Andrea spotted lan storming into the hospital room, his face dark as thunder. Instinctively, she backed behind Chloe, her heart skipping a guilty beat.
Chloe calmly packed up her phone charger.
Jan’s gaze bounced between the two of them before finally landing on Andrea
Jan demanded in a low, stern tone, “Why are you here?
Andrea’s eyes flickered with anxiety as she stammered, 1-1 just came to apologize to Mrs. Hamilton.
Ian said impatiently, “Is that all?”
Andrea nodded frantically.
Ian told her, “You can go.
Andrea hesitated for a moment, steeling herself before taking a few halting steps, then stopped, nerves on edge.
She finally spoke up, her tone cautious and probing. “Tan, Mrs. Hamilton’s already accepted my apology. Just now, we-”
“Don’t make me repeat myself!” Ian cut her off coldly, his expression like ice.
Andrea cast a furtive glance at Chloe, her heartbeat racing with anxiety.
Chloe stepped in front of Ian. “You made a promise to Ms. Sherman, and I know you feel for her–you hate to see her hurt. Trust me, I understand what it’s like to love someone and not get anything back. When it’s just us here, you don’t need to keep your guard up. I know it hasn’t been easy on either of you.”
Their eyes met in a long, silent stare.
Chloe spoke in an effortlessly calm voice, her face serious and sincere.
Jan’s hands at his sides tightened into fists before he even noticed.
Then his gaze slowly shifted to Andrea, a brief flicker of coldness flashing in his eyes.
“Sorry, I’ll get out of here right now,” Andrea blurted out, panic written all over her face as she quickly backed
away.
Clutching her purse, she rushed out of the room, almost tripping over herself in her hurry to escape.
Watching Andrea make a hasty exit and lan standing there, his face clouded and heavy, Chloe could only let out a gentle sigh.
‘Ian just overthinks everything,‘ Chloe mused. ‘He doesn’t have the nerve to smash through all those shackles
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:
and give Andrea and her kid the bright future they deserve!
The Hamilton elders would much rather see lan remarry than ever welcome Andrea and her son into the family.
And Andrea always did whatever lan said, too scared to ever disagree.
If Chloe didn’t lend a hand here, this family of three would end up falling apart for sure.
Chloe picked up an orange from the fruit basket, peeled it, and tasted a slice.
Then she offered the orange to Ian. “Ms. Sherman got these. They’re super sweet. Have a taste.”
Their eyes locked, an unspoken tension humming between them.
Instead of taking the orange, Ian bypassed it altogether and, without warning, grasped Chloe’s hand.
He said, “I’ll warn her to stay away from you.”
Chloe smoothly slid her hand out of his grasp, her face a mask of calm, betraying nothing.
She put the orange down, grabbed a tissue, and carefully wiped her hands. “Ian, I guess I was just making a fuss before. Look at all those old–money families back in the day–most of them had several wives and concubines, and somehow they all got along.”
Ian felt like something heavy was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to catch his breath.
He locked his eyes on Chloe, trying to figure out what was really going on behind her calm face.
Chloe tossed the tissue aside, lifted her chin and met Ian’s eyes. “If this is how things are meant to be for me, then I’ll accept it.”
Ian pressed his lips together, his eyes narrowing on Chloe, the tension between them slowly tightening like a drawn wire.
As soon as Chloe finished, she felt a physical lightness, as if a burden had lifted and her mood finally cleared.
She’d poured everything she had into this relationship.
No regrets–no bitterness, no reluctance left behind.
The people she’d left behind, the tough times she’d survived–they were history now.
From now on, she’d only spend her time and energy on people and things that truly reciprocated–no more one–sided efforts.
She gave Ian the brightest, most relaxed smile. “Let’s go.”
All the way, Chloe kept her phone glued to her ear, happily chatting with Jill nonstop.
Ian sat right next to Chloe, his face clouded and silent, eyes fixed on her, so close they could almost feel each
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other’s breath.
:
When they got home, Chloe headed straight for the bathroom.
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After spending so many days in the hospital, she felt like she’d soaked up enough hospital air to leave her skin feeling grimy and gross.
When Chloe came out of the bathroom with her hair dried, she saw lan sitting on the edge of the bed, his back ramrod straight, not moving a muscle.
Chloe quietly looked away and headed toward the dressing room.
Ian stood up. “You need to keep using the scar cream.”
When Chloe stopped, Ian came over and pulled her down to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.
He reached to tug her bathrobe down, but Chloe reflexively grabbed the collar, her whole body going tense.
Ian’s hand stalled in the air, a shadow passing over his eyes–a flicker of pain and regret.
Ever since the night he’d lost control and hurt her, every time he reached for her, Chloe would automatically tense up, ready to defend herself.
Ian forced down his emotions, taking a few slow, shaky breaths to keep himself from losing it.
He spoke up, his voice rough and strained, “Let me help you with the medicine.”
Chloe, slowly relaxing, released her tight grip on the collar and wrapped the blanket around herself, feeling her anxiety finally begin to ebb away.
Ian carefully pulled down her nightgown, and even in the soft light, those whip marks on her pale skin looked painfully obvious.
The scabs had started to heal, but the marks were still there–stubborn and glaring, impossible to pretend they weren’t.
Ian moved with deliberate slowness, his touch feather–light, as if afraid he might hurt her all over again.
He started, his voice hesitant, “Earlier in the hospital…”
“I’ve got to head over to my folks‘ this afternoon, so just get on with it,” Chloe cut in, her tone brisk.
Chloe didn’t let lan finish, shutting him down before he could press any further.
No matter how hard she tried to push him out of her head, lan always found a way back in. When he tried to get a reaction out of her, Chloe knew staying quiet was her safest move.
As evening fell, after dropping Chloe off at the Irvine family home, lan made his way over to Andrea’s place.
When Andrea saw Ian walk in, her face lit up with excitement and she hurried over. “Ian, what brings you here?”
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F:.
fan glanced around the living room, his eyes landing on Andrea’s mother and ber so
Seeing this, Laura quickly grabbed the kid and made up an excuse to beame
2400
“Tan, have a seat. I’ll get you some water Andrea said, eager to please as she turned to head for thr katres
Just as Andrea was about to turn and fetch lan a glass of water, he suddenly lunged forward and wrapped him hand around her neck.
Andrea instantly paled, her heart jumping into her throat as she choked out, “1–Lan, what are you doing?
Ian fixed her with an icy glare that could freeze the blood in your veins, sending a shiver all the way down Andrea’s spine.
He spat out each word, slow and deadly, “What exactly did you say to my wife back in that hospital room?”
Andrea had never seen lan this angry before–she was shaking all over, absolutely terrified.
She stammered out, her words tumbling over each other in panic. “Ian, please, you’ve got it wrong! That night, your wife got hurt trying to help me–Edward was the one who hit her. I went to see her because I was grateful and wanted to say sorry, that’s all! I swear, I just apologized, nothing else, honest!”
Ian’s fingers dug into Andrea’s neck, his tone cold and brutal. “Andrea, you think you can play tricks on me? You’re not even close to being a match.”
Andrea saw the suspicion in Ian’s eyes and burst into tears, swearing through sobs. “Ian, you know who I am- I come from an ordinary family, I’ve been married before, lost a child, and now I have a kid. Even if you killed me, I’d never dare to have those ideas from six years ago ever again!”
Ian’s expression was so menacing, it sent a chill straight down your spine.
Andrea was so frightened her legs turned to jelly, and she dropped to her knees.
She broke into sobs, her voice full of panic as she pleaded, “I was only trying to make your wife like me! I just didn’t want your family to target me, I swear, I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Jan just stood there, cold and unmoved, refusing to show any pity.
Andrea lifted a trembling hand to the sky, tears streaming down her face as she swore, “lan, I swear on my own child–if I ever had any wicked thoughts about you, then may my son never rest in peace, not even in death!”
Jan slowly loosened his grip, and Andrea scrambled away, practically tripping over herself in her haste to get out of reach.
‘If I wasn’t so set on reminding lan every chance I got about all the hell I went through for him–keeping him feeling guilty, always–‘Andrea thought coldly, ‘I would’ve ended that little brat ages ago.
‘Seriously, I would’ve made sure that kid was gone a long time ago,‘ she sneered to herself.
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Chapter 113

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