The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 327

Chloe's voice was ice. "Mr. Hayes, I will have one of my colleagues come and host you immediately."

Preston shot to his feet. "Chloe, wait!"

"Just five minutes. Please, just give me five minutes, okay? I genuinely have something vital to tell you."

He ripped his phone out of his pocket, pulled up a video, and practically shoved the screen in her direction.

Chloe had every intention of completely ignoring him.

But then, a distinct, incredibly familiar little whimper echoed from the phone's speakers, piercing straight into her right ear.

Her boots froze against the carpet.

Preston stared at her intently. "Just watch the video."

Chloe practically lunged forward, snatching the phone from his grasp.

On the screen, a familiar, scruffy little furball was happily tumbling around the manicured lawn with a massively expensive purebred dog.

The background was unmistakable. It was the brand-new luxury villa Preston had just purchased at Oceanview Heights.

Chloe's eyes blew wide in absolute shock. She frantically zoomed in on the tiny, bouncing figure.

There was no mistaking it. It was Yuri!

But how? Hadn't Leon Rivers mercilessly slaughtered Yuri?

That day, she had stood there and watched with her own two eyes as the tiny body was incinerated into ashes.

Preston's deep voice broke her spiraling thoughts.

"Leon Rivers couldn't even handle his second night in police custody before he cracked and confessed everything."

"He admitted that he just found a stray dog on the street that looked similar to Yuri and used it to extort you for the ransom."

"So the dog that died that day... wasn't Yuri."

"After the arrest, I spent days searching. I finally tracked him down in the mountains right outside Cloudrest Manor."

"He was starving, hiding in a crack between some boulders, terrified of everyone."

"It took me three full days just to coax him out."

He paused, a painful thickness coating his throat. "I swear I wanted to tell you the very second I found him. But you cut all ties. I couldn't reach you."

Actually, when he finally tracked her down in Veritas, he had every intention of telling her the truth immediately.

But the absolute disgust in her eyes had physically paralyzed him. A sickening, twisted pride had clawed its way up his throat.

He knew exactly why she hated him so much. She was still mourning the dog, completely convinced he was responsible for its death.

But some deranged part of him hadn't wanted to clear his name right away.

He wanted to push her to the absolute limit.

He wanted to see just how much she truly cared about that worthless mutt.

Did she actually care about the dog more than she cared about him?

He genuinely thought he had lost his mind.

He couldn't fathom that this was her final answer.

"Reimburse me?"

He stared at her, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly low, gravelly whisper.

"You honestly think I tracked you down just to hand you an itemized invoice for dog food?"

"If you want to start calculating debts, do you really think you could ever repay what you owe me for the past three years?"

Chloe's face was a mask of stone. "Feel free to calculate every last penny. I have absolutely no problem paying you back."

Her robotic detachment sent a violent chill straight into Preston's marrow.

He had laid down his pride to negotiate a truce.

But she clearly wanted him dead.

"I found that dog on the mountain. You completely failed as his owner. As of right now, he is my dog."

Preston snarled, taking a threatening step forward. "And I am not handing him over to anyone else."

Chloe's expression didn't so much as twitch. "I respect your decision."

"I love Yuri deeply, but I refuse to let that destroy the rest of my life."