Our Anniversary, You Chose Her – I Chose Divorce

He picked up the last bottle of liquor and continued to drink.

But he had already drunk far too much, and a fiery burn seared its way from his throat down his esophagus and into his stomach.

The first sip was all it took before he started to vomit uncontrollably.

His eyes lost focus, and his body swayed even more violently.

Seeing this, Chloe Reed’s face filled with terror and panic. ”Stop, you can’t drink anymore! Something will happen to you! I...”

”Don’t...”

Miles Hawthorne shook his head sharply. ”I’m fine.”

After a moment’s pause, he continued to drink.

”No, don’t drink anymore! Stop!” Chloe Reed began to struggle frantically.

Walker Grant’s expression darkened. Pinning Chloe Reed in place, he said in a low, dangerous voice, ”If you go to him, I guarantee he won’t be leaving this room tonight.”

Chloe Reed whipped her head around to face him. A storm of emotions churned in her eyes for a long moment before she finally spoke. ”Walker Grant, don’t do this to him. You’ve known each other for so many years. Weren’t you friends?”

Her tone softened. She was pleading.

But she still wouldn’t give him the answer he wanted to hear.

Walker Grant’s dark eyes were chillingly cold. ”He went abroad before we even graduated from college. At best, we were merely acquaintances.”

Then, a mocking smirk touched his lips. ”And now, it seems he’s much closer to you than he ever was to me.”

Chloe Reed grabbed his hand. ”I’m begging you, please stop tormenting him like this. He’s really going to get hurt...”

But her softer tone brought him no pleasure. In fact, his expression only grew darker.

”You’re begging me? For him?”

”Yes. I’m begging you.”

Chloe Reed shook her head repeatedly. ”Walker Grant, I’m begging you, please stop. I’ll go back to Jardinelle with you tonight, okay?”

Hah...

’We’re about to go to court, and now she’s offering to come back to Jardinelle with me?’

’Is she just trying to placate me?’

Walker Grant’s expression remained unmoved.

THUD—

Just then, Miles Hawthorne finally succumbed and collapsed.

”Miles Hawthorne!”

Chloe Reed cried out and, catching Walker Grant off guard, tore herself from his grasp and rushed over to the other man.

”Miles Hawthorne? Miles Hawthorne!”

She shook him, her eyes fixed on his now-pale face and tightly furrowed brow. He was in so much pain.

She scrambled to pull out her phone and dial 911.

Her hands were trembling.

Walker Grant watched the scene with cold eyes, the suffocating frustration in his chest growing ever more intense.

The ambulance arrived quickly, and Chloe Reed accompanied him to the hospital.

The diagnosis was an acute gastric perforation. The doctor said if they had been any later, they wouldn’t have been able to save Miles Hawthorne.

An icy chill washed over her as she stood in the hospital room. She watched Miles Hawthorne on the IV drip, her own face just as pale.

She began to doubt her decision.

’I can’t even stand up to Walker Grant on my own, so why did I have to drag someone else into this mess?’

Tears streamed down her face, and she was overcome with guilt and sorrow.

”Chloe Reed.”

Miles Hawthorne’s weak voice called out to her.

She snapped out of her daze and hurried to his bedside. ”How are you feeling?”

”Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” Miles Hawthorne said with a grin. But his face was pale, and the smile looked strained.

”This is all my fault.”

Chloe Reed’s voice was choked with emotion. ”I... I think I should drop the lawsuit.”

Miles Hawthorne looked at her with a resigned sigh. ”If you drop the lawsuit, doesn’t that mean I ended up in the hospital for nothing?”

”But...” Chloe Reed was filled with worry. ”What if he comes after you again?”

But Miles Hawthorne just shrugged nonchalantly. ”It’s not like he can actually kill me.”

Chloe Reed stared at him, stunned. After a moment of bewilderment, she asked, ”Miles Hawthorne, why are you going this far to help me?”

’We’re just friends.’ What he was doing had already gone far beyond the bounds of friendship.

It left her at a complete loss.