At that moment, he was immensely thankful that he hadn't truly touched Chloe.

That day in the office, Chloe had suddenly engaged in intentional and unintentional flirtations.

He had indeed lost control slightly, but thankfully Elara had barged in at the critical moment, otherwise… he feared he truly would have been trapped by Chloe’s schemes.

Julian clenched his fists, about to rush in, but his mother raised a hand to signal him to stay calm:

"What’s the rush?"

Julian’s face was dark as he continued to listen to Chloe’s phone call inside the room.

Chapter 13

Chloe’s voice continued.

It wasn't clear what the person on the other end said to soothe her, but her voice grew much calmer. Listening to it now, it was filled with triumph.

"So what if she’s the eldest daughter of the Jiang family? Isn't she still treated like unwanted trash?"

"Now Julian feels a momentary guilt toward her and wants to get rid of me to reconcile with her. But as long as I put on a show and cry a little in front of him, he’ll definitely believe me blindly and stand on my side."

"If he didn't have feelings for me at all, why, when I told him Elara hit me, would he take me to hit Elara back just to beg me to stay?"

"And why, when I used a sob story and pretended to commit suicide, would he use a knife to cut Elara just for my sake?"

"I only cut myself once, but he cut Elara three times! Hahaha! Just thinking about how pathetic Elara looked, I feel so satisfied."

Hearing Chloe’s triumphant words, Julian could no longer tolerate it. He slammed his foot against the hospital room door.

The door flew open, and Chloe shrieked in terror, looking up at the entrance.

In the next moment, the triumph on her face vanished entirely, leaving only a ghostly pallor.

"Fu… Mr. Julian…"

She looked at them with a final shred of wishful thinking.

"You… when did you get here…"

Julian lowered his eyes, looking at her coldly:

"The moment you started talking about how you schemed against me."

Chloe panicked and scrambled off the hospital bed, rushing over to kneel directly in front of Julian with a heavy thud.

"Mr. Julian… Mr. Julian, please listen to my explanation, I was just talking nonsense, I was just talking nonsense."

She slapped her own mouth frantically.

"All of that was fake. I just didn't want to leave you, so I was angry for a moment and intentionally said those things."

"You know me; I’ve been in the company for half a year, and I’ve always been obedient and well-behaved. I wanted to stay by your side because I admire you in my heart. That’s why I said those angry things when you said you were going to drive me away. I truly had no other ulterior motives."

"Believe me, please believe me…"

Chloe looked up at him, tears flowing instantly, and she began to cry with a pitiful, delicate appearance.

Watching the speed at which she changed her expression, Julian felt it was both absurd and laughable.

Her acting was so clumsy, yet he had actually believed her, and even harmed Elara time and time again for the sake of such a woman.

He had truly gone insane!

Beside them, his mother, appreciating his pain and regret, said unhurriedly:

"Don't be in such a hurry to explain. There’s still a pile of good things here waiting for you to explain."

As she spoke, she took out a stack of files and photos and threw them into Chloe’s face.

The paper cut the skin on Chloe’s face, and blood seeped out.

She didn't care about the pain, hurrying to look down at the photos, and screamed.

"No, it’s not! These are fake! All of them are fake! They’re Photoshopped!"

She pounced on them like a maniac to pick them up, but there were too many, and she couldn't gather them all. The content was completely exposed to everyone's eyes.

Julian lowered his eyes, looking at those photos on the floor.

They were all photos of Chloe being kept by others, accompanying old men for drinks and games time and again, and there were even some private photos.

In the photos, she was heavily made up, her expression intoxicated and engaged, showing not a hint of reluctance.

That money-worshipping, lavish appearance was like a different person compared to the simple, fragile image she usually kept by Julian’s side.

Chloe cried frantically: "Believe me, Mr. Julian, these are all fake. Others framed me and Photoshopped these. I never did any of this…"

Julian’s temples throbbed, and he picked up the files on the ground.

Chapter 14

The documents detailed every single thing Chloe had done behind his back.

There was evidence of her repeatedly framing Elara since she came to Julian’s side to serve as his secretary.

Regarding the time she framed Elara for hitting her at home, the surveillance clearly captured her provoking Elara first, and then grabbing Elara’s hand to hit herself.

Her framing Elara for forcing her to leave the city was, in reality, her having someone slap her over a dozen times, then intentionally applying makeup to make it look more severe.

Before Julian went to look for her, she had been out having fun and living it up with other men; it was only when Julian came to find her that she put on the pitiful act.

Using his guilt against him, she proposed that she would only stay if he beat Elara back.

Then there was her suicide; in reality, the skin she cut was very shallow, and the blood she lost was only a tiny bit.

The so-called "emergency rescue for excessive blood loss" was entirely a performance with store-bought blood bags; she had bribed those doctors and nurses.

Julian’s hand gripped those files; the more he read, the darker and uglier his expression became.

His fingers trembled as he squeezed the files, his eyes blood-red.

In the next moment, he could no longer hold back. He kicked Chloe hard in the abdomen, sending her flying with a single blow.

"Bitch!"

Chloe let out a scream of agony, collapsing onto the floor in pain.

The force of Julian’s kick was massive; Chloe’s entire body convulsed, and she suddenly clutched her abdomen.

"My… my stomach… it hurts so much…"

Almost the moment she finished speaking, a pool of blood began to seep from beneath her.

The child she had wanted to frame Julian with was gone!

Chloe cried from the pain, but she couldn't care about that; she looked at Julian pitifully.

"Mr. Julian, I was wrong. I did all of this because I loved you too much and wanted to marry you."

"I was forced into this, please let me go..."

Her plea for mercy was like pouring hot oil onto a fire.

Julian rushed over uncontrollably, raising his foot to kick Chloe in the stomach again, hard.

Blow after blow, without the slightest mercy.

"Bitch! How dare you! How dare you scheme and hurt Elara like this! You deserve to die! Die! Go die!"

Julian’s eyes were bloodshot as he went on a rampage, his actions almost intended to take her life.

Chloe trembled in terror, begging frantically:

"Ah! Mr. Julian, please spare me… I was wrong… please…"

But Julian didn't stop for a single second; regardless of how Chloe begged, he kicked her dozens of times.

Chloe’s entire body was convulsing, and she eventually lost consciousness, clearly hanging on by a thread.

His mother waved her hand, signaling the bodyguards: "Stop him."

The bodyguards rushed forward, grabbing the enraged Julian and pulling him away.

His mother said coldly: "Even if you kill her now, it won't help anything."

Julian suddenly calmed down a bit; he ran out in a daze:

"I have to find Elara. I have to find her..."

His mother did not stop him, letting him rush out like a madman.

Looking at his retreating back, she sighed silently.

"My son, my son, your awakening... is far too late."

Elara had a stubborn character, and she had suffered so many grievances, yet she had never complained or poured her heart out to her as a mother-in-law.

Now that she had sent all these things to her hands, her attitude was self-evident.

She had already… completely given up on Julian.

Julian had already rushed to the parking lot, pulling out his phone and dialing Elara’s number impatiently.

However, the call went out, but there was a long silence with no answer.

Julian’s heart felt stifled, and he inadvertently saw an unread text message on his phone.

Driven by some strange impulse, he tapped into it, discovering it was from the Civil Affairs Bureau, reminding him that the cooling-off period had ended and he could go pick up the divorce certificate.

If it were in the past, he would have certainly laughed it off and ignored it.