I Stopped Waiting for His Reply

Chapter 3

"Shut up!"

Leon stepped forward and shouted. Mandy hooked her foot and used the momentum to kick Chloe hard. Chloe's body swayed. She stumbled several steps before gripping the doorframe to keep from falling again.

Her lower abdomen hurt terribly. The footprint on her chest hurt just as much.

Chloe stared at the gray mark. It was like a brand of humiliation, a footnote to her marriage.

Leon lost his composure. That was rare.

Too bad it was for a woman who sold herself in a massage parlor.

She had looked into it. It was a woman like that—someone so far beneath her—who made Leon anxious, worried, and impulsive.

And now, that woman was using him as a shield to trample all over her.

Chloe slowly raised her eyes. Cold sweat dripped into them, blurring Leon's face until it no longer resembled the man she had once fallen for.

Maybe they had both become unrecognizable.

"Clean yourself up before you come down. I married a lady, not a madwoman," Leon said flatly.

"Leon," Chloe tilted her head and smiled. "Why aren't you dead yet?"

She lunged forward, driving the utility knife in her palm at him.

Stabbed for the second time, Leon didn't snap back to his senses for a long moment.

Even as his parents pried Chloe off him, he stared straight at her eyes, his voice unsteady.

"You really... want me dead?"

Chloe's eyes were bloodshot. The word "yes" was at her throat when Leon's mother screamed.

"She—she's bleeding so much!"

Everyone looked where she pointed. A large patch of red spread across Chloe's dress. The darkest stain was between her legs.

"Chloe!"

Leon bolted upright despite his wound, pulled her into his arms, and for the first time, there was panic in his voice.

"What's wrong? You... Get the car! Get the car!"

Chloe's eyes had lost focus, but her hand gripped the hallway railing and wouldn't let go. Her breath was shallow.

"Bodyguard... take me to the hospital."

"I'll take you! You'll be fine. You'll be fine..."

Leon fumbled to pry her fingers loose, but couldn't.

"I don't trust you!" Chloe suddenly screamed. "You'd never be this kind. You've never cared about me... You wouldn't... Bodyguard! Help me!"

Only when she grabbed the female bodyguard's hand did she finally faint.

Leon carried her and ran all the way to the car, his hands trembling as he cradled her head.

Over the years, he had grown used to Chloe glaring at him and snapping at him, ready to fire at any moment. He had never seen her this fragile.

Sweat and blood soaked through her. She looked like a piece of dead wood that would snap with a light grip.

Leon pressed his face against her cold cheek, repeating, "You're okay" over and over.

Whether to her or to himself, he didn't know.

When Chloe woke, it was already dark.

"Miss Bennett, how are you feeling? Should I call the doctor?" The female bodyguard rushed over.

Only she and the male bodyguard were in the room.

"Where's Leon?" Chloe's voice was faint.

"Mandy... was hospitalized. Mr. Lancaster went to the next room an hour ago."

She paused, then continued, "Your father called. I told him you were out with friends."

"Good job."

Chloe grabbed her phone and searched through the videos she always kept in her album. She sent her father a video of herself drinking at a quiet bar to reassure him.

When she backed out, she saw a new friend request.

The moment she accepted, Mandy sent a flood of photos.

Mandy: The day I miscarried, Leon stayed by my bedside and fell asleep like this.

Mandy: I called him at night, saying I was sad about losing the baby. He came right over in his hospital gown to comfort me.

Mandy: Just now, I said my stomach hurt, and he fed me congee and peeled fruit. Miss Bennett, do you know how good your husband is at peeling fruit with a knife?

Chloe looked at the photo of the unbroken peel—thin and even, showing expert skill. She said silently, No, I don't.

Mandy: It's fine if you look down on me, Miss Bennett. As long as Leon doesn't. It was pitiful seeing you almost bleed to death. I'll let Leon go check on you.

A minute later, Leon indeed appeared in her room.

He looked at Chloe, a trace of emotion in his deep eyes that she couldn't read.

The attending physician happened to come in. Leon asked, "Why... did she hemorrhage?"

The doctor gave him a strange look.

He was about to say, "Because after her miscarriage, she didn't recover properly."