The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 267

"Preston called me. He said you were in deep trouble and told me to fly back to stay with you. The way he was talking, I thought something horrific happened to you. Scared the absolute hell out of me..."

Belle looked at Chloe, her eyes still wide with lingering panic.

"Chloe, give it to me straight. Are you really okay?"

Chloe shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine."

Belle frowned, thoroughly confused. "Preston wouldn't be bored enough to just prank me. So why the hell would he say that?"

Suddenly, an epiphany hit her. She slapped her thigh in outrage.

"Holy crap! Do you think he figured out I was digging into Jenna's dirt in Kandaria, and made up a total lie just to trick me into coming back?!"

The more Belle thought about it, the more furious and disgusted she became.

"I never thought he was capable of this. Did he know about all the shady crap Jenna was pulling this whole time, and he's still going out of his way to cover for her? How did the Preston we looked up to back in college turn into this kind of scumbag..."

Chloe's eyes darkened slightly, her voice so flat it was eerie.

"It's his choice. Honestly, maybe he hasn't changed at all."

"Maybe we just never truly knew him to begin with."

Belle looked at Chloe, a wave of intense sympathy washing over her.

"Chloe, thank god you got out when you did. Things are only going to go up from here."

Chloe managed a faint smile and linked her arm through Belle's. "It's freezing out here. Let's head upstairs."

Just as they turned, a shadowy figure violently lunged out of the darkness.

Belle's reflexes kicked in. She shoved Chloe out of the way, taking the brunt of the collision herself and crashing hard onto the pavement with a pained yelp.

Chloe gasped and rushed to help her up, but an iron grip locked onto her arm.

"Chloe!"

It was Linda Rivers.

Her face was ghastly pale, her hair a tangled mess, and her eyes mapped with bloodshot veins. She looked like she hadn't slept a wink in days.

Seeing her in such a wretched state, Chloe's fists clenched involuntarily, but she kept her mouth shut and violently yanked her arm free.

Linda's rigid shoulders instantly collapsed. Standing in front of Chloe, every last ounce of her usual aggressive bravado disintegrated.

"You don't deserve to breathe my dad's name."

After her father passed, the government had issued a massive hero's pension, though publicly they claimed it was just his savings from working overseas.

Along with the money came a letter from him.

He explicitly stated the funds were meant to cover Chloe's living expenses. He wrote that his greatest wish was for Chloe to follow her dreams, escape Verdant Peak, and become an elite translator.

But Linda had diverted every single penny straight into Leon's bank account.

The very next day, Leon dumped the entire fortune into mobile games. Within a week, he had blown through a lifetime of money, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Linda was devastated, but she couldn't bear to say a single harsh word to Leon. Instead, she turned around and unleashed all her vitriol on Chloe, beating her so badly she snapped multiple clothes hangers.

Linda's eyes darted nervously. She started talking a mile a minute.

"Are you seriously still holding a grudge over ancient history?!"

"Chloe, I did not raise you to be like this! I always told you to learn from Leon! Girls shouldn't be so narrow-minded and petty! It's been years, why are you still clinging to stuff that makes you miserable?"

"Look at Leon! He just got scammed out of an absolute fortune. He should be the one crying, but look how positive he is! He doesn't let it weigh him down! You really need to take a page out of his book. Stop being so difficult! If you weren't such a headache, Preston wouldn't have gotten fed up and let some other woman seduce him..."