The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 249

"Preston and I are divorced."

Chloe's voice was overwhelmingly calm. She stated the fact as casually as if she were discussing what she had for dinner, leaving both Linda and Leon stunned, convinced they had misheard her.

Linda looked up at Chloe. "What did you say?"

Chloe didn't bother repeating herself and turned to walk into the residential complex.

Finally processing the words, Linda violently grabbed her arm, her eyes wide with shock.

"Chloe, say that again! I must have misheard you. What did you say happened between you and Preston?"

She was trembling with rage, unable to form a coherent sentence. Her chest heaved dramatically as if the sky had just collapsed on top of her.

"Say it again! What exactly is going on between you and Preston?"

Linda's erratic behavior was terrifying. Leon quickly supported her weight, rubbing her back to soothe her as he tried to defuse the situation.

"Aunt Linda, calm down. She's just saying that to spite you! You know how much she obsesses over Mr. Hayes. There's no way she'd actually divorce him!"

Linda found his logic sound and had just managed to collect herself when Chloe's icy voice sliced through the air again.

"I said, Preston and I are divorced."

"From now on, don't even think about getting a single cent out of me, or out of him."

"!!!" Linda's eyes widened to the point of tearing.

She raised her hand and swung a vicious slap aimed right at Chloe's face. The sheer force and the venom in her gaze looked as though she were striking a mortal enemy who had robbed her of everything she owned.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Take a good look at yourself, Chloe! What the hell are you? You're a cripple, do you understand me?! Without Preston, you won't even survive!"

Chloe caught her wrist and ruthlessly shoved her hand away.

The excruciating pain in her chest was entirely masked by the icy indifference on her face.

"I know. I don't need you to constantly remind me."

"Since you have Leon, you can pretend you never had a daughter! Whether I live or die is absolutely none of your business!"

Trembling with fury, Linda tried to lunge at her again, only to be held back forcefully by Leon.

He turned to Chloe, his tone laced with heavy accusation. "Chloe, stop saying these awful things! You know your mother's health is terrible. Are you trying to kill her?!"

"Apologize to Aunt Linda right now. Tell her you and Preston are perfectly fine and that you were just lashing out in anger!"

But no matter how loudly he screamed, that retreating figure never once turned around. Not even for a second.

"You're going to regret this, Chloe!"

The biting night wind lashed painfully against her face.

Regret it?

Chloe's lips twitched as she numbly scrubbed the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Just then, a figure stepped out from beneath the sycamore tree across the street and quickly strode toward her.

"Chloe, what happened?"

Preston's dark eyes locked intensely onto the glistening tear tracks on her face, his expression fraught with anxiety.

Chloe turned her face away and deliberately tried to walk around him, unwilling to endure even the slightest physical contact.

Suddenly, her arm was pulled back.

A firm grip clamped down on her wrist, and in the very next second, Preston's warm, powerful arms naturally folded her into his embrace.