Chapter 5

**Chloe's POV**

I knew Julian didn't see my resignation letter until after he had Serena settled at the hospital.

He drove like a madman back to our penthouse that night.

When the door burst open, the living room was dark. I was sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of red wine under the moonlight.

"Chloe! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Julian roared, storming over and snatching the glass from my hand. He slammed it onto the coffee table, the sound of shattering glass piercing the quiet apartment.

His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving. "Resigning? Who gave you permission to resign? Just because I saved Serena first today? How many times do I have to tell you, she’s sick! She can’t swim! How could I just stand there and watch her drown? Can you stop being so cold-blooded and unreasonable?!"

I watched him rave, throwing all the blame onto me.

"Julian," I said softly, my voice carrying a quiet, heavy weight. "Saving her was your instinct. Resigning is my choice. There is no connection between the two."

"No connection?" Julian sneered. "Are you telling me you aren't jealous? You're using your resignation to blackmail me!"

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Chloe, I’ve set aside half of Sterling's shares for you. I gave you all my love. What more do you want? Do you have to drive Serena to suicide to be satisfied?!"

Forced to look at this familiar yet foreign man, I realized how far gone he was.

He claimed to love me, yet he abandoned me at every critical moment without hesitation. He claimed he gave me everything, yet he gave the legal title of his wife to another woman.

"I’m not satisfied," I said, looking straight into his eyes. "Julian, your love is filthy. It disgusts me."

Julian froze as if struck by lightning. His grip on my chin loosened.

"What did you say?" He stared at me in disbelief.

I stood up, brushing the creases from my dress. My tone was as casual as if I were talking about the weather. "I said, we’re done. Julian, I’m not playing this three-person game with you anymore."

"Done?" Julian let out a dark, disbelieving laugh. He suddenly pinned me against the wall, his eyes wild and possessive. "Chloe, you’ve been with me for seven years. You are branded with my name. You think you can just leave? Dream on! You are mine, forever!"

He leaned down, trying to force his lips onto mine.

I didn’t struggle. I just kept my eyes open, staring at him coldly.

There was no anger in my eyes, no sorrow—only absolute indifference and disgust, as if I were looking at a piece of garbage.

Julian froze mid-air.

"Chloe..." His voice suddenly broke, softened by a trace of panic. "Don't be like this, okay? I know I hurt you today. Next month... next month I’ll take you to Iceland to see the Northern Lights. Didn't you always want to go? Let’s just go on a vacation, okay?"

Watching him scramble to appease me, I found it pathetic.

"Sure," I said with a faint smile that didn't reach my eyes. "Go ahead and plan it."

Julian let out a massive sigh of relief, thinking I had finally yielded. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, burying his face in my neck, breathing in my scent hungrily.

"Chloe, you're the only one for me. I can't live without you."

I let him hold me, my eyes drifting past his shoulder to the cold, dark night sky outside.

I didn't need him to see the Northern Lights.

In three days, I would be on a private jet to San Francisco, vanishing from his life forever.

---