<b>Chapter </b><b>56 </b>I <b>Want </b><b>Someone </b>Who <b>Will </b>Never <b>Abandon </b>Me


    “Oh, it’s a woman named Chloe,” Winston replied. “She’s from the fifth branch.”


    “Fifth branch?” Willow was taken aback. “But I thought there was no one left from that line.”


    “There’s still one daughter left–Chloe,” he said, sighing. “That branch has had it rough. Almost everyone’s gone… except for her.


    “Tomorrow, she’ll be at the memorial hall to ce her parents‘ ashes there for three days before their


    burial, and also to set up their ques.”


    Willow’s eyes flickered. “Uncle Winston, are you going to receive her tomorrow?”


    He was never close with the fifth branch, and years of distance had only widened the gap.


    “No matter what, she’s family. It wouldn’t look right if I didn’t go,” he said despite himself.


    “In that case, why don’t I go in your ce?” Willow offered.


    “You?” Winston echoed, visibly shocked.


    After all, Willow was treated like a princess in the main branch of the family. Apart from major


    ceremonies, she hardly ever set foot in the memorial hall. And she didn’t even know Chloe.


    “Yeah. A few of my friends have been curious about our memorial hall anyway. I was nning to take them tomorrow, so I thought I could just wee Chloe at the same time. That way, you won’t have to


    miss your poker game.”


    Winston chuckled. “Aw, Willow, you’ve really grown up. You’re so considerate. Alright then, I’ll let you


    handle it tomorrow.”


    As part of the third branch, he never had much standing in the family. He merely scraped by on the yearly


    dividends allotted to his branch, with nothing to upy him except managing the memorial hall.


    Poker was his real passion–a day without it made him itch. Since the work was easy and rarely demanding, he was only too d to hand it off.


    A sweet smile spread across Willow’s face. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”


    But behind her smile, a cold glint gleamed in her eyes.


    She would make sure to teach Chloe a lesson tomorrow.


    At the Steele residence, Brian stood at the far end of the third floor.


    On one side was the locked room he had forbidden Chloe to enter. On the other, a towering oil portrait hung <b>on </b>the wall.


    Chapter 56 I Want Someone Who We Never Abandon Me


    It was nearly twice the height of a man, depicting a gorgeous woman in an elegant silk dress. The Steele family’s heirloom bracelet gleamed on her wrist, making her look radiant and untouchable.


    But this was the same woman who had once hurled that bracelet to the floor.


    “I don’t want any of your family’s trinkets! Let me go! I don’t belong here!


    “Lunatics, all of you! All the Steeles are insane.”


    Later, the woman grew more and more haggard, like a withering rose slowly losing its vitality. And in her final moments, she had clutched Brian’s hand with a chilling strength.


    “You’re his son,” Emily Whitemore had screeched. “You’ll be mad, just like him. You mustn’t love anyone.


    Do you hear me? You’re not fit to love or to be loved!”


    “Mom…” Brian’s gaze lingered on the portrait. “I won’t end up like Dad. I’ll honor yourst wish. I won’t love


    anyone.”


    He had seen <b>too </b>clearly what love could do.


    Liam Steele’s love for Emily was so sick and obsessive that he even imprisoned her in this vi. It became her cage until the day she died, still dreaming of escape.


    But even in death, she never left the Steele family. She was buried in the family’s cemetery.


    After Emily’s passing, Liam hadpletely lost his mind. He drifted through life in a haze, always violent and bloodthirsty like a real madman.


    Brian could never fathom why Liam was obsessed with a woman who never loved him. He still remembered Liam standing in front of Emily’s grave, his bloodshot eyes bearing into his.


    “You’re our son. You’ll be just like us,” he hissed, his voice low and chilling. “If you love someone, you’ll


    stop at nothing to im them as your own. And if you don’t… then no matter how they beg or please you,


    you’ll never give in.


    “Brian, I wonder how <i>you’ll </i>turn out to be. I look forward to <b>it</b>!”


    Liam’sughter, raw and deranged, echoed in his ears even now.


    Brian thought he would never be either of those things. Lowering his gaze, he left the third floor and made


    his way down.


    When he reached the second floor, he spotted Chloe stepping out of her room.


    “Tell me,” he suddenly said. “Do you think I’ll ever love someone? Or do you think I never be capable of


    that?”


    Chloe was startled, Something in his expression seemed wrong, and the emptiness in his eyes made her


    <b>heart </b>clench.


    “<b>What’s </b>the <b>matter</b><b>?</b>” she asked softly.


    Chapter 56 I Want Someone Who Will Never Abandon Me


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    “Answer me. Do you think I’ll ever love someone or not?<b>” </b>he pressed again.


    “That’s not for me to decide,” she replied, pressing her lips together. “Only you can choose whether you’ll


    love someone or be alone.”


    Brian’s gaze locked on her. “Then what about you? You once loved Curtis, yet you let him go so easily. <b>If </b>you truly loved him, shouldn’t you have fought for him, no matter the cost?”


    Chloe frowned. “Even if I love someone, I’ll walk away if he doesn’t love me back. And as for Curtis… I don’t love him anymore. He’s not the one I want.”


    “And the man you want. What is he like?” Brian asked, his tone tinged with rare curiosity.


    “I want someone who’ll always stay by my side and go through everything with me,” she murmured, her thoughts drifting to her parents. “Someone who will never abandon me, no matter what.”


    The kind of marriage her parents had was the one she longed for. They might have bickered, but they always had each other’s backs. And for their shared beliefs, they pressed on hand in hand.


    Even in the face of death, they never wavered. They stood together till the end.


    “Does someone like that even exist?” Brian muttered.


    “My parents were like that,” Chloe said, eyes brimming with tears even as her lips curved into a faint smile. “They truly loved each other.”


    Her words painted a lovepletely unlike Liam and Emily’s twisted bond. She and Brian were total


    opposites.


    Later that night, after dinner, Chloe was tidying her room when she noticed a door built into the wall on her right. <fne175> Checktest chapters at fin?novel</fne175>


    Wondering if it led to a smaller room, she twisted the doorknob and pushed it open.


    The sight before her left her speechless.


    Brian’s bare torso came into view. He was clearly in the middle of changing–his shirt was already off, and he was about to unbuckle his belt and remove his pants.


    Shocked, Chloe immediately tried to turn away. But when she caught a glimpse of his scarred back, she couldn’t help but gasp.