The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 207

Jenna didn't even hesitate. "Mine, obviously. Is that a trick question?"

Rhonda let out a dry, humorless chuckle and pulled both pieces out of reach.

"I'm sorry, but you failed. We have absolutely nothing to discuss."

Jenna blinked, reeling in disbelief. "Are you messing with me right now? You're actually trying to tell me Chloe's piece is worth more than mine? How is that remotely possible?!"

The rest of the peanut gallery at the table immediately rallied to her defense.

"Yeah, Jenna dropped over a hundred grand on hers! How could Chloe possibly afford anything pricier?"

"Rhonda, you can't let her con you! Chloe was notoriously broke back in school. She even took a cab here tonight. Where would she get that kind of cash?"

One by one, they piled on, their words dripping with sneering contempt.

Preston's face instantly plummeted into a stormy scowl.

He instinctively glanced at Chloe, but her expression remained chillingly placid. He couldn't tell if she genuinely didn't care or if she had simply grown completely numb to the abuse.

A sharp, phantom needle seemed to pierce straight through his chest.

"Shut your mouths!"

Preston's voice cracked like a whip. A terrifying silence instantly crashed down over the room.

The guests stared at each other in utter panic, entirely oblivious to how they had just triggered the billionaire's wrath.

"Chloe is my—"

A split second later, Preston reached out to wrap his arm around Chloe's waist—only to grab empty air. He stared at her, stunned.

She had dodged him like he was a plague, smoothly putting two feet of distance between them.

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Chloe stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Belle. She fixed him with an icy, detached stare.

"You're all being too loud. It's disturbing Mr. Hayes."

The crowd was utterly bewildered. They were just defending his wife, Jenna. Why the hell was he so furious?

"Rhonda, you need to explain yourself! Yesterday, you explicitly told me that my piece was the absolute most expensive item in your entire store!"

She forcibly suppressed her rage and shot a venomous glare at Chloe. "Did she poison you against me? Is that why you're refusing to partner with us? You can't just listen to her lies—"

Rhonda forcefully yanked her wrist free. "Don't flatter yourself. Who has the time to talk about a nobody like you?"

"You're completely blinded by money. You're so arrogant and impatient that you couldn't even bother to stop and actually look at the pieces in front of you. Why on earth would I ever trust you? Why would I partner with someone like that?"

Jenna's face twisted into an ugly, mottled mask of pure humiliation.

She had been so cocky, so absolutely certain she had this deal in the bag. After all, she had bribed them with over a hundred grand!

She never saw this coming. Her brain short-circuited trying to figure out why the Goodwins were treating her like radioactive waste!

"Chloe, this is your doing, isn't it?! You trash-talked me to her! Just because I beat you to that antique yesterday?! How could you be such a backstabbing bitch?!"

Jenna glared at Chloe with absolute hatred, fully convinced she had sabotaged the whole thing out of spite.

"Jenna, could you be any more fake? Did you conveniently suffer amnesia about how you literally screamed in Rhonda's face yesterday?"