darken all over\u00a0<\/p>\n
again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Growing tired of speaking, she walked over to the bed, sat\u00a0<\/p>\n
down, leaned back on her hands, and swung her legs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChill, Ricki. We can make this divorce amicable. Infidelity\u00a0<\/p>\n
. doesn\u2019t have to be a factor because there isn\u2019t any.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick\u2019s gaze darkened to the utmost as he let out an inward\u00a0<\/p>\n
scoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all that rambling, her goal was still the same\u2013a divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost\u2026 He had almost been fooled by her performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
How dare she use their shared memories as a tool to deceive\u00a0<\/p>\n
him? Was there no line she wouldn\u2019t cross?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you finished?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He suddenly strode forward and pushed her down onto the bed, caging her in with one arm while his other hand clamped around\u00a0<\/p>\n
her wrist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine gasped in pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His expression was a complex storm, his voice chillingly cold. \u201cLet me make myself clear again, Madeleine. I am not some\u00a0<\/p>\n
simp, nor am I your servant. Why do you think you can always\u00a0<\/p>\n
have your way? We married because you wanted it. Now you\u00a0<\/p>\n
want a divorce, and I\u2019m just supposed to agree? Why should I?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Frightened by his outburst, Madeleine instinctively shrank back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her recoil seemed to pierce him, and his eyes were red\u2013rimmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was about to nod, urging him to get a divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But then she realized something was wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to him, she was the one who had proposed marriage in the first place?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had she lost her mind back then?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, a knock on the door shattered the tense silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s voice, broken by sobs, filtered through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy, Mommy\u2026 Could you please \u2026 not get a divorce?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sharp pain stabbed through Madeleine\u2019s heart, so acute it\u00a0<\/p>\n
was almost suffocating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She immediately pushed Roderick aside and strode to the door,\u00a0<\/p>\n
swinging it open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There stood Kevin, his little face stained with tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had no idea how much he had overheard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All of a sudden, a pang of guilt washed over her. She had failed\u00a0<\/p>\n
as a mother and had become the heartless woman who\u00a0<\/p>\n
abandoned both her husband and her son.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin didn\u2019t deserve this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She crouched down and pulled him into her arms, coaxing him\u00a0<\/p>\n
in the same gentle tone her parents had once used with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKev, sweetie, don\u2019t cry. We were just joking, alright?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was likely that her marriage to Roderick was merely a\u00a0<\/p>\n
business alliance. She had never quite understood why he was\u00a0<\/p>\n
so resistant to ending it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, it dawned on her\u2013it was probably for Kevin\u2019s sake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick\u2019s own parents had divorced when he was a child,\u00a0<\/p>\n
leaving him without a normal family life. Perhaps he didn\u2019t want\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin to endure the same pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With this realization, she added, \u201cWe won\u2019t get a divorce, at\u00a0<\/p>\n
least not for now. OK, sweetie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s shoulders shook with sobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had caught her precise wording.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They wouldn\u2019t get a divorce now, which meant they would later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made him cry even harder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew it\u2013sooner or later, Madeleine would abandon him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As this fear gripped him, he wrapped his arms more tightly\u00a0<\/p>\n
around her neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amidst his sorrow, a small part of him registered something strange\u2013she was actually holding him. It had been so long\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
since she last had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick stood in the shadows, his figure appearing even more\u00a0<\/p>\n
slender as the light stretched it. He watched Madeleine and\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin in silence, his deep\u2013set eyes swirling with complex\u00a0<\/p>\n
emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way she held Kevin seemed so natural, no different from\u00a0<\/p>\n
any loving mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Night Carved Paths Into Silence by Zyrel Ash 3 \u201cDid I fail that exam, Ricki? If I did, I\u2019m blaming […]<\/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":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-heart-surgeons-last-patient-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29221","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=29221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}