Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 148

Carter froze, utterly convinced he had misheard her.

But meeting Emma's steady gaze, he swallowed hard and forced a tight, face-saving smile.

"That's good. After all, we're just business partners."

Carter managed to force the words out, while internally, his heart was caught in a torrential downpour.

He didn't want to be a business partner. He desperately wanted her to say she liked him, even if she had to lie to his face.

But she wouldn't even give him a fake confession.

"Don't worry, Mr. Harrington. I won't forget the terms."

Emma waited until Carter disappeared into the bedroom before finally letting out a long breath.

She knew she was starting to fall for Carter. However, until she uncovered exactly what role Pamela Palmer played in the baby swap, she had to keep her guard up. If it was all a misunderstanding, great. But if it wasn't...

Emma knew an all-out war with Raymond Harrington was inevitable. Rather than getting emotionally entangled with Carter now and forcing him into an agonizing position later, it was smarter to draw a hard line while she still could.

If Carter could hear her internal monologue, he would have been over the moon.

Unfortunately, he couldn't.

He packed her bags in a miserable funk, only snapping out of it halfway through folding her clothes.

"Julian said you aren't allowed to be discharged for a few days," Carter murmured, his energy completely depleted.

Emma pressed her lips together. "Just don't tell him. You drive me back."

Carter nodded. His gloomy mood instantly evaporated the moment he got to scoop Emma into his arms and carry her down to the car.

Holding his wife was an absolute win for the day.

Emma ignored Carter's emotional rollercoaster. She sat in the passenger seat, head down, furiously typing on her phone.

"Ah."

As the car braked over a speed bump, Emma's injured shoulder bumped lightly against the leather seat. It was a minor jostle, but with her torn muscles, it felt like taking a baseball bat to the collarbone.

She winced, grinding her teeth against the pain, and kept typing with a stoic expression, pretending she hadn't just gasped in agony.

Carter glanced over. The highway back was littered with speed bumps. He watched her lips turn chalk-white from the pain, yet she aggressively pretended everything was fine.

It tore him apart.

"Put the phone away for a second."

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