After the Cold Marriage His Crazy Love (Iris and Julian) novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159 The Wager

Julian’s voice faltered mid-sentence, the shift so subtle it almost went unnoticed, but the weight behind it didn’t. His hand rose instinctively, brushing along Iris’s cheek, his thumb lingering against her skin as if grounding himself.

“Iris,” he said quietly, his gaze locked on hers, “do you really believe a divorce means you’re free of me?”

“I cheated-”

She didn’t get the chance to finish. Julian pulled her into his arms with sudden force, holding her close, his chin resting against the crown of her head as though he could keep her there by sheer will.

Don’t say that again,” he murmured, his voice low but steady. “That happened before we got married. If it mattered to me, I never would’ve married you in the first place, and I definitely wouldn’t have held on this long instead of signing the papers.”

Iris felt the words twist inside her, sharp and unrelenting.

She wanted to tell him the truth, that what happened back then wasn’t what he thought, that Arthur had set her up and she had never betrayed him.

But what would be the point now?

The marriage was over. Whatever explanation she gave would only pull them back into something she had already decided to walk away from.

“Can you let go of me?” she said at last, her voice calm again, though her body tensed as she tried to ease herself out of his hold.

Instead of loosening his grip, Julian held her tighter, his arms firm around her as he exhaled slowly, burying his face briefly in her hair.

“Just stay,” he said. “Stay with me for a while.”

“No,” Iris replied without hesitation.

Julian let out a quiet breath, something almost amused slipping into his tone. “Then I guess I’m not letting

“You realize that’s not okay, right?” she shot back. “You can’t just keep someone here.”

he said easily, one hand sliding up to cradle the back of her head, his fingers moving gently

hair in a way that didn’t match his words at all. “You can report me if you want. Harassment,

r you think fits. I won’t argue.”

de sense.

ut him felt wrong in a way she couldn’t explain, not because it was threatening, but because

ctually cared.

09:49 Sat, May 23 MM ·

Chapter 159 The Wager

But that wasn’t logical. Not after everything. No one finds out their fiancée cheated three months in and just keeps loving her like nothing changed.

That kind of person didn’t exist.

If anything, he should hate her.

That would make sense.

This didn’t.

“I’ll stay.” she said finally, her tone flattening as she stopped resisting. “Now let go.”

Julian hesitated for half a second, then slowly loosened his arms, stepping back as if it took effort.

Iris took a breath and glanced around the room, putting space between them. “So what exactly am I staying for?”

“You don’t have to do anything specific,” he said. “Whatever you feel like. Watch something, read, take a nap, play a game… or just sit here.”

She paused for a moment, then said, “Let’s play something.”

Julian raised a brow. “Like what?”

“Go.”

A faint smile touched his lips, the kind that didn’t quite reach his eyes but carried something deeper.

The board was already set on the low table in the living room, two cushions placed across from each other. They sat down, facing one another, the air between them settling into something quieter, more focused.

Iris picked up the white stones. Julian took black.

After a few opening moves, Julian glanced up at her. “You know what would make this more interesting?”

She didn’t look away from the board. “What?”

“A wager,” he said. “Winner gets to make one request. No conditions.”

Iris’s fingers paused lightly over the board before placing her next stone. “As long as it’s legal.”

There was no hesitation in her voice. If anything, there was a hint of confidence beneath it.

She trusted her game, and more importantly, she saw an opportunity to end this strange, persistent pull he

seemed to have on her.

Julian nodded. “Deal.”

The game unfolded slowly, each move deliberate, neither of them rushing. What started as a simple match Turned into something far more intense, both of them reading several steps ahead, probing, testing, waiting for the other to slip.

By the midpoint, the shift came.

09:49 Sat, May 23 M M ·

Chapter 159 The Wager

Julian’s black stones cut cleanly through her formation, precise and unforgiving. Iris didn’t notice the full extent of it until it was already too late, the realization hitting her all at once as the shape of the board changed in her mind.

She had walked straight into it.

A layered trap.

A bead of sweat formed at her temple as she leaned in slightly, her focus sharpening, her usual calm giving way to something more strained. Without thinking, she pressed her lower lip between her teeth, a habit she had never quite broken.

Across from her, Julian’s gaze lingered for just a fraction too long before dropping back to the board, though the subtle shift in his expression didn’t go entirely unnoticed.

“Want to call it?” he asked, his tone softer now, almost coaxing. “You don’t have to drag it out.”

Iris didn’t answer right away. Her fingers hovered over the stones, unmoving, until something caught her eye in the lower right corner, a detail she had overlooked before.

Her breath slowed.

Julian’s right hand rested casually along the edge of the table, unmoving, as if he had known all along exactly how this would play out.

And then it clicked.

This wasn’t a mistake she made halfway through.

It had been set up from the very beginning.

Her grip tightened slightly.

“I lost,” she said quietly.

She reached out, intending to reset the board, but Julian caught her wrist before she could,

“You remember the deal, right?” he said, a faint smile curving at the corners of his mouth.

Iris met his gaze, her lashes lowering just slightly before she said, “Go ahead.”

“Stay here tonight.”

The words landed without warning.

She pulled her hand back immediately, the movement knocking several stones off the board as they scattered across the floor with a sharp clatter.

“We live one floor apart,” she said, her voice tightening despite herself. “You expect me to stay here overnight? Just the two of us? That doesn’t sound harmless.”

Julian’s expression shifted, the trace of amusement fading into

something more serious. “We were married

for two years, he said, his brows drawing together. “I had every back then, and I never once crossed a

3/5

09:49 Sat, May 23 MM.

Chapter 159 The Wager

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