He stood up, walked over to the balcony, and lowered his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tone was ice\u2013cold, devoid of any warmth. \u201cAre you done?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman on the other end was taken aback by his harsh tone\u00a0<\/p>\n
and started crying harder. \u201cBradley, please help me. You\u2019re Mr.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kline\u2019s only son. He\u2019ll definitely listen to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cListen to me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley scoffed, mercilessly calling her bluff. \u201cListen to me\u00a0<\/p>\n
about what?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Listen to me teach him how to play with women?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026 I\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley completely lost his patience and cut her off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice was filled with undisguised mockery and weariness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet to the point. Stop the act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How much?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
The crying on the other end stopped abruptly, as if someone\u00a0<\/p>\n
had hit a pause button.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment, the woman\u2019s sobs quieted, and her tone\u00a0<\/p>\n
became hesitant and calculating. \u201cBradley\u2026 what do you mean\u00a0<\/p>\n
by that\u2026\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means name a price, take the money, and get lost. Don\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
bother me again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley\u2019s voice was completely flat, as if he were discussing a\u00a0<\/p>\n
routine business transaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first and last time. If you dare to call again, you\u2019ll\u00a0<\/p>\n
face the consequences.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After saying that, he didn\u2019t give her a chance to speak again and\u00a0<\/p>\n
hung up the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tossed the phone back onto the sofa, where it landed with a\u00a0<\/p>\n
dull thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had to deal with this kind of thing every so often; he was\u00a0<\/p>\n
already used to handling it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, an\u00a0<\/p>\n
indescribable frustration tightening in his chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned around, leaned against the sliding glass door of the\u00a0<\/p>\n
balcony, and his gaze fell on the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t sure when the sound of running water had stopped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte had her back to him, slowly drying the clean dishes\u00a0<\/p>\n
with a cloth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A phone rang again. It was Charlotte\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Were all the phones this busy today?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBradley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte didn\u2019t turn around, calling out to Bradley, \u201cCan you\u00a0<\/p>\n
bring me my phone? It\u2019s on the table.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley agreed and went to pick up her phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simon?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley raised an eyebrow, a faint, almost imperceptible smile\u00a0<\/p>\n
playing on his lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh\u2026 so it\u2019s her \u201cboyfriend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He walked over with the phone, and Charlotte turned around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hands are wet, can you get that for me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had a client meeting today, so it was probably them calling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley leaned against the kitchen door, answered with a smile,\u00a0<\/p>\n
and thoughtfully put it on speakerphone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other end of the line, an oblivious Simon started to\u00a0<\/p>\n
speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCharlotte, are you busy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte\u2019s hands froze, and she quickly turned, nervously trying\u00a0<\/p>\n
to grab the phone from Bradley\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley raised an eyebrow and lifted his hand. He was tall, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte couldn\u2019t reach it even on her tiptoes, so she had no\u00a0<\/p>\n
choice but to give up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCharlotte?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Simon didn\u2019t get an answer, he called out again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2013I\u2019m here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte looked at Bradley, her heart pounding, and quickly\u00a0<\/p>\n
answered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could only pray that Simon wouldn\u2019t reveal everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019s that case you\u2019ve been working on recently?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Is it going smoothly?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s good. Are you free in the next few days? I\u2019d like to treat\u00a0<\/p>\n
you to a meal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte bit her lip. Although Simon\u2019s tone was a bit formal, at\u00a0<\/p>\n
least he hadn\u2019t blown her cover yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She cleared her throat. \u201cA meal? Sure, anytime.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After saying that, she wanted to end the call quickly and was\u00a0<\/p>\n
about to make an excuse to hang up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, no such luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simon on the other end of the line didn\u2019t seem to notice the\u00a0<\/p>\n
tense atmosphere, his voice tinged with apology. \u201cActually, I\u00a0<\/p>\n
wanted to apologize to you. You know\u2026 my junior colleague\u00a0<\/p>\n
was transferred to our department.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte\u2019s throat tightened. She could feel Bradley\u2019s eyes on\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat thing I promised you before, I probably can\u2019t do it now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte felt like Bradley\u2019s gaze could almost burn two holes in\u00a0<\/p>\n
her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t dare look at him, her fingers unconsciously\u00a0<\/p>\n
tightening around the dishcloth until her knuckles turned white.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simon sighed. \u201cThinking about it now, I never should have\u00a0<\/p>\n
agreed to help you lie to him. But you seemed so troubled back\u00a0<\/p>\n
then\u2026 Now I think you should have handled the problem\u00a0<\/p>\n
between you two more directly. Sorry I couldn\u2019t help you for\u00a0<\/p>\n
long.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lie to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those three words exploded like thunder in the quiet kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte froze completely, her face turning paler by the\u00a0<\/p>\n
second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could even feel the lazy, playful aura around Bradley vanish\u00a0<\/p>\n
in an instant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Replaced by a cold, oppressive silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other end, Simon finally, belatedly, sensed something\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 289\u00a0<\/p>\n
was wrong. \u201cCharlotte?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Are you listening?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Is something going on over there\u2026?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradley finally moved.\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 ` 289 He stood up, walked over to the balcony, and lowered […]<\/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-29586","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\/29586","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=29586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}