Chloe walked to the French window, looking at the white rose bushes blooming in the backyard garden, lost in thought.
Back then, Julian’s father – Richard – was framed by competitors in the business world, leading to a stroke and hospitalization.
Quinn Group’s stocks plummeted tragically, and the entire family empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Julian, who was finishing his master’s degree in finance in London at the time, had to urgently fly back to New York to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the entire Quinn family before he could even attend his graduation ceremony.
During that period, the Quinn family was drowning in crisis.
Coincidentally, Arthur – Chloe’s father – and Richard had been close confidants since college.
Arthur greatly admired Julian’s talent, so after a few exchanges at the negotiation table, the two families came to a decision to establish an alliance through marriage.
Chloe was the one who nodded in agreement; deep down in her heart, she was even incredibly overjoyed.
That was Julian Quinn, after all, the man she had secretly loved and yearned for throughout so many of her teenage years.
Julian initially flatly refused.
Even though he knew clearly that if he married Chloe, the massive capital from her family would be fully devoted to helping Quinn Group overcome the immediate liquidity crisis, he still refused very decisively.
It was just that later, for an unknown reason, he suddenly changed his decision and agreed to enter this strategic marriage.
By then, Quinn Group’s financial situation had somewhat improved thanks to his clever moves; the capital poured in by his future wife’s family essentially only accelerated the speed of recovery.
Although the parents on both sides were astonished by the quick change of mind, they still happily enjoyed the outcome; no one went investigating what his true motives ultimately were.
However, Chloe knew.
Despite knowing clearly the hidden truth within, she still gritted her teeth and chose to marry Julian.
Chloe was originally a girl who grew up on the West Coast, bearing a free-spirited and dynamic personality, but in the two years since marrying and stepping into the traditional high society of the East Coast, she had transformed into someone composed, elegant, and noble.
People often say, if a vibrant, interesting soul is bound to a boring, barren soul, what will happen?
Chloe could firmly assert that the interesting soul would definitely be worn down until it became identically boring.
She forced herself to turn into the perfect appearance she had now, for no other reason than to keep up with Julian’s footsteps, to be worthy of the invisible crown named “Mrs.
Quinn” whenever she appeared at galas or charity events.
Actually, most of the time, she felt that this role of hers was very successful.
Without realizing when, she had been standing in a daze for a long time, until a knock on the door rang out, and Chloe startled back to reality, looking toward the door.
Housekeeper Martha softly opened the door: “Madam, Julian has returned.” Chloe voiced a reply, then followed Martha downstairs.
Just past the turn of the staircase, with a glance, she immediately saw the man sitting with his legs crossed on the leather Chesterfield sofa.
He wore a pristine white handcrafted shirt, accentuating the clean, radiant, and intensely masculine look of his whole being.
Chloe suddenly panicked; it seemed as if in that moment she saw the Julian of their youthful years past: open, often smiling, an outstanding boy on the rugby field under the radiant sunlight.
It was just that, not knowing since when, he had locked himself tightly into the appearance of this mature, cold, and profound gentleman.
As her train of thought reached here, Chloe slightly froze.
She silently thought to herself what was wrong with her today, being sentimental and emotional for no reason, recalling so many old and stale matters like this.
The man had now removed his silk tie and tossed it aside, unbuttoned the top of his shirt, and rolled his sleeves up to his forearms, revealing a masculine Adam’s apple and firm biceps under the thin fabric.
Chloe suddenly felt her throat go a bit dry.
Swallowing a gulp of saliva, just as she raised her eyes, she accidentally met the still but sharp ash-gray eyes of the man.
Chloe nearly choked on her own saliva.
She felt an inexplicable guilt, as if she had just been secretly peeking and was caught red-handed…
“Are you not feeling well?” A deep male voice sounded.
Chloe was busy coughing, not expecting that as soon as she turned her head, she would see Julian’s angular face standing very close.
She instinctively took a step back, waving her hands continuously: “No…
just, just choked a little.” Julian stared at Chloe’s flushed cheeks for a long time, then indifferently nodded: “Let’s eat dinner.” Having said that, he turned and walked around Chloe, putting one hand into his dress pants pocket and stepping forward toward the dining room.
Chloe looked at Julian’s broad back, ultimately unable to hold back from raising her hands to cup her cheeks: *I am truly silly today…* Following Julian into the dining room, she sat down at the table.
Just as she settled in, a plate of garlic-butter seared asparagus served with perfectly grilled shrimp appeared in front of her.
Chloe looked up, only to see Julian beside her displaying a calm expression as he placed the plate of asparagus in front of her, conveniently pulling the plate of Beef Wellington drizzled with truffle mushroom sauce that was originally set in front of her to another spot.
“Didn’t I remind you that Madam is allergic to mushrooms?” Julian furrowed his brows slightly, his cold tone directed at Housekeeper Martha standing nearby.
Beside Martha was a young female chef, hurriedly bowing her head, looking very awkward and pale.
“I am truly sorry, this is a new assistant chef who has not fully grasped the family’s palate yet.
I will carefully correct this later,” Martha hurriedly explained.
Julian said nothing more and picked up his fork; the two silently enjoyed their dinner.
Chloe lightly bit her silver fork, deep in thought.
Conscientiously speaking, in these two years as husband and wife, Julian’s treatment of her could be considered that of an exemplary husband.
Unless he had to go on a business trip abroad, he would always come home to sleep.
He always had his secretary buy expensive jewelry on anniversaries, never interfered with her shopping bills, and always showed respect for her decisions or opinions in shared matters.
At the very least, he always maintained face and absolute respect for this marriage.
Chloe’s eyes flickered, holding a certain amount of confidence in her heart for her upcoming plan; the piece of asparagus in her mouth suddenly became incredibly crisp and sweet.
— “Phew…” Chloe stood up from the white marble bathtub, casually grabbing the oversized bath towel draped to one side to wrap around her body.
Her long hair was loosely pinned up with a clip behind her head, a few wet, mischievous strands falling by her ears, accentuating her slender, snow-white neck, looking incredibly alluring.
Holding the perfumed lotion bottle on the sink vanity, she lowered her head and meticulously applied it to her soft skin.
While her small hands were busy applying cream to her collarbone area, suddenly the bathroom door was pushed open.
“…” Chloe raised her head and used the large mirror to look at the man who had just pushed the door and walked in.
She saw that he had now stripped off his white shirt from earlier, revealing a sturdy, wheat-colored upper half, his abdominal muscles vividly displayed, full of strength.
His lower half had also been changed into thin, ash-gray cotton sleep pants, a deadly V-cut line clearly traced on his hips.
“Julian…” Chloe spoke, only to discover her voice was frightfully hoarse.
She hurriedly lowered her head and cleared her throat, and when she looked up again, she met his deep gray eyes, looking as if a smoldering fire was burning within.
Her face immediately flushed red: “You…
why did you come in here?
I will step out right away so you can use the bathroom.” Saying that, she clumsily placed the lotion bottle back in its original spot.
Right at this moment, the man leisurely stepped forward.
His large hand with long, slender fingers grabbed her delicate, white wrist, pulling with force!
The next second, Chloe blankly realized she was glued tightly to the firm, wheat-colored chest in front of her; his warm breath, mixed with his cedarwood scent, brushed past the tip of her nose, transmitting straight into her violently beating heart.
Her bare, smooth back pressed against the freezing cold marble on the wall; the stimulating temperature contrast gave Chloe goosebumps: “Julian…” “Mhm…” The man gave a deep, magnetic response from his throat.
The next second, Chloe’s chin was lifted by his outstretched hand; his thin lips resolutely pressed down onto her parted cherry lips, swallowing whole any words she hadn’t yet managed to utter.
The misty vapor in the bathroom from earlier seemed to billow up more and more.
Chloe tilted her head back, her dreamy blue eyes looking at the crystal chandelier overhead, only feeling as if fireworks were exploding before her eyes…
After carrying her into the shower to clean up once more, Julian incredibly gently and thoughtfully placed Chloe back onto the soft bed.
Chloe quickly slipped into the silk blanket, rolling herself up tightly, leaving only her head exposed.
Julian found it amusing, also climbing onto the bed and pulling her into his arms, embracing her completely through the thin blanket.
Chloe obediently rested her small chin against the man’s sturdy chest, but in her head, she was thinking about the condom that had just been mercilessly tossed into the trash can earlier.
In her ears, Eleanor’s reminder from the afternoon seemed to echo again.
Her white teeth lightly bit down on her lower lip; she felt a bit hesitant.
What should she do…
say it or not say it?
The two had been married for two years now, their sex life completely passionate and normally healthy; wanting to have a child bearing both their bloodlines was not an unreasonable request, right?
While she was busy agonizing and calculating, Julian bent down again to place a light kiss on the top of her head: “I am going to the study to handle some email work…” Chloe lifted herself up, and seeing that Julian was just about to turn and get out of bed, she suddenly threw the blanket aside, lunging forward to tightly embrace his firm waist from behind, scattering hurried, fragmented kisses on the man’s broad back and shoulders.
Julian’s body instantly tensed up.
Chloe only felt the world spin, and the moment she regained her senses, she had already been flipped over and pressed fiercely down into the mattress by him.
Chloe fearlessly raised her head and took the initiative to kiss his resolute chin.
Welcoming her bold action was a wildly passionate deep kiss that nearly drained all the oxygen from her lungs…
While dreamily immersed, she vaguely felt the man extending his long arm, wanting to pull open the drawer on the nightstand.
Chloe suddenly snapped back to full alertness, reaching out to tightly grab his arm.
Seeing the man slightly frown and look at her in confusion, she pursed her lips and spoke in a trembling voice: “Could we…
not use it?”