I Stopped Waiting for His Reply

Chapter 2

When she got married, a man had tried to talk her out of it 3 times.

She talked about love. He talked about s*x.

"Leon is too rigid. Trust me, he'll be just as dull in bed. What you need is fire."

Chloe laughed. "Who's the fire? You?"

He raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.

"Chloe, I bet you two won't last five years. If I win, think of me first."

"I'm still single, so of course it counts."

The familiar voice on the phone brought her back.

"I'll be divorced in a month. But I don't need love. I just need a man to play with for a while. To let loose."

The man on the other end laughed heartily.

"Deal, sweetheart. I'll play with you."

After hanging up, Chloe went home to clean herself up and prepare for her mother's death anniversary tomorrow.

Every year on her mother's death anniversary, Vincent took it seriously.

The next day, father and daughter met. When Vincent saw Leon hadn't come with her, his displeasure showed.

"He can't make it again? He can't spare even an hour?"

Chloe stepped forward and linked her arm through his, forcing a light smile.

"Dad, we're getting divorced. I brought it up. Whether he comes or not doesn't matter."

Vincent stared at her for a long moment, then patted her head. "Cutting your losses in time. My daughter did the right thing."

Vincent and Chloe lit a candle before her mother's portrait and went to the kitchen to cook the home-style dishes she had loved when she was alive.

They had just finished preparing the meal when Leon's parents stormed in. Without a word, his mother slapped Chloe hard across the face.

"Bennett! Fine daughter you raised! She stabbed my son and left him in the hospital, and she won't even take care of him! What kind of wife is that?"

Chloe snapped back to her senses. She stepped in front of her furious father and slapped Leon's mother right back.

Then she snatched the woman's phone and called Leon.

It rang once before connecting. That fast.

Chloe sneered. "Your parents came to my house making a scene. Come get them. Today is my mother's death anniversary."

Leon's voice was as calm as ever. "I can't leave the hospital yet."

"Leon, which sofa do you think fits better in the villa you gave me? Sit on it and help me decide."

Mandy's coquettish voice came through the background.

Chloe gripped the phone. Before she could speak, she heard Leon say, "You can't have anything cold right now."

Then the line went dead.

She stood there, eyes lowered like a statue.

Leon's mother sneered. "You slapped me, and you expected him to take your side? Dream on. Let alone the fact that you've never won his heart in 5 years."

She reached out and flipped the entire table of food Vincent and Chloe had prepared.

The dishes shattered. Chloe's mother's portrait fell to the floor and broke.

Chloe snapped out of it, holding back her trembling father. She looked at the in-laws she had respectfully tolerated for 5 years.

"I tolerated you before because I cared about Leon. Now I don't even care about him, let alone you."

With that, Chloe took two bodyguards—one male, one female—and drove straight to Leon's parents' house.

The bodyguards kept her from being interrupted. She personally took a baseball bat and smashed everything from the living room to Leon's mother's beloved walk-in closet.

Amid Leon's mother's shrieks over her jewelry, Leon strode in and grabbed Chloe's wrist.

"Have you had enough?"

Chloe panted and looked up at him, then smiled.

"So you do have time. Came so fast. Less than 15 minutes."

She shoved him away, dropped the bat, and walked toward the door.

A figure stood by the door, peeking in. When she saw Chloe, she hurriedly said, "I'm so sorry. It's my fault Leon was delayed. He didn't mean to ignore you..."

Mandy's passive-aggressive act. Chloe couldn't be bothered.

As she brushed past, the woman kept apologizing and backing away, then fell flat on the ground.

"Ah... my stomach hurts so much..."

"Mandy."

Leon rushed out to help her, his body lightly bumping Chloe.

The force shouldn't have been enough to knock her down, but her lower abdomen spasmed suddenly. The pain was unbearable.

Her vision went black. She dropped to her knees.

Sweat poured down her face as she propped herself up on the floor. She looked up to see Leon, just a meter away, carrying Mandy in his arms with an air of indulgence.

Mandy's face was flushed, clearly well cared for. She didn't look like she was in any pain.

Hearing Chloe fall, Leon frowned. "Are you trying to fake an injury to blame Mandy?"

Leon's mother burst out laughing.

Chloe wanted to laugh too.

She was a young lady her father had held in the palm of his hand. How had marriage beaten her down to this?

Chloe gritted her teeth and used the doorframe to pull herself up. Leon's mother watched coldly.

"Mandy is tender. She's suited to Leon."

"Indeed," Chloe nodded, breathless. "A family that leeches off the Bennetts without gratitude deserves nothing but a bar p********e who sleeps with anyone for $100."