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Chapter 315
Connor seemed stunned. But then immediately, Chloe pulled her hand away from his, her expression turning icy. "Is this the response you were hoping for?"
Connor's face darkened. Chloe, however, let out a cold laugh. "At Diana's birthday party, you claimed our lack of closeness was just an act. So, the whole of Eldridge City knowing she's your beloved—is that an act too? The obvious flirtation and sparks between you two, is that also part of the show? When she was twelve, and you promised to protect her for a lifetime, was that all just for appearances?"
Chloe scoffed. "If all that's just for show, then you're too insincere to be worth associating with."
If his eight years of feelings for Diana were all an act, then what were their three years of pretense? Not even worth mentioning as an act. Connor hadn't expected Chloe to know about something from twelve years ago. It must have been Diana who said something. He didn't bother to hide it any longer.
"Diana and I are not what you think. To outsiders, yes, she's seen as mine, but that's only to use my status to protect her. As for why she needs protection..." A complex emotion flickered in his eyes.
"Twelve years ago, she was kidnapped. The Gilbert family approached the Sartori family for her return. My father allowed the Gilberts to search our home. They scoured every room of the Sartori estate and found nothing, but I knew where she was-in the basement of my sister's room.
"When I found her, she was barely alive. Seeing her then, I was reminded of myself in childhood.
"As a child, once I started to
remember things, my sister would often lock me in that dark, sunless basement, then lie to our family that she'd taken me on a trip. My father was busy, my mother indifferent and my sister cunning. She'd lock me up for days, then nurse me back to health in a hospital before sending me home, over and over. If I told anyone, she'd be even crueler next time. I'll never forget that despair, hunger, cold, darkness, that feeling of waiting, like
drowning-you never know if the
next second might be your last.
"I was just a toy for my sister to torment when she went mad. I never thought that, after I went abroad, she'd turn her sights on Diana.
"I went abroad at thirteen and came
back at twenty. The second day
after my return, I had a gut feeling she was in that basement. I saved her, not just her, but also the helpless child I once was. Protecting her was also protecting the powerless, frightened child in me."
Connor closed his eyes briefly. "I can still recall the sound of fear gnawing at my bones."
"My care, affection, and tolerance for her stem from seeing my childhood self in her. How I wished for someone to take me away from that madwoman's control."Property © 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.
Chloe was shocked upon hearing this. She knew Connor and his sister Claire had a strained relationship, but she never imagined he had been abused by Claire since childhood.
Connor moved closer to Chloe
again. "Between Diana and me, there's sympathy for each other's similar miseries, a camaraderie, but absolutely no romantic feelings. That's just the world's biased view."
His dark eyes fixed on Chloe. The intensity of emotion in them seemed like it could overflow. "Chloe, from the beginning to the end, the only person I've ever loved is you, only you."
Since he was ten, for eighteen years...