After Divorce, I Returned as the Army's Queen novel Chapter 142

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

"Chloe loves my body, though of course she likes me for who I am too. That's why our relationship is going to last a very long time. I'll propose to her once the timing is right," Brian said.

Ethan's brows furrowed. He grabbed Brian by the collar and demanded, "What did you do to her?"

Brian slowly looked up at him. "It's Chloe who can do whatever she wants with me, including any intimate acts. I always go along with her whims as long as it pleases her. I'm glad that she really likes my body. As for you, you'll never know what it feels like to be Chloe's man!"

"You!" Ethan's eyes blazed with anger. Fury rose within his chest the moment he thought about Chloe being intimate with Brian.

Even though he knew Chloe and Brian were dating and that it wasn't his place to get angry in the first place, Brian's words still infuriated him.

"Chloe and I will never break up. So don't even think about dating her!" Brian snapped.

Ethan swung a fist right at Brian's face.

Someone opened the front door just then.

When Brian saw that Chloe had returned, he didn't dodge Ethan and instead allowed him to punch him.

And so, Ethan's fist landed right on Brian's face.

"Stop it!" Chloe's voice rang out.

Shocked, Ethan retracted his fist and stumbled backward.

Chloe went up to Brian and saw how swollen his cheek was. Brian's lip had split as well and was bleeding now.

Chloe furrowed her brow and turned to Ethan. "What happened? Why did you hit Brian?"

Ethan's lips pressed into a tight line. He didn't know how to explain himself to Chloe now.

If he told her that he'd gotten jealous because of what Brian had said and that he had feelings for her, he was worried she would only distance herself from him.

If that happened, he might never have a chance to get close to her again.

"It's nothing too bad. I think Mr. Hughes just got upset because of our prior conversation," Brian said.

Chloe's heart ached at the sight of Brian's swollen red face. She gently wiped the blood from his lips. "Don't you know how to dodge a punch?"

With his skills, Brian could have easily dodged Ethan's hit.

"Mr. Hughes wanted to strike me, so I let him. He's your friend, after all. I figured I'd be his punching bag and let him vent his anger," Brian explained.

Ethan was furious. How had he never realized just how calculating Brian was? He'd purposely let himself get punched!

Chloe sighed. She'd happened to buy some iced canned drinks earlier, so they could use one to reduce the swelling on Brian's face.

She handed him a can. "Here, press this to your cheek. It'll reduce the swelling."

"Okay." Brian obediently took the can and pressed it to his face.

Chloe then pulled Ethan aside. "What did Brian say to make you so angry that you punched him?"

Willow was surprised too, clearly not having expected to meet Chloe here. But the surprise on her face swiftly turned to hatred.

It was Chloe's fault that Willow had gone from being doted on by everyone in the Quall family to being shunned and looked down on by them.

Though only those from the Quall family knew that Willow no longer had the backing of the Steele family, it was obvious that her position in the company had been affected.

She no longer had a seat at important company meetings. The Qualls at the company, both young and old, had even started being rude to her. All of them used to eagerly come to her aid whenever she asked for it, yet now they just dragged things on when she asked them for help.

Some of them had even said to her face, "Do you really think you're still getting special treatment from us? We only did that because you had Brian supporting you back then. Now that he's no longer doing that, you're left with nothing!"

All of a sudden, everyone had started to blatantly disrespect Willow.

But even without Brian's help, she still had her own connections. That was why she'd been spending more time with her friends who were rich heirs and heiresses. She intended to use those connections to gather the resources necessary to complete work projects.

She was determined to show everyone that she was still the most capable Quall in her generation of the family, even without Brian's backing.

But she was indeed surprised to bump into Chloe here while she was eating with her friends.

When Chloe first came to Yarfdale, Willow had bumped into her at a restaurant too. At the time, Willow had had Brian and the Steele family's support, while Chloe had nothing. Yet it was the exact opposite now. Their positions seemed to have been swapped entirely.

"Don't think you have nothing to fear now that you have Brian supporting you. Do you really think you're worthy of him? You may know how to fly an aircraft and have some military experience, but the Steele family has no need for more pilots and bodyguards!" Willow said cruelly.

Chloe's gaze was cold as she replied, "So you think the compensation Brian gave you is an excuse for you to be reckless? Why do I need to seek support from anyone else? I'm my own person, and I don't need anyone to back me up.

"I've never felt unworthy of anyone either. Wouldn't it be terribly pathetic if we need to question our worth when we have feelings for someone?"