The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 287

"She told you to let go!"

Quentin Shaw violently shoved Preston away, catching Chloe as she swayed on her feet.

Preston stumbled back but immediately stepped forward again. His hands were slashed and mangled, dark crimson blood dripping steadily from his palms to the concrete floor.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry..." Preston's Adam's apple bobbed agonizingly. "I couldn't catch him..."

Ken stood nearby, lowering his head as he explained in a hushed voice, "Mrs. Hayes, when the boss and I got here, he suddenly grabbed the dog and threw it off the ledge... Mr. Hayes lunged for him, but... he missed."

By the end, his voice was barely a whisper.

It felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room.

Suddenly, Leon Rivers' manic, twisted laughter erupted, echoing through the warehouse like a deranged spirit crawling out of hell.

"Hahahaha! Chloe, you brought this on yourself!"

He was sprawled on the ground, his face a battered, bloody mess. Blood glued one of his eyes shut, but his remaining eye glared at Chloe with pure venom.

"Whoever stays near you, whoever gets close to you, is cursed! You're nothing but a jinx!"

He gasped for air, his chest wheezing like a broken accordion. "Did you think I was joking with you? You just had to call the cops! You just had to bring people here! You killed that dog!"

One of the hired muscle standing nearby delivered a brutal kick to his ribs. "Shut your mouth!"

Leon curled in on himself in agony, but he kept laughing, kept screaming, desperate to plunge the knife deeper into Chloe's heart.

He knew he was finished. But he wanted to completely destroy her before he went down.

Off to the side, Linda Rivers was screaming hysterically. Preston's men hadn't physically harmed her, but she had clearly been living like a feral animal on the run. She was emaciated, her cheeks hollowed out like a walking corpse.

"Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!"

Seeing that the men completely ignored her, she stumbled frantically toward Preston, her voice shrill and desperate. "Mr. Hayes, make them stop! We're Chloe's family! You can't treat us like this!"

"Chloe! Chloe! Say something! Save us!"

Chloe stood completely still.

She was utterly, entirely exhausted. It was a bone-deep weariness that bordered on total numbness.

Thankfully, the ringing in her left ear quickly drowned out the chaos around her.

She couldn't quite remember what happened after that.

She remembered the police arriving and dragging Leon away. Linda wailed and chased after them, turning back to shoot Chloe a look of pure, concentrated hatred. A look reserved for a mortal enemy.

Then, the fire rose.

The flames climbed higher and higher, entirely consuming that tiny, curled-up figure.

Chloe snapped out of her daze with a sharp gasp. Realizing she was panting heavily, she instinctively gripped the arm of the person standing next to her.

Quentin steadied her. "I'm right here."

It wasn't until she heard his deep, grounding voice that she felt tethered back to the land of the living.

"Quentin, let's go."

Chloe turned her back on the warehouse and walked toward the exit.

"Chloe—" Preston chased after her.

His voice was laced with raw, undeniable panic, a stark contrast to his usual unshakeable composure.