Chapter 99

Chapter 99
Chloe spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for Ruan to arrive. She kept staring at the door, wondering where he could have gone, sometimes feeling like an idiot for still worrying about her ex-husband.

She was getting ready to abandon everything that tied her to the past, yet she still anxious about Ruan's opinion.

The house had been empty for a few hours now; Grace had taken Christopher for a walk in the park, and Chloe had no clue what time they might return. She walked over to the side window, parted the curtain, and stared out at the Phoenix sunset just as Elijah parked his car.

She clicked her tongue; he was the last person she wanted to see. His presence also dragged drama into her life. Samantha, Leonidas... all of that had completely ruined any chance of a romance between the two of them.

Chloe had actually developed feelings for him. For a moment, she believed things would work out, that he was the right man for a fresh start, until the ghosts came back to haunt her.

She backed away from the window the moment he stepped out of the car and approached. Chloe tried to mentally prepare herself for the conversation ahead. She had no idea what he wanted, but she knew exactly what she would tell him.

The knock on the door startled her. She expected his arrival, but her body still reacted poorly to the unexpected visit.

Chloe wiped her sweaty palms on her pants before grabbing the doorknob and turning it. She opened the door slowly, the squeak of the hinges echoing through the empty house until she finally locked eyes with Elijah.

"Hey, Chloe," a tiny, timid smile crept onto his face; he paused for a moment, as if losing his train of thought. "I was just driving by the neighborhood and thought..."

He stopped short. The way his posture shifted proved he was lying. He hadn't just stumbled upon her house by chance; he planned this visit, but he completely failed to plan how to start the conversation.

"Please, come in," Chloe said, stepping aside to let him inside.

Elijah walked in slowly, his eyes scanning the room while deliberately avoiding Chloe. Embarrassment washed over him for showing up like this, but he had no clue how to voice it.

"I'm glad you came, I actually have something to tell you," she said. He turned sharply to look at her, surprised, as she pointed toward the armchair and gently invited him to sit. "Would you like some coffee, or maybe some water?"

"I'm good, thank you," he replied, resting his hands on the armrests before sitting down and locking eyes with her again. He realized he needed to kick off the conversation, considering he had dropped by uninvited. "I came to apologize for what happened at school today."

Chloe rubbed her forehead. She absolutely loathed remembering that morning's disaster. She hated knowing she would wake up tomorrow and face Samantha and Leonidas all over again.

"Samantha isn't coming back to school, I fired her," he blurted out, a thick lump in his throat cutting him off for a second. "I gave her a chance and she threw it away, so don't worry—neither she nor Leonidas will ever bother you again."

That was fantastic news, Chloe thought, but it felt a little too late.

"You really didn't have to do that," Chloe said, avoiding his gaze. "Samantha is your sister; she's your family. Don't fight with your own family over me."

"I know my sister a hell of a lot better than you do," he countered, with no intention of offending her, though he instantly felt like he had. "Besides, I did it for the school, to protect the students' integrity."

It would be a complete nightmare if a child caught a married man grabbing a teacher in the hallways, Chloe reasoned; Elijah was totally right to play it safe.

"I really hope things stay good between us," he continued, his eyes drifting back to her. "I am genuinely into you, and I didn't want this mess to ruin what we have."

"I got a job offer," she said, dropping the bombshell before Elijah could even brace himself. "I'm going to teach at Stanford."

A suffocating silence filled the room. Elijah froze, staring at her as if he couldn't wrap his head around what he just heard. His jaw dropped slightly, and his facial expression completely crumbled into disappointment.

"I received an email from the university this morning confirming they accepted me into the faculty. I didn't tell you before, but I actually submitted that application before I even started working with you," Chloe explained, a sudden scratchiness in her throat forcing her to pause. "I'm going to accept it; teaching at Stanford has always been my dream."

Elijah lowered his eyes, his lips tightening in profound sadness.

"I don't even know what to say," he mumbled, shaking his head.

"It's probably better to say nothing at all," she smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "We only worked together for a short time, but knowing you was a true gift."

"Then why on earth are you leaving?" he demanded, snapping his gaze back up. "Is it because of my sister? Because of Leonidas?"

"Partly, yes," she admitted, the sheer desperation in his voice making her heart race. "But mostly because I can't stand living in Phoenix for another second. If my life hadn't turned into this absolute hell, the two of us might have actually made it."

She was being completely honest about her feelings for the very first time, and that raw honesty only made things harder. It became almost impossible for Elijah to keep the conversation going after hearing Chloe confess that she was actually into him at one point. After a few agonizing seconds, he found his voice.

"And when do you plan on going?" he asked, his fingernails digging into the weathered wood of the armchair.

"I'm going to wait out the school year," she said, offering a smile she hoped would comfort him, though the grim expression on Elijah's face never softened. "I need time to pack everything up, and Chris doesn't even know yet..."

"I get it," he said, abruptly standing up. He wiped his hands on his pants before walking toward the door. "I'll see you at work tomorrow."

He forced a quick smile before grabbing the doorknob, leaving Chloe completely bewildered and frozen. The moment Elijah swung the door open, Ruan appeared on the threshold. Chloe looked into her ex-husband's eyes, and he looked significantly more pissed off now than when he stormed out of the house earlier that afternoon.