The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 236

She knew things she was never supposed to know.

They were never going to let her off this ship alive.

Chloe remained silent.

The desperate hope in Thea's eyes slowly dimmed. She spoke softly.

"Miss, please give my brother my regards. Tell him that I'm completely safe."

As she spoke, she began to release her grip on Chloe's arm.

But the very next second, her wrist was snatched in an iron grip.

Chloe looked up, her tone perfectly steady. "You can tell him yourself. I don't play the messenger."

Thea's eyes went wide. Her thick eyelashes fluttered wildly as her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Does that mean..."

Chloe didn't say another word, simply pulling the girl along as they hurried forward.

Their escape was going entirely too smoothly. It was almost eerily easy.

This made a knot of deep unease tighten in Chloe's stomach.

Sure enough, just as they reached the helipad deck, Julian's lazy drawl echoed from behind them.

"Leaving without even saying goodbye?"

He was leaning casually against the railing, letting the sea breeze ruffle his hair, a phantom of a smile playing on his lips.

"My god, Ms. Reed. Sneaking away is one thing, but trying to steal an employee from the ship? Since when did you become so reckless?"

Thea instantly began shaking like a leaf. Her legs gave out completely, collapsing onto the deck as she looked up at Chloe in sheer panic.

Julian's tall frame moved toward them, step by deliberate step. His expression was utterly detached. He wasn't angry, but his cold indifference was far more terrifying than sheer rage.

Just as Chloe's muscles locked up in pure adrenaline, a warm, heavy hand draped protectively over her shoulder.

"There you are."

Chloe jumped, whipping her head around.

Her eyes locked onto Quentin Shaw's profile, his features carrying a faint trace of exhaustion from the long journey.

Truth be told, she had suspected something like this might happen from the very start.

After this entire fiasco, Julian had finally witnessed Preston's true attitude toward her. He likely wouldn't bother harassing her ever again.

Once Belle managed to pull herself together, she pointed at Thea. "Who's this?"

Chloe smoothly deflected the question. "I overheard something regarding Jenna..."

As she spoke, she reached up to tap her earring, only to find nothing there.

Belle pulled her into a tight hug. "Forget about all that! You're safe, and that's the only thing that matters right now!"

As an investigative reporter exposing the criminal underworld, Belle routinely took on incredibly dangerous assignments, brushing with death more times than she could count.

But she absolutely could not stomach seeing her own friend put in the line of fire.

Chloe had no idea when Julian had snatched the earring, but the video file hardly constituted solid evidence anyway.

She spoke up. "I also caught a critical piece of information. A Frenchman named John—he's a regular on The Boundless. He had a complicated history with Jenna, and she conned him out of a massive sum of money."

"And more importantly, he's hunting her down right now."