The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 205

You could hear a pin drop in the dining room as everyone watched in absolute shock as Preston pulled out the chair right next to Chloe and sat down.

Jenna's face was violently pale.

Chloe simply raised her eyes, studying the man beside her.

Noting her slight frown, Preston's lips curled into a gentle smile. "You were coming to Mr. Goodwin's birthday. Why didn't you tell me?"

He only found out she was here because Ken called him ten minutes ago.

Which meant her trip to buy the astrolabe yesterday was to pick up a gift for Mr. Goodwin.

It wasn't a present for Quentin Shaw after all.

That realization had instantly lifted the dark, suffocating mood he'd been trapped in for days. His voice dropped to a soft murmur.

"Chloe, I saw the things you bought yesterday."

"You stocked up on so many local snacks. You must be prepping for our trip abroad."

Chloe shot him a sharp look.

Preston chuckled softly, misreading her reaction. "Chloe, I only delayed our flight because of Mr. Goodwin's birthday today."

"If you'd just told me you were coming, I would've explained it to you sooner. You wouldn't have had to give me the cold shoulder for so long."

"Why on earth would I tell you?" Chloe found the audacity genuinely amusing.

Preston, however, entirely missed the sarcasm.

"I didn't bring it up because normally, you never..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Chloe abruptly stood up and swapped seats with Mr. Goodwin.

Preston froze, letting out a helpless sigh as he arched a brow.

Still mad, then.

He knew Chloe hated high school reunions.

Those years held zero nostalgia for her; she wanted nothing more than to leave them buried in the past.

So she was probably just fuming over the whole astrolabe incident yesterday.

I'll just coax her into a better mood when we get home.

With the constant hum of background noise from the hallway, the guests across the table could see Preston murmuring to Chloe, but couldn't catch a single word.

"Why the sigh?" Preston asked.

Mr. Goodwin leveled a hard stare at him. "Preston, I've always admired your drive, ever since you were just a kid."

"You're a brilliant man, but your taste is utterly atrocious!"

Preston chuckled softly. "How so?"

Mr. Goodwin glanced over at Chloe, shook his head, and sighed again.

"You're blind, that's what. You don't know how to treasure what's right in front of you."

Back then, that girl was always the very first person to walk through the school gates.

When the sky was still pitch black and the morning fog clung to the windows, she'd slip quietly into her senior homeroom.

He used to sleep in his office to get a head start on grading, and her soft, rhythmic footsteps in the hall had become his daily alarm clock, rain or shine.

And it was him who had watched firsthand as Preston—once a rebellious, self-destructive wreck on the verge of dropping out—was painstakingly dragged back to the light by her, inch by inch, until he fought his way to the top of the world.

He would bet his life that without Chloe, the mighty Preston Hayes wouldn't even exist today.

When he heard Preston had married a girl from their high school, he had assumed the boy had finally wised up. He never dreamed he'd be this staggeringly blind!