Chapter 6
"Mr. Ludwig, you are wrong," I spoke, my voice cool. "You signed the divorce papers yourself. I was the one who ended the marriage.
"Your family showed generosity by returning my assets and granting me a clean break. This marriage was your charity from start to finish. What's wrong with that?"
My words cut like a dull blade, slowly stripping away Dutton's self-deception.
He jerked his head up, shock written all over his face. "Why would you say that? Haven't you always—"
He stopped.
Maybe he wanted to say I'd always loved him, always obeyed him.
I let out a cold, mocking laugh. "The Chloe you knew is gone.
"She died on that snowy winter day, died when you shoved me to the ground yourself, and died when you hurled those cruel words at me."
Dutton's face drained of all color.
He struggled to reach for my hand. "No. Chloe, that's not how it was.
"My mom made me do it. You've always been the one I cared about."
He tried to pin all the blame on Ella.
He tried to stir up the feelings I once had for him.
But it was too late.
I deftly avoided his touch. "Mr. Ludwig, what do you want?"
I cut him short and got straight to the point.
Panic flickered in Dutton's eyes. But it was quickly replaced by a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve. "Chloe, I know you're doing well now.
"You are the lady of the Sherman family, and you're pregnant.
"But the babies you're carrying is mine."
He practically roared those words. Each one cut deep, laced with malice and a twisted sense of satisfaction.
Cathy trembled with rage. "What nonsense are you talking about? The children are Lord Phillip's."
I raised my hand to stop Cathy.
My gaze remained calm as I looked at Dutton. "I'm afraid I don't see what that has to do with me, Mr. Ludwig. I have no ties to the Ludwig family. And my children have nothing to do with you."
Dutton shook his head, his face showing an unhealthy fixation. "No. It is not true.
You were married to me for three years. You took every treatment the doctor prescribed.
"The doctor said you could not conceive.
"How long has it been since you left the Ludwig family? And now you're pregnant with twins?"
"The babies have to be mine."
He suddenly shouted, "It was that day. That day you fell, and I caught you in my arms.
"My scent was all over you. It must have been then."
He was rambling, completely unhinged.
Frank couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward, his voice deep and steady. "Mr. Ludwig, please mind your manners.
"Lady Chloe is the mistress of this household. Your words are slander against the Sherman name."
Dutton ignored Frank entirely. He lunged forward, grasping at my legs. "Chloe, marry me again. Come back with the children."
"You'll be the only woman in my life. I'll treat you and the children as the most precious treasures I'll ever have."
His eyes swirled with madness and desperation.
He knew exactly what he had lost.
A woman who once loved him with all her heart was now building a future with his rival.
The cruelest irony of all: the heirs his own family had failed to produce now existed inside her, and there were two.
I looked at Dutton, at his twisted face.
Whatever love had once been there had vanished completely. All that remained was a profound sadness.
"Mr. Ludwig, it is time for you to leave." I stood up, no longer looking at him. "Between you and me, every bond has been severed. There's no chance for us anymore. I suggest you take care of yourself."
With that, I turned to leave.
But the moment I turned, Dutton surged forward and seized my leg with both arms.
His grip was so strong that I stumbled forward, nearly falling.
Dutton cried, "Chloe, please, don't go. Please, give me another chance.
"I can't live without you. I can't live without my children."
His voice held a note of desperate pleading, mixed with a frantic obsession.
"How dare you?" Frank and Cathy both cried out at the same time.
Cathy rushed forward, trying to pull Dutton away from me.
But Dutton was insanely strong, locking onto my leg like he was drowning and I was his lifeline.
With my balance thrown off by the pregnancy, I was on the verge of falling to the floor.
At the last possible moment, a figure rushed in.
The wind and snow swept in with him.