Chapter 245
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Chloe watched as Mitchell and the bodyguards hurried over the sand toward her. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but she walked on, determined and steady, never once looking back.
She’d been through so many ups and downs, and in the end, it seemed like the outcome didn’t do justice to all she’d endured. The whole thing left a slightly bitter taste, a gentle ache in her heart.
Mitchell pulled lan out of the water, and lan was in seriously rough shape–he looked like he could collapse
any second.
Spotting Chloe on the beach, thin and stumbling with every step, lan grit his teeth through the pain and shoved aside the people near him to get closer.
Just as Chloe started to faint from low blood sugar, lan dashed over, slid to his knees, and caught her in his arms just in time.
Mitchell quickly grabbed a spare glucose packet and helped Chloe drink it down.
Ian stayed on his knees in the sand, holding Chloe as if he’d never let her go.
Ian kissed Chloe’s forehead again and again, voice choked with pain. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he kept saying. unable to control himself.
Mitchell tried to reason with lan. “Mr. Hamilton, even if you don’t care about yourself, you should really think about Mrs. Hamilton. Her blood sugar’s dangerously low, and she keeps refusing to eat. If you two keep pushing like this, she’s going to collapse.”
But when Mitchell saw Ian’s arms trembling as he clung to Chloe, he realized just how shaken lan was, and decided it was best to stay quiet.
When Chloe woke up again, it was already dark outside.
She stepped out of the bedroom and onto the oceanfront terrace, standing shoulder to shoulder with lan at the railing, gazing out at the deep, shadowy sea.
Ian was a little slow to react, looking dazed and distant.
When he realized Chloe was beside him, he quickly stubbed out his cigarette and hurried to take off his jacket, wrapping it carefully around her shoulders.
Chloe looked up at lan.
Their eyes met.
A shadow passed through Ian’s eyes.
His eyes were tinged with red, and his voice was rough with exhaustion. ‘I’ll go get you something clean to keep you warm,” he murmured.
16:01 Mon, Oct 6
Chapter 245
Chloe reached out and stopped him, hugging his jacket tightly around herself.
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Jan caught her gesture, and instead of happiness, a rush of confusion and anxiety flashed in his eyes.
Chloe stood by the railing in her pajamas, lair’s black suit jacket draped over her shoulders, staring quietly at the dark horizon.
lan, dressed in black slacks and a white shirt, just watched Chloe’s side profile, lost in a daze and unable to look away.
Neither of them spoke for a long while.
Finally, Chloe broke the silence.
She glanced sideways at lan and asked, “Do you remember when we came here for our honeymoon–what I made you do out here on this balcony?”
lan tried to force a smile, but couldn’t get any words out.
Chloe spoke for him. “I made you promise you’d always treat me as your one and only. You said I was being childish… I remember, I even threw a little tantrum about it back then.”
Her self–deprecating smile was like a knife to Jan’s eyes, burning straight into him.
lan’s eyes were bloodshot with agony. He just stared at Chloe, his body slumped against the railing, barely holding himself up.
Chloe reminisced, “I remember when I was a kid, I used to spend all my time at your place. Mia was always so full of energy, and we were absolutely joined at the hip. Your mom was gentle and gorgeous, and she treated me incredibly well, like I was part of the family. Your grandpa and dad might have seemed intimidating, but they were always pretty good to me. Those moments really meant a lot to me.”
Chloe shot Ian another look, her voice soft and wistful. “I remember that one time after school when Mia and I snuck out to play, and it suddenly started pouring. You and Patrick came looking for us, and we all squeezed under the tiniest little shelter, splitting a small bag of cookies between the four of us.”
“Life was so good back then, Chloe thought to herself.
Jan’s voice was rough as he sobbed, hanging his head like a kid who knew he’d messed up. Softly, he called out “Chloe” again and again, each word tangled with apologies. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry,” he choked out on repeat.
But Chloe just shook her head at lan, unable to accept his tears or his repeated apologies.
She
id, “If I hadn’t had that crazy idea of marrying you–if I hadn’t been so hung up on you, chasing after a love that was never really there, always wishing someday you’d actually fall for me–we probably would’ve stayed happy, wouldn’t we?”
“Chloe!” Ian cut her off, his voice raw and desperate, as he reached out to stop her from saying more.
He was unraveling, completely losing control–he just couldn’t let her keep going
16:01 Mon, Oct 6
Chapter 245
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His eyes were red and so utterly broken as he stared at Chloe. When he tried to speak, his voice caught in his throat–loarse and raw, each word sounding painfully rough.
Chloe reached up and gently wiped away lan’s tears. “I’ll admit it, I’m kind of a drama queen sometimes, always giving you trouble. Even if you never really loved me, you still spoiled me, bought me whatever 1 wanted, and whenever I threw a fit or pushed your buttons, you just took it all in stride.”
She met lan’s gaze. “When my family was at rock bottom, you married me even though you had your own reasons and your own agenda. No matter what you had planned, you genuinely helped us out of a tight spot.”
With my moods and helping out my
Chloe murmured, “lan, thanks for everything you did–putting family when we needed it.”
You always called me childish, Chloe thought to herself.
“I really treasured those times with your family, she added quietly.
“Even though you didn’t really love me, she admitted to herself.
Thanks for the person you were back then, Chloe whispered in her heart.
Ian immediately picked up on what Chloe truly meant, feeling a sharp sting in his heart.
First, an unsteady laugh escaped him, but then sorrow washed over, and he broke down crying, unable to hold back the tears.
is sobs only grew worse, and he slowly crouched down, collapsing into a helpless, childlike wail.
Chloe stood tall above lari, looking down at him as he broke down completely, her own resolve unshaken in the face of his collapse.
She said, “Tan, Mia’s always been like a sister to me, and your mom treated me as if I were her own daughter. I truly treasured those family ties.”
But then her voice turned cold. “But if being done with you means I have to walk away from all of them too, T can do that.”
“You can’t–no way!” Ian’s voice cracked, disbelief and pain flooding out as he stared at Chloe.
He staggered up, clutching Chloe’s shoulders, and cried out, “You said they were your family for life! How could
you even think of cutting them off like this?”
Chloe looked at him, her face icy and unreadable. “If cutting you off for good means giving up everything else, then so be it.
They stood just inches apart–so close that their gazes burned into each other, neither willing to look away.
Ian’s grip on Chloe’s shoulders was shaking so badly he couldn’t hide it, no matter how hard he tried.
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Chapter 215
His eyes were bloodshot, wild with panic; he looked every bit like a desperate, trapped beast ready to lash out.
His voice was raw and broken, and tears kept streaming down his freezing cheeks, each one scorching a path
as it fell.
lan, easily over six feet tall, stood before Chloe–a towering figure brought to his knees by heartbreak, unable to hold back his sobs.
He completely broke down, grabbing Chloe and clinging to her like she was the only thing keeping him afloat. All the self–control he’d struggled to maintain over the past few days collapsed in an instant.
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