You Cheated I Moved On novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Ginger

“Of course not. Jane’s just staying with us to help take care of my mother. I’ve been swamped with work-when would I even have time to see her? When Jane told me about this, I didn’t believe it either. I would never accuse you of something like that,

honey.”

Julian pulled Chloe closer, sliding his arm around her shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Jane, apologize to my wife.” He turned to Jane.

Jane felt like she might explode on the spot. Apologize to Chloe? She’d rather die.

She bit her lower lip, refusing to speak.

“Didn’t you hear, Jane? Apologize.” James’s voice cut through the silence.

Both Jane and Tina’s eyes widened in disbelief. Had they heard wrong? James had always favored Jane the most. In the past, no matter how Jane treated Chloe, he’d looked the other way. What had gotten into him now?

Jane knew better than to argue with her father. Reluctantly, she muttered, “I… I’m sorry. I misunderstood.”

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1. “We’re all family-it’s no big deal. Come on, lunch is ready.”

They headed to the dining room.

Every dish on the table was one of Jane’s favorites. Chloe glanced across the spread and suddenly lost her appetite.

“You guys go ahead. I’m not hungry.”

“What’s wrong now?” Tina asked, her tone sharp with irritation.

The housekeeper Patricia examined the dishes, then had a moment of realization. “These all have ginger in them.”

She couldn’t stand ginger-couldn’t even tolerate the slightest hint of its flavor. Yet every single dish on the table contained ginger.

“Oh right, I forgot,” Tina said breezily. “Jane loves ginger. You can just pick around it, can’t you?” The favoritism couldn’t have been more obvious.

“Go make Chloe something else,” James instructed Patricia.

Tina shot her husband a surprised look, muttering something under her breath as she reluctantly took her seat,

Chloe sat down too, suspicious of this sudden show of

Consideration. James had never played the caring father before4

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Minutes later, Patricia set down a bowl of noodles with a fried

egg.

Chloe ate in silence while Jane made a show of being the doting daughter across the table, her voice deliberately bright and cheerful.

“Mommy, peel my shrimp? I can’t with these nails-I just got them done.”

“Sure, honey. Don’t those get in the way at work though?”

“Who cares? If I get fired, you guys will support me anyway, right?” Jane giggled.

Chloe gripped her fork so hard her knuckles went white. She couldn’t stomach the food-not with everything that had just happened.

She picked at her noodles, barely managing a few bites before pushing the bowl away. After dinner, Julian was dragged away by Tina and Jane. Chloe didn’t need to guess what for.

But James…

Walking into his study, Chloe felt out of place. James had never let her in here before. That privilege had always belonged to Jane alone.

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Once, Jane had tricked her into entering, and James had given her ten brutal lashes with his belt, leaving her skin torn and bloodied.

Seeing Chloe hesitate in the doorway, James gestured for her to

enter.

“Chloe, come in.”

Chloe snapped back to the present and entered the study, stopping in front of his desk. James gestured for her to sit. “Sit down. No need to be so formal with your old man.”

Chloe nearly laughed. She walked over and sat on the sofa while

James took the chair across from her.

“Chloe, Jane mentioned you’re friends with Sonia. And didn’t Ethan Price specifically request you for this interview?”

Two simple sentences from James and Chloe immediately understood his purpose.

Though Crawford Group wasn’t exactly small-time, compared to the Price family, it was nothing.

She smiled without responding, waiting for James to continue.

Finally, James couldn’t take the silence anymore.

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around. But before you came back into our lives, she was the one who was here. She was our only daughter for eighteen years. I hope you can understand where we’re coming from.”

Understand?

Chloe nearly burst out laughing.

“Haven’t I always understood?” she said. “When I first came back, you told me Jane wasn’t used to living in a small town —that she needed to stay here with you. You said once she adjusted, you’d send her to live with her real family. But that never happened. Instead, you got her a great job and spent a fortune on her college tuition.”

“She had a hard life too,” James said automatically. “After growing up here, how could we expect her to just—’

“And what about me?”Chloe’s voice shook.

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