Chloe Reed’s voice was a little hoarse as she asked, "Is this important?"
’She didn’t want to rehash this anymore. Doing so would just make her feel like a complete and utter fool.’
"It is."
Walker Grant’s dark eyes burned as he stared at her. "I want to know, did you already know who I was back then, or..."
His throat worked before he continued, "...or was it because of soone else?"
Chloe Reed tightened her grip on the cotton swab. Lowering her gaze to his insistent expression, a bitter smile suddenly touched her lips.
"We were together for eight years, and you’re still questioning my feelings for you now."
Her voice was soft. "Walker Grant, let’s not dwell on the past. The more we dig into it, the more we’ll realize those eight years were nothing but a joke."
She had told him once that she’d known him before the earthquake, that it had been love at first sight. She’d saved him purely out of that impulsive emotion.
Later, in college, she confessed her feelings, and they had naturally beco a couple.
But now, after all this ti, he was doubting her sincerity.
’How ridiculous.’
But Walker Grant tightened his grip, pulling her closer. "How could it be a joke? We were together for so many years. We had plenty of happy tis. Before all this happened, we were very much in love."
"That’s just what you think," Chloe Reed said, her composure restored. "Looking back now, our so-called love was just constantly making compromises. To marry you, I even gave up the chance to study abroad, only to be endlessly criticized by your family. I truly regret it."
Walker Grant’s thin lips pressed into a line. The mory of them kneeling together at the entrance of the Grant Family Estate, begging Madam Grant to approve their marriage, flashed through his mind. His throat bobbed heavily.
He lowered his gaze and rested his forehead against her. "Since you’ve disavowed our past," he said, "then the reason I hid things from you doesn’t matter anymore, either."
Chloe Reed pushed him away. "Do you want this wound treated or not?"
Walker Grant released her. Neither of them spoke again.
The air grew thick with a cold, oppressive tension that made it hard to breathe.
Chloe Reed finished treating his wound and imdiately turned to leave.
But Walker Grant said, "Don’t go."
Chloe Reed stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. "You ca here with an agenda. What is it you really want?"
A mocking glint appeared in Walker Grant’s eyes as he watched her. "You’d really do anything for your friend, wouldn’t you?"
Chloe Reed’s hands clenched into fists. "Just tell what you want."
"I haven’t decided yet." Walker Grant slipped his shirt back on, his deanor returning to one of mild nonchalance. "When I do, I’ll let you know."
Chloe Reed averted her gaze, opened the door to the guest room, and walked out.
"Chloe, you look awful. Did he give you a hard ti?"
Iris Yates’s concerned voice ca from outside the door.
Chloe Reed shook her head. "I’m fine, don’t worry."
Iris Yates pulled her along. "You’re sleeping with tonight. It’s not like he’s going to go berserk and drag you out of my room. I’ll make sure the door is locked."
Chloe Reed didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "All right. You’d better protect , then."
"Of course I will!"
That night, Walker Grant didn’t co to disturb them. The two friends lay in bed, talking for a long ti.
They didn’t drift off to sleep until the early hours of the morning.
The next morning, Chloe Reed was woken by her phone ringing. She picked it up and saw the call was from Aunt Woods, her grandmother’s caregiver.
"Hello, Aunt Woods? What is it?" Her voice was still thick with sleep.
Aunt Woods’s voice was filled with panic and fear. "Miss Reed, it’s terrible! Your grandmother—she just suddenly started vomiting blood!"
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