# 27
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After returning to her room, Chloe changed her clothes and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. It was snowing heavily outside.
I heard it doesn't snow in D.C., but Chloe knew it was especially cold this year.
When she put on a comfortable nightgown and sat in an armchair, she was finally able to relax. However, Chloe still moved her seat closer to the heater because she was still cold.
Looking at the fireplace reminded her of the portable heater Eric used to make. It will be very useful. Once it is completed successfully, many will want to buy it, and thanks to that, Eric's reputation will rise again.
Chloe has a crush on Eric. Not just because she loves him, but because she admires him for his personality. He was an admirable man who made great inventions with his hands. This is partly what made her so happy to marry him then, and she promised to respect him all her life.
But what was the result of that? The only time they'd slept together in the same bed in their five years of marriage was last night, while he was drunk.
And all night, nothing happened. However, Chloe loved that Eric sought her out, and his refusal to leave her somehow proved that he needed her. Chloe couldn't help but feel happy.
She was so happy that she considered this happiness. “Chloe…” When he called her in a low voice, she felt as if an angel was pointing at her and leading her to heaven.
The moment Eric woke up in the morning, he was as indifferent as ever. Instead of being a gentle angel, he looked more like an uncaring devil. This realization made Chloe's chest hurt again.
cough!
Chloe spat out, coughing up blood. Drops of dark red liquid flowed out, so she quickly covered her lips with a tissue, but that was not enough to stop it. As she coughed and spit, there was still blood.
Fuck, cough! Cough!
Chloe curled in on herf and coughed again. Her body was trembling. She fell to the ground and put her head between her knees.
It hurts.
It's very painful.
She can't do anything because she's sick...
She couldn't tell her husband. He already hated seeing her bedridden due to illness, but it was clear that he would say even more hurtful things the moment he found out that she had a deadline.
Chloe thought to herf that she wouldn't be affected by such words anymore, but that wasn't true. It hurts. It's hard. Whenever she heard those words from her husband, she felt as if the barriers surrounding her heart were collapsing one by one.
What will happen once all these walls come down?
Are you going to die?
Chloe thought about it.
Yes, you will.
Suddenly, Chloe laughed.
She had to make sure that the barriers surrounding her heart would not collapse. She had to strengthen her resolve further. You must no longer suffer from every word, from every look.
“We'll break up anyway.”
Chloe rose to her feet. She had to wash the blood off the handkerchief. If I had left this task to Andrea, it would have been enough to turn the house upside down.
* * *
“Is Chloe going out today?”
Eric asked Daniel. When asked, Daniel nodded as he handed him some documents.
“I heard she was. Andrea said so.”
“Why?”
“I'm not sure why.”
Daniel shrugged.
“I think the lady is running away a little because you said so many things.”
“I didn't say anything.”
Eric frowned.
“I guess.”
Daniel smiled as if he already knew. It was impossible for him not to have said something. Just saying anything to the Marchioness was enough to make him angry. Daniel was sure of it.
“What happened to Gatsby?”
“He is protesting and using his family name in it. But I said we will go to court, and he immediately shut up. He said he will bring the settlement amount.”
“Give that money to Chloe.”
Daniel was astonished, and his eyes widened.
“But...”
But he quickly spoke anyway.
“Will the lady accept it?”
"What do you mean?"
“No, I mean the lady I know wouldn’t accept that.”
"Then leave it in the bank. Tell her she can use it if she needs it later."
Eric answered this question, but paused for a moment. Then he added shortly after that.
"Sure. There's no need for that anyway. I can do everything. You don't have to worry about money."
This is correct. No one in the capital had as much wealth as Eric.
Chloe was the only one who didn't know that. She was the only one who denied this fact.
No, it didn't amount to denial, but it seemed like Chloe mistakenly believed Eric was poor. Remember how she said: “If you pay back all the money my family borrowed, you can buy one of Monty’s paintings, right?”
His features changed to one of annoyance. At first glance, it was clear how his deep, empty gaze turned into an angry look. Daniel watched Eric's changes.
“You need to stop having that attitude.”
"What?"
“I think you should give up that kind of thinking, that everything can be solved with money. Especially towards your wife. Ma’am – no, women generally value time spent with them more than money.”
“Absolutely not.”
Eric denied it.
“Women who only see me for the money can fill more than ten carts.”
"You can't generalize it to everyone like that! Have you ever tried to calmly express your feelings for the lady? That's the most important thing. It really is."
Eric didn't say anything back. And Daniel and Chloe seemed to say the same thing.
How exactly did she want him to express himf? Eric couldn't really, ever, understand what it meant to show his emotions.
Did she want him to say nice things? If so, this is something he would not have done by nature. He was a crooked person from birth, so he didn't have the ability to say nice words.
No matter how nicely he tried to put it, it was clear that this would just be a futile act of masking reality with an illusion.
Wasn't it better that now, even if his words were not nice, he was able to achieve great successes? If he had to choose between the two, Eric would prioritize acquiring wealth.
“In the first place,”
Eric said as he lit a cigar.
“If I didn't have the money, do you think Chloe would have married me?”
“I can't say for sure.”
Daniel was still sure of this.
“But I want you to know that your money will not have a big role in the future of your marriage.”
“Did you hear the conversation I had with Chloe?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
He seemed to hear Chloe talking about the divorce. Eric stubbed out his cigar.
“I don’t intend to divorce her.”
“But the lady wants it.”
“However, I will not allow that to happen.”
A cloud of smoke escaped from his lips. He straightened his already elegant collar and took another puff of his cigar.
“No matter what she says, I won't do it.”
“Why?”
Daniel asked.
“Your Excellency, did you ask her first? If you don’t want the lady to divorce you?”
Eric didn't answer right away. No, he couldn't.
He had a lot of questions for Chloe. But what did Eric say every time? The only explanation he gave whenever he refused to divorce was that there was no reason for it.
But he knew very well that this was not a sufficient excuse. Was it because he didn't want to marry the Fourth Princess? Well, that was a questionable reason.
So he had to ask himf: Why was he so opposed to divorce?
“Is it because of your feelings for the lady? Is that why you don’t want a divorce?”
Eric raised an eyebrow, then extinguished the cigar, which he had only smoked a few times, in the ashtray. She turned a sharp look towards Daniel.
“The most important thing now is not to waste any of the achievements I have achieved so far.”
That's why I keep striving for more. He was someone who hated the idea of failing.
"My marriage, in its own way, is also an achievement. I can't deny that."
"This is correct."
“Then divorce would not be a good thing.”
Eric lit another cigar.
The dream he had last night kept occupying his mind. to remember. The person who laughed out loud while being beaten as a child – was Duchess Rolfe.
…damn it.
He ran his hand across his forehead.
“I can't afford to fail.”
* * *
For the first time in a while, Chloe went out on her own.
Chloe was stuck at home under the pretext of wanting to be alone. But really, she didn't want to be alone. But she had to.
She was very sick.
Perhaps what happened at the banquet was a huge shock to her, or perhaps it was her body that failed her, but she began to suffer more from that day on. She has not regained her strength and fully recovered yet.
She fell asleep every night with a high fever. She wakes up several times during the night, and each time, she forces herf to stop coughing and muffle the sounds by biting her tongue.
She was desperate to call the doctor, but she couldn't. Her husband won't like that. She didn't want to do anything that her husband would hate.
So, she kept everything inside her. All the pain, all the hardships. everything.
After a few days of this, Chloe finally felt fresh again. That's why I left immediately.
Daniel asked her where she was going, but she only said she was going downtown for a while.
She did not reveal her true destination.