Chapter 96 I’ll Be Good For You
“I don’t make jokes about things like this,” Brian said, his thin lips parting slightly. His dark eyes reflected Chloe’s face. “Chloe, I don’t know if this feeling counts as love to you, but if there ever comes a day when I find I can’t live without someone, then I will call that love.”
Chloe froze. So, he meant he couldn’t live without her.
“Maybe at first, I just found you interesting. It was because you didn’t abandon me when I was in danger that I wanted you by my side. But when I saw you rush into the sea to save that child, everything changed.”
Brian murmured, leaning in slowly, his face drawing closer to hers.
“I was terrified. I was afraid of losing you like that. It’s a feeling I never want to experience again. And when I finally realized what was happening, I was already following you into the sea.”
His voice softened in her ear, his eyes brimming with a longing she could feel.
“So, Chloe, please give me a chance. Let’s be together. I’ll treat you right. I’ll give you everything I have.”
His hoarse voice was almost hypnotic, especially coming from someone as proud as him, begging so humbly.
Chloe felt her heart skip a beat.
“We’ve only known each other for such a short time, and you’re telling me you love me and will give me everything? Don’t you think that’s a little unreasonable?” she asked, keeping her voice steady despite the sudden flutter in her chest.
“How long we’ve known each other doesn’t matter,” Brian said. “So many people fall in love at first sight, don’t they?”
Chloe looked up. “What people call ‘love at first sight‘ is really just a fancy way of saying they’re infatuated with someone’s looks.”
“But for me, if I fall in love at first sight, it’s never about appearances. It’s for a lifetime,” he insisted.
“You’re being too absolute,” she said.
“That’s just how the Steele family is with love,” he replied slowly. He might have despised Liam, but he couldn’t deny that Liam’s love for Emily had lasted a lifetime.
As long as Liam had lived, he had loved a woman who was already gone. And he would always long for
something he could never have, right up to the day he died.
“Chloe,” he said, his voice soft with affection. “What I feel for you isn’t love at first sight. It’s something
that
grew over time. Although maybe love at first sight would have been better. Then I wouldn’t have wasted so much time and might have realized my feelings for you sooner.”
Chloe pressed her lips together. They were so close now that she could feel his breath against her cheek.
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“Grew over time? We haven’t known each other that long. Mr. Steele, this might just be a fleeting feeling, perhaps stirred by what happened today when we saved that person. Maybe in a little while, you won’t feel the same way about me.”
“What if I still feel this way after some time? Would you be willing to be with me?” Brian asked.
Chloe met his gaze steadily. “No.”
“Because you don’t love me?” His eyes flickered with uncertainty.
“Yes,” she said firmly. “I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you, Mr. Steele. I also told you I just got divorced and have a lot I want to focus on. I have no intention of being in another relationship right now.”
After saying that, Chloe added, “You can dry your hair yourself now.”
She had been drying his hair, her hands still resting on the sides of the towel on his head.
But before she could pull away, Brian’s hand moved faster, pressing over hers.
“I won’t stop you from doing what you want,” he whispered, “and I can be your spear and your shield. I will stand by your side. I will entrust my life to you. No matter what happens, I will never abandon you or betray you.”
He spoke each word with deliberate care.
Chloe froze. Those were the exact words she had used to describe the kind of man she wanted to love.
And Brian had remembered every single one.
“Or is it that I’m such a terrible person that you could never love me?” he asked.
“No!” The word slipped out before she could stop it.
His eyes, previously dim, suddenly brightened. “So… you will fall in love with me?”
Chloe cleared her throat, feeling awkward. “I just meant that you’re not a terrible person.”
If he truly were terrible, he wouldn’t have visited her parents‘ urns at the memorial hall, nor would he have quietly stayed by her side while they were laid to rest in the national military cemetery.
“And today, you went into the ocean to save someone,” Chloe added. “A terrible person wouldn’t do that
either.”
“I saved that child because you were saving someone. I never realized life could feel this precious until today.”
Brian’s voice faltered. He gently took her hand and pressed it to his face.
“Because of you, I want to save people. I want to be a good person,” he murmured.
Chloe shone with a brightness and honesty that seemed untouchable by any darkness or corruption.
Chapter 96 I’ll Be Good For You
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Brian, in contrast, was steeped in shadow. No matter how respectable he appeared on the surface, he
knew he was rotten at his core.
Yet darkness is drawn to light. And in reaching for the light, even the darkest heart yearns to grow brighter.
Chloe looked at Brian in surprise. She had never expected to hear such words from him. He seemed to be telling her that she had the power to influence his life.
“Give me a chance, Chloe.” His eyes searched hers, filled with a quiet, desperate longing. “If the day ever comes when you’re certain you can’t love me, I won’t bother you. I can leave, or we can be strangers. Whatever you want. But until then, please don’t push me away on purpose.”
Chloe stayed silent. Somehow, the yearning in Brian’s gaze made her mind drift to that forbidden room in the villa. His body curled in fear, the intricate web of scars covering his back.
And then there were the whips scattered around the room. Willow had once told her that he must have seen Emily’s death with his own eyes.
The word ‘no‘ seemed lodged in her throat. A dull ache bloomed in her chest.
Could she truly be certain she would never love Brian? She asked herself, but no clear answer came.
A
nd Brian wasn’t someone who took rejection lightly.
Taking a deep breath, Chloe said, “Alright, I agree. I won’t intentionally push you away. If I truly fall in love with you, then we can date. But if I don’t before my bodyguard mission ends, then we go our separate ways. How does that sound?”
Her eyelashes quivered slightly, and he smiled slowly. “Okay, it’s a deal.”
If she didn’t fall in love with him, he would make sure she did.
