Our Anniversary, You Chose Her – I Chose Divorce

Watching the wine bottle carrying her message drift away on the waves, Iris Yates’s eyes filled with hope.

She clasped her hands together, praying fervently. ’Please, let someone find it,’ she thought. ’Let them contact my family and friends and rescue me.’

”...”

「That evening.」

Chloe Reed brought Annie York to the appointed restaurant. A waiter murmured, ”A gentleman has already arrived.”

Chloe looked at Annie and said, ”You go on in.”

Annie was a bit timid. ”Chloe,” she asked quietly, ”aren’t you coming in with me?”

Chloe’s lips curved into a smile. ”I’ll pass. You’re the one who wants to thank him, so this is between the two of you. I won’t get in the way.”

’Besides, she wasn’t sure how she could face him.’

’She had been so cold to him before, speaking with polite detachment, and now here she was, initiating contact.’

’What would she even say when they met?’

’It would just be incredibly awkward.’

Annie didn’t pick up on her thoughts. Although confused, she nodded. ”Okay. Thank you.”

Chloe said, ”I’ll wait for you downstairs over a cup of coffee. You two can take your time.”

”Okay.”

Annie nodded and turned around. Standing at the door to the private room, she took a deep breath before pushing it open and stepping inside.

Chloe, meanwhile, turned and went downstairs. She went straight to the café next to the restaurant, ordered a coffee, and pulled out her phone.

She had Daniel Hayes looking into Iris Yates’s whereabouts. The truth was, she didn’t fully trust Walker Grant either.

She always had a feeling that Walker was hiding something from her.

But for now, they were partners, so she couldn’t press the issue.

However, Daniel Hayes wasn’t making any progress, and her brow furrowed in frustration.

Almost a month had passed, and there was still no news of Iris.

’Where could that bastard William Quinn have taken Iris?’

’How could she just vanish into thin air?’

Chloe was growing extremely agitated. She turned her head to look out the window.

Just then, her phone rang. She glanced down and saw the name ”Preston” flashing on the screen.

At the sight of it, her heart skipped a beat.

’He was actually calling her!’

A complex emotion flickered in Chloe’s eyes before she answered the call.

”Hello?”

”Chloe, why didn’t you come?” Preston Vance’s gentle voice came through the phone, tinged with a hint of confusion.

Chloe replied, ”Something came up that I had to deal with. Besides, Ann was the one who wanted to see you. I was just playing matchmaker.”

The person on the other end was silent for a few seconds before replying, ”But I only came because of you. If I’d known you weren’t going to be here, I wouldn’t have come.”

Chloe was left speechless.

’Isn’t Annie still right there with him?’

’Wasn’t he afraid of crushing Annie by saying that?’

She instinctively put a hand to her forehead. Before she could say a word, Preston’s voice came again. ”Does being friends with me really bother you that much?”

That voice wasn’t just coming from her phone—it was also coming from right in front of her.

Chloe looked up, stunned, her gaze meeting Preston’s. His eyes held a hint of resigned frustration.

’He actually came here!’

The air instantly froze.

Chloe slowly lowered her phone, feeling impossibly awkward—the kind of awkward where your toes try to dig a hole through the floor to escape.

Preston put down his phone as well, pulled out the chair opposite her, and sat down. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his expression a mixture of resignation and complexity. ”Chloe,” he said, ”you’re so guarded around me. Why?”