Better Late, But Never His Again novel Chapter 183

Julian pivoted the conversation effortlessly, jumping from Chloe's bratty behavior straight to her uterus without skipping a beat.

He wove the two unrelated issues together seamlessly, dumping all the blame squarely on her shoulders. It was a masterful act of manipulation; she practically had to applaud him.

Staring at his chiseled profile, Hazel realized she had never truly known the man sitting next to her.

Just days ago, his blatant favoritism toward Evelyn felt like the final straw, yet he somehow managed to find new and creative ways to shatter her expectations.

And after all this, he still wanted a child? He had never wanted one before. His sudden obsession with starting a family was nothing but a desperate ploy to chain her down, to trap her inside the little boundary he'd drawn so she could never escape.

She saw right through it, but with the divorce papers still pending, she couldn't afford to burn this bridge just yet.

"Fine," she agreed, her tone flat and devoid of emotion. She figured she could play along for the night and find an excuse to leave tomorrow once Beatrice went back to the estate.

Just then, her phone shattered the tense silence.

The ringtone was piercing in the quiet car. The screen lit up with Zachary's name.

Hazel answered. The man's deep, gravelly voice came through the speaker, bypassing any polite small talk.

"Have you found any new clues?"

Hazel instinctively shook her head before realizing he couldn't see her. "Not yet."

"I need you to come with me to a certain place," Zachary said, his tone cool and magnetic.

Hazel frowned slightly, glancing over at Julian.

His eyes were locked onto her face, burning with a dark, possessive intensity that completely erased the gentle, coaxing husband from a moment ago.

He froze. It had been an eternity since she had said his name like that.

In the past, her voice would go soft and sweet, laced with a playful affection as she leaned against his shoulder. They used to be so deeply in love.

When she stopped using that tone, he hadn't thought much of it, assuming the honeymoon phase naturally faded the longer they were married.

But hearing it now, slipping so naturally from her lips, the realization hit him like a freight train. She hadn't spoken to him like this since Evelyn returned.

It felt like a century had passed since Hazel had looked at him that way.

The heavy knot of frustration that had been suffocating his chest all evening instantly unraveled.

The fiery rage that had been boiling just beneath the surface completely evaporated, catching even him off guard.