Chapter HO
Chapter 110
F:
Late that night, lan and Patrick arrived at Hamilton Manor at the same time.
Mia ran up to them, tears streaming down her face. “Patrick, you’re finally here! Chloe was pertand by family discipline. Grandpa forced her to kneel and wouldn’t let her get up
Before Mia could finish, lan had already rushed into the living room.
When Edward saw lan come back, he gave Thomas a look, and Thomas led all the bodyguards of the living room.
Ian walked over to Chloe, moving cautiously, and bent down to help her up.
Patrick pushed Ian aside. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”
Both Ian and Patrick reached out for Chloe at the same moment.
Chloe had been whipped across the back and forced to kneel for hours. Her face was pale, and she was trembling all over.
She lifted her eyelids to look at Ian, her eyes clouded over with despair.
She spoke weakly to Ian, “I’m fine. You should go be with Andrea.”
Their eyes met, and Ian’s chest tightened painfully. The hand he’d reached out toward Chloe hovered between them, frozen in the air.
Chloe looked over at Patrick, her lips quivering for a long moment, unable to utter a word as her eyes brimmed with tears and turned red.
Patrick gently gathered Chloe into his arms. “Listen to me, Chloe. The Ian you knew–your lan–died the night Andrea came back.”
Patrick shot lan a scathing glare. “The Ian standing here now is Andrea’s husband, Andrea’s child’s father. He doesn’t have anything to do with you anymore.”
Chloe closed her eyes, her head drooping weakly against Patrick’s shoulder, and gave a barely–there “Mm.”
That tiny sound felt like someone had taken a hammer straight to lan’s chest–it hurt more than anything he’d ever felt.
Patrick took Chloe to the hospital.
Ian didn’t leave right away.
He spun around to face Edward, losing control as he blurted out, “Grandpa, Chloe is my wife–how could you use family discipline on her?”
Edward shot back coldly, “She married you, so she’s part of the Hamilton family now. As the lady of this
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house, she let a mistress stir up chaos right under her nose. That’s her failure. For as long as you refuse to divorce her, she’ll have to take the consequences.”
With that, Edward headed back to his room, leaning on Thomas for support.
Shane glared at Chloe, full of disgust. “You’re supposed to be the lady of the Hamilton family, but you can’t even keep the household together? Pathetic.”
After Shane left, Miranda confronted Jan.
She said, “lan, you’ve bound yourself to Andrea for life–you’ve already let go of your wife. You’ve bern childhood friends with Chloe for over twenty years. For old times‘ sake, just let her go.”
lan’s face was so grim, his whole expression shadowed.
Miranda demanded, “You don’t love her–you can’t protect her, you can’t even give her the basic respect a husband owes his wife. She’s willing to step back and let you have your love, so why are you still keeping her trapped by your side? What do you really want from her?”
“Mom, no matter what you say, I’m not divorcing Chloe!” Ian blurted out, his voice trembling and face contorted with emotion. ‘Why does it hurt this much?‘ he thought, barely holding himself together.
Unable to control his emotions, Ian stormed out of The Old Hamilton Manor, feeling like he was running away from everything.
He sped all the way to the hospital, and by the time he got there, Chloe had already been taken into a hospital
room.
Patrick stepped out of the room and saw Ian standing there, looking completely lost. He pointed to the empty room next door. “I need to talk to you.”
They walked into the empty room next door, Patrick leading the way.
Ian closed the door behind him, only to be greeted by Patrick’s fist slamming straight into his face.
Ian let out a low grunt as he took the hit head–on, refusing to flinch.
Patrick threw another punch, but this time lan grabbed his wrist, stopping him cold. “Patrick, that’s enough!”
Patrick yanked his arm free and shoved lan hard, glaring at him. “You stood right in front of Chloe and swore you’d live and die with Andrea. Did it ever cross your mind how that would make Chloe feel?”
Patrick didn’t relent. “Chloe took all those lashes and knelt for over an hour just to make things easier for you two, while you couldn’t spare a second from worrying about Andrea. And you still have the nerve to say you aren’t rekindling things with her?”
Ian leaned against the foot of the hospital bed, wiping the blood from his mouth.
He stared Patrick down and said, “That kid isn’t mine, and you know it. There’s nothing going on between me and Andrea—I just want to put an end to Grandpa’s grudge against her.”
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Patrick scoffed. The fact that kid isn’t yours just makes you even more pathetic”
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Patrick pressed on, “Andrea says she got close to you for the kid, you say you’re doing all this for Arters Yome two go to so much trouble for each other–don’t tell me that’s not love”
Patrick’s voice was tight. “lan, Chloe and I grew up together, we’ve been friends since we were kids. If I keep standing by and letting you hurt her like this, I’m not worthy of being her brother”
Patrick’s voice was razor–sharp with fury. “You hurt her for Andrea and that illegitimate kid–after all you’ve done, you don’t even deserve to call yourself her husband”
Patrick didn’t wait for a reply and slammed the door behind him as he stormed out.
lan just stood there, alone in the empty hospital room, for what felt like forever.
Six years ago, he actually caught feelings for Andrea–he even considered marrying her.
But after all these years, it was crystal clear–he didn’t love Andrea, nor would he ever want her.
He couldn’t accept Andrea on any level–not in his heart, not in his body.
Andrea had sacrificed her whole future for him, and all he was doing was honoring his promise to her. Nothing more.
By never explaining himself and always standing up for Andrea, he’d only made Chloe misunderstand–and it hurt her, bad.
‘But he’d never betrayed their marriage, and there was never a moment when he thought about letting it go. Ian thought, stubbornly clenching his fists.
‘From the minute I decided to marry Chloe, I was in it for life. That was always the plan, he told himself.
‘Getting Chloe back cost me everything. Divorce? Not a chance. I’m never letting her leave me again, lan swore inwardly.
After pulling himself together, lan pushed open the door and walked into Chloe’s hospital room.
Chloe was lying quietly on her side, eyes closed, with an IV drip running into her arm
Even though Thomas hadn’t used full force, the whip still hurt so much she almost couldn’t take it.
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