“How can it have nothing to do with me!”
I looked directly into Alex’s eyes, watching his agitated emotions cool inch by inch under my steady gaze.
“I apologize. I was worried Isabelle might overthink things earlier, but I still want to ask you, how have the past few years been for you?”
“Without you, I naturally haven’t been able to sleep, my heart ripped to shreds.”
As Alex looked on in shock, I grabbed his tie, pulling him towards me.
“Satisfied with that answer?”
“Brother–in–law”
Ignoring the now petrified Alex, I turned and went upstairs. Only when I was safely tucked into the soft bed did I finally let out a long breath.
His distressed expression when he saw my injury didn’t seem feigned, just like the young man who, years ago, would furiously lash out for me
whenever he saw me hurt.
Alex had been mature beyond his years, yet his first act of rebellion was hitting my father. Although the Miller family was more powerful than the Dubois family, my father was still an elder. That time, Alex was pressured by his own father to apologize, and though the cane lashed fiercely against him, he bit his lip and didn’t utter a sound.
Later, as I cried while applying ointment to his bloody, bruised back, my tears falling onto him, he could still smile and wipe away my tears, saying it was worth it.
But nothing lasts, not even the purest joy of young love.
- 3.
At five in the morning, everyone in the Dubois family mansion was awakened by a violent knocking at the door.
I looked down from my second–floor window. A long convoy of cars almost surrounded the mansion. A team of well–trained men in black suits and sunglasses emerged from the vehicles.
I leisurely sipped my tea to perk up, knowing it had nothing to do with me anyway.
Until I saw the person who stepped out of the lead car.
I choked on my tea.
Oh, crap!
Just as I was about to hide behind the curtains, I met a pair of charming eyes that crinkled with amusement.
I dragged my luggage and scrambled downstairs. Halfway down, Alex grabbed my arm. “Something’s not right outside. Don’t run around.”
Before he finished speaking, the door swung open.
Julian Thorne wore a mask, his hat brim pulled low, revealing only a pair of slightly narrowed, alluring eyes. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Alex and me wrestling, and the curve of his eyes deepened. The angrier this man got, the brighter his smile became.
8:31 AM
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I dragged my luggage and scrambled downstairs. Halfway down, Alex grabbed my arm. “Something’s not right outside. Don’t run around.”
Before he finished speaking, the door swung open.
Julian Thorne wore a mask, his hat brim pulled low, revealing only a pair of slightly narrowed, alluring eyes. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Alex and me wrestling, and the curve of his eyes deepened. The angrier this man got, the brighter his smile became.
A shiver ran down my spine.
shook off Alex’s hand and practically launched myself into Julian’s embrace. “You were in such a hurry to see me?”
“My wife just returned to the country and immediately met up with her ex–husband. Who wouldn’t be in a hurry?”
A wave of guilt washed over me, silencing my retort.
Alex’s voice, thick with suppressed anger, broke the silence. “Chloe, who is he?”
