The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 210

The moment the words left her mouth, she saw the exact flash of melancholy and reluctance in his eyes that she had been dreading.

"So suddenly?"

After a long, heavy pause, he finally nodded. "Okay. Good girl. I fully support you. I've watched you fight through so much pain and hardship over the years. I remember every bit of it. You deserve a bright, boundless future out there!"

"I will never forget everything you did to look after me," Chloe promised. "Whenever I have the time, I'll fly back just to visit you."

Mr. Goodwin swallowed hard, forcing down his sadness. "Just focus on living a good life. Don't worry about an old man like me."

He reached over to the table, neatly packed both astrolabes back into their boxes, and pushed them toward Chloe.

"Listen to me and take these back. You're going to need a nest egg for your life abroad."

"I didn't want anything to do with Jenna's gift initially. But then I realized, why the hell not? Take it, sell it, and keep the cash. Consider it a down payment on all the pain she's caused you."

Chloe's vision blurred with sudden, hot tears. "Mr. Goodwin, did you forget? I just casually bought a half-million-dollar antique. I'm hardly strapped for cash."

"It's too expensive. Absolutely not. You take it back and sell it. I have no business owning something this extravagant," he insisted.

Staring at his snow-white hair and gaunt, aging cheeks, Chloe couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They spilled silently down her face.

He deserved it.

He absolutely deserved it.

She would never forget the towering stacks of old newspapers in his office, completely saturated with cheap ink because he couldn't afford proper calligraphy paper.

She'd never forget the peaceful, contented smile on his face whenever the other teachers mocked him for being a penny-pincher, entirely oblivious to the fact that he secretly spent his meager salary buying groceries for his poorest students.

"Rhonda knows the market way better than I do. Just hold onto it. It'll definitely fetch an incredible price down the line."

"Once she sells it, you can just reimburse me for the initial cost."

Mr. Goodwin finally stopped pushing the box away. "Alright, alright. I promise you, my Rhonda has the connections. When she cashes it out, I'll wire the profits straight to your account."

"Okay."

Chloe discreetly wiped her cheeks. Afraid she would completely break down if she lingered any longer, she and Belle quietly slipped out of the restaurant.

Preston's erratic, psychotic behavior over the past few days had planted a sickening dread in her stomach. Even when the divorce agreement officially matured, he would absolutely invent some insane loophole to keep her trapped.

She needed to prepare for total, unmitigated war.

If things completely unraveled and they ended up clawing each other to pieces in court, this footage would serve as a crucial piece of the puzzle to prove his adultery and negligence.

"This still isn't enough," Chloe murmured. "Preston has infinite resources. He will do absolutely anything to shield her from the fallout."

Unless they dug up an apocalyptic bombshell—something so bulletproof it could single-handedly put Jenna behind bars—they would never win.

Belle sobered up instantly, fully realizing the stakes.

"I'm flying out to Kandaria in a few days," she announced.

She leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper. "I heard Jenna's sudden exit back then was totally sketchy. She laid low in Kandaria for years. God only knows what kind of sick, underground cartel crap she got involved with before she got too scared and crawled back home."

"I guarantee you, I am going to strike gold on this trip! And the second I pull her skeletons out of the closet, I'm taking it straight to Interpol. I'll make sure they drag her kicking and screaming into a maximum-security cell!"