The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 184

"I've never been joking about this, Ken. You can go back and tell him that since Grandma's health is practically back to normal, there's no reason to keep stalling and wasting each other's time."

"Whenever he's free, just let me know. We'll head straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau and finalize the paperwork."

The freezing wind whipped against Chloe's face, turning her cheeks numb.

Ken fell silent.

He knew it wasn't his place to interfere, but he couldn't wrap his head around how two people who clearly loved each other had ended up at the precipice of divorce.

He decided to try explaining one last time.

"Ma'am, is this about Ms. Cameron? That time was genuinely just a misunderstanding. Nothing inappropriate has ever happened between Mr. Hayes and Ms. Cameron."

Chloe gave a faint, cynical smile. It was less of a sneer at him and more of a mockery of herself.

"If you really need a reason, it's simple."

"I don't love him anymore."

She found him repulsive.

Whether or not he had actually slept with Jenna didn't even matter anymore, because his soul was already tainted enough.

"..."

Through Ken's earpiece, the heavy sound of breathing grew louder, making him stiffen in his seat.

The phone in his pocket showed the call had been connected for twenty minutes.

After an agonizing silence, a voice finally echoed through the earpiece.

"Tell her tomorrow at 10 AM. I'll be waiting at the Civil Affairs Bureau."

The line promptly went dead.

"..."

Ken gathered his courage before glancing at her. "Mrs. Hayes..."

Chloe's tone was completely flat. "What did he say?"

Ken froze, his hand instinctively flying to his earpiece. He wondered how she had figured it out.

"Mr. Hayes said... tomorrow at 10 AM. He'll meet you at the Civil Affairs Bureau."

"Perfect," Chloe agreed without a second thought.

The car pulled to a stop. She pushed the door open and took the subway back to Oceanview Heights by herself.

The moment she walked through the door, a fluffy little furball came bounding over, its chubby body wiggling with excitement.

"Yuri..."

Chloe crouched down, her fingers gently scratching behind the puppy's ears.

"I'm going to take you to live abroad, okay?"

She zoomed in. It was a woman's hand—slender, pale, and delicate. For a split second, it looked so familiar she almost thought it was her own.

But on the ring finger sat an offensively large, blood-red ruby ring.

She had never taken a photo like that, nor did she own a ring like that.

In the comments, oblivious friends were pouring in their congratulations:

[Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are so in love.]

[So romantic! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness.]

Amidst the mindless praise, two comments stood out like glaring neon signs:

Mason: [Congrats, Preston!]

Wyatt Davis: [The four of us are finally back together! Things are only going up from here!]

Chloe exited the app with a deadpan expression, but her heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

Three years of marriage. She knew in her bones she had given him everything and had never done a single thing to wrong him.

Yet he couldn't even wait for the ink on their divorce papers to dry before parading Jenna in front of the world.

Fine.

Once that certificate was in her hands, Preston would be nothing more than a ghost from a past life.