Chapter 100

Chapter 100
Ruan stared at Elijah for far too long, making the tension inside the house completely unbearable. Chloe realized how easily someone could misinterpret the situation, just like what happened at the school. Her immediate instinct made her step directly between the two men.

"Elijah just stopped by to talk about the school," she said, forcing a smile as her face flushed red.

Why on earth was she defending herself, anyway? Ruan wasn't her husband anymore; he didn't need to know her every move.

Ruan didn't glance at her for a single second; his eyes remained locked onto Elijah.

"Did you tell him you're leaving town?" Ruan demanded, and Elijah's expression proved he already knew everything. "I get the feeling that if I hadn't overheard you talking about it, you would have told him way before me."

Chloe parted her lips, taking his words as a direct insult, but before the situation could spiral out of control, Elijah stepped up to defuse it.

"I am Chloe's boss, nothing more, so it's only natural for me to know," he cleared his throat, clearly showing how deeply discussing the matter bothered him. "I need to get going. The school doesn't run properly without a principal."

Elijah shot Ruan one last look, brushed past him, and walked out. He didn't say goodbye to Chloe, nor did he show any signs of understanding or accepting the mess; he simply walked away, leaving a suffocating silence in his wake.

"Couldn't you talk to him somewhere else?" Ruan asked, stepping inside and slamming the door shut, looking significantly more pissed off now than when he left earlier. "Couldn't you wait until tomorrow to break the big news?"

"What I do with my life is none of your business," she snapped, turning her back on him and huffing repeatedly between her words and his stony silence.

"I am not going to argue about this with you, Chloe," he said, his voice dropping in volume. "The only good thing about this entire mess is knowing that whatever happened between you two won't ever happen again."

Chloe whipped around, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him with pure intimidation.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You heard me," he said, opening his eyes wide as he stared at her. "I don't want you sleeping around with other men, looking for a replacement father for my son."

"You are being incredibly pathetic, Ruan," Chloe countered, shifting her weight and tapping her foot aggressively against the hardwood floor, creating an annoying rhythm. "I can date whoever I want, deal with it. At least I didn't run straight into the arms of my ex-wife's sister just days after the divorce."

He closed the distance between them before Chloe could even react, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her close to his chest.

"We still share a son," he growled, locking eyes with her frightened gaze without backing down a single inch. "I won't watch another man raise my boy."

"That is not your choice to make," she argued, trying in vain to shove him away, but Ruan tightened his grip, pinning her body against his so firmly that all her strength couldn't separate them. "You certainly didn't think about that when you slept with Megan. I didn't want her playing mother to my son either."

"I am not with Megan anymore..."

"But you still love her," Chloe spat out the words so fast that the sheer agony of voicing them made her eyes well up, shedding her very first tears.

The absolute last thing she wanted was to break down in front of Ruan. She had fought so hard all this time to prove she felt absolutely nothing for him, yet there she stood, letting her tears expose her deepest secrets.

"I don't love Megan," he whispered. His grip on Chloe's arms loosened, and his frantic breathing slowed down. "I don't think I've loved her for a very long time. I only just realized it now."

Ruan released her, casting his gaze far away from hers. Even so, Chloe could clearly see how much admitting that cut him. His exhausted face, his eyes glued to the floor, and his slumped shoulders all confessed that she had utterly defeated him.

Chloe couldn't form a single sentence, unable to even mock him or express her disbelief. She just stood there staring at Ruan, remembering all the times she had desperately wished to hear those exact words. She had spent years by his side, living on the sidelines of his love for Megan, never knowing when the torture would end. Hearing him say it now completely paralyzed her.

"That's why I don't want you to leave," he whispered, lifting his gaze once more. "And if you do decide to go, at least let me come with you. I couldn't survive..."

"You will still see Chris all the time..."

"This isn't just about Chris, Chloe," he muttered, rubbing his face. He opened his mouth to keep talking a few times but ultimately gave up.

Ruan looked at her one last time, letting out a heavy breath, his jaw trembling as he swallowed his saliva along with his raw confessions, before finally pushing forward.

"When are you leaving?"

"And why does that even matter?"

"I need to know exactly how much time I have left to make you change your mind and let me back into your life."