After Divorce 14

Chapter 14 Refusal 

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Chloe choked on her drink and coughed violently, then quickly took a sip of the lemonade beside her to 

calm herself. 

She finally looked at Brian and said, “Mr. Steele, you must be joking.” 

“I’m not joking,” Brian replied calmly. 

Chloe fell silent. She wondered if Brian could actually be serious about having his hands severed once he 

died and giving them to her. Such a thought was far from normal. 

She’d always heard that Brian was a madman, and at this moment, she understood that remark more 

deeply than ever. 

“No, thank you,” she quickly said. “I prefer hands that grow on a living person, not cold specimens.” 

“That’s a shame,” he said. “I thought it would be the best way to express my gratitude to you for saving my 

life.” 

Chloe could only stare at him in disbelief. She didn’t feel any regret at all. 

“As I said before, Mr. Steele, if you really want to thank me, just donate and build Hope School.” 

Brian raised a hand, and one of his bodyguards handed Chloe a document. She glanced at it and was 

stunned. It was a donation certificate for Hope School. 

In other words, Brian had already made the full donation for Hope School in such a short time, and now it 

was just a matter of waiting for the local authorities to complete its construction. 

“If you want to rename the school, you can do it now. You could even add your name to it, Ms. Quall,” 

Brian said. 

“No need,” Chloe said, looking at the document, a small smile appearing on her lips. “Thank you.” 

Her genuine and heartfelt smile made Brian pause slightly. Her clear eyes lit up as she smiled, and it was 

all just because he’d donated to Hope School. 

He’d seen too many people around him chasing fame and fortune, constantly scheming to flatter him and find shortcuts in life. But Chloe sought neither fame nor wealth, leaving him to wonder what she truly 

wanted. 

“Ms. Quall, would you be interested in being my bodyguard?” Brian asked suddenly. 

“What?” Chloe was stunned. “You want me to be your bodyguard?” 

“You’re skilled, and you saved me before. I think you’d be perfect for it. And if you agree, you can set your own price,” Brian said. 

“Sorry, I just started at Skyline Tech, and I’m not planning to change jobs,” Chloe refused. 

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“That’s a shame,” Brian said lightly but didn’t press the matter. 

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. 

Once they finished their meal and got ready to leave, Brian spoke again. “Ms. Quall, I’m not easily saved. 

But if someone saves me, they must see it through to the end.” 

Chloe paused, meeting his dark, unfathomable eyes. What did he mean by “see it through to the end“? 

He had so many bodyguards. Even if there was any danger, they would save him. 

She didn’t ask further, and Brian didn’t explain either. 

Not long after parting ways with Brian, Chloe received a call from Joanne. Since she’d blocked Joanne’s 

personal number, the latter called her using the company line. 

“Chloe, I need you to write a new project proposal for the project you handled before.” Joanne said it as if 

it were the most natural thing in the world. 

Chloe could have laughed out of frustration. “Why should I write it for you?” 

“Don’t forget that you’re my brother’s wife. If I tell you to write it, you have to!” Joanne said arrogantly. 

Joanne thought that Chloe loved Curtis and would do anything for him. And being obedient as ever, 

Joanne naturally assumed Chloe would comply this time too. 

“Your brother’s wife?” Chloe laughed. “You’re very close to Sonya and think she’s the best, don’t you? Why don’t you just ask her to write it for you?” 

“I can be close to whoever I want! If you don’t write and deliver that proposal to me right away, I’ll have Curtis divorce you. He listens to me the most. You’ll just get divorced and end up a discarded wife!” Joanne snapped venomously. 

“Fine, then hurry up and have Curtis divorce me. I’ll be waiting!” Chloe said, hanging up immediately. 

Joanne stared at the phone in disbelief. 

Chloe had actually dared to refuse her request. She clearly didn’t take her seriously, and Joanne swore to make her pay for it. 

Curtis looked over the project proposal Joanne had submitted. The content was dreadful and had obviously been thrown together without any thought. Some of the sections even contradicted each other. 

“This is what you produced after taking over the project? You really think this can secure a deal?” Curtis said angrily. 

Thinking back to the project proposals Chloe had submitted before, which he’d never had to worry about, Curtis felt even more frustrated. 

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“Curtis, it’s because Chloe didn’t hand over the work properly when she left. She didn’t explain much, so I couldn’t write a proper proposal,” Joanne tried to explain. 

“Shut up!” Curtis snapped. 

“It was your idea to take over this project. I handed you such an important task, and now you deliver this mess? How do you expect me to continue trusting you with work?” 

“You should blame Chloe! She’s deliberately making things hard for me. Curtis, you should have divorced 

her a long time ago!” Joanne urged. 

“Enough! Don’t let me hear that again! Chloe married me when I was at my lowest, and I will not divorce her!” Curtis said. He scolded Joanne for a while before finally letting her leave the CEO’s office. 

That evening, Curtis received a call from Helen. 

“How could you scold Joanne like that?” Helen said irritably. “She just graduated from college. Of course, 

she lacks experience. Not doing her work well isn’t a big deal. 

“Besides, it’s all Chloe’s fault. Not only did she make things hard for Joanne, but she’s made things 

difficult for me too. If she hadn’t interfered, I would have been able to get Dr. Davidson’s appointment by 

now. She’s trying to ruin my eyesight!” 

Curtis was also frustrated about the doctor’s appointment. He’d already paid someone to try and secure a 

slot with Richard, but the appointments were so limited and in such high demand that he hadn’t managed 

to get one. 

For now, he could only have Helen see another doctor for her follow–up. 

Listening to Helen complain about her eyes and other minor aches, Curtis couldn’t help but recall how 

Chloe used to take care of everything whenever Helen was sick. 

At that time, he only needed to focus on work. Joanne’s studies and Helen’s medical appointments were all handled by Chloe. 

“Mom, I’ll figure out a way to get an appointment with Dr. Davidson,” Curtis said. 

“Joanne was right today–Chloe is such a malicious woman. You should divorce her!” Helen said again. 

Curtis stood up, displeased. “Stop saying that. Chloe hasn’t done anything to hurt me. I won’t hurt her either.” 

Helen and Joanne exchanged a glance, both seeing disappointment in the other’s eyes. Helen grumbled inwardly, unwilling to accept that she might really have to give Chloe 100 million dollars. 

The next day, Curtis faced another frustrating problem. 

“What did you say? The bank didn’t approve the loan?” Curtis said, looking at his secretary, Adrian Langford, in disbelief. 

“Yes,” Adrian said. 

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“And the reason?” Curtis asked. 

“They said they received news that Prosperity Investments, which was originally going to invest in our project, has decided to terminate their investment intention,” Adrian explained. 

Curtis was shocked. Before he even had time to think about why he hadn’t been informed, the bank had already found out. 

He quickly dialed Morgan Jimenez, the manager originally in charge of the project investment at Prosperity Investments. 

“Mr. Jimenez, I’d like to ask about the verbal investment agreement your company had previously made with us…” 

“I was just about to call you, Mr. Green. Our company has decided to withdraw the investment. After all, the original plan to invest was because of Ms. Quall, and now that she has left, the verbal agreement naturally no longer applies,” Morgan said. 

Curtis was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe it. “Because of Chloe?”