Inside the banquet hall, Curtis was half–heartedly making small talk with government officials and wealthy businessmen from Yarfdale.


    Yet his mind kept circling back to the image of Chloe plunging into the sea to save the child. She had acted so swiftly, <b>so </b>decisively, without a second’s hesitation.


    How many people possessed that kind of courage?


    He, too, had seen the child fall into the water and had the impulse to rush over. But if he had reached the shore in time, would he truly have jumped in, or would he have hesitated?


    When he pressed himself for an honest answer, he realized hesitation was far more likely.


    That realization unsettled him even more. Could Chloe really have been lying all this time?


    With her swimming skills and that kind of courage, if she had really seen him in the river, she would have jumped in to save him.


    But if she wasn’t lying, then did that mean Sonya was the one who had lied?


    The thought made his hand tremble, nearly spilling the wine in his ss.


    “Curtis?” Sonya’s voice came from beside him. “What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”


    “It’s… nothing,” he answered, his eyes settling on her face.


    From the very beginning, she had always struck him as bold and magnanimous. How could a woman like her ever deceive him?


    After all, as she’d once reminded him, when he was just a penniless nobody, what possible advantage could she have gained by lying?


    Just then, a stir rose at the entrance of the banquet hall.


    Curtis and Sonya turned to see Brian and Chloe walking side by side.


    Brian, dressed in a ck suit, exuded elegance and authority. Beside him, Chloe, in a simple yet striking outfit, carried an air of sharp confidence.


    Noticing the healthy color back in her cheeks since the rescue, Curtis felt a wave of relief.


    “Mr. Steele, Ms. Quall, we owe you our deepest thanks for your bravery today. You spared us from what could have been a tragedy,” said Edward Walker, the Yarfdale official overseeing the ind’s development.


    Brian’s expression remainedposed. “The one you should thank is Chloe. She was the one who saved the child. I only helped.”


    Chapter 97 Who Saved Him Back Then


    “But I saw you embracing Ms. Quall after the rescue,” Edward said, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “If I may ask, what exactly is your rtionship?<b>” </b>


    “She’s someone very important to me. I was just too worried about her <b>at </b>that moment.”


    Edward cast Chloe a few more thoughtful nces. For Brian to describe someone as very important meant she held a truly special ce in his life.


    Meanwhile, not far away, Wade was chatting with some of Yarfdale’s wealthiest men.


    The wealthy man nced at Brian and Chloe standing side by side, their eyes filled with envy.


    “Wade, isn’t that Walter’s daughter?” one of them asked.


    “Yes, that’s Chloe, Walter’s daughter,” he replied.


    “The Quall family is truly fortunate. First, you had Willow, and now you have Chloe,” someone remarked with a trace of envy.


    After all, with the Steele family’s protection, the Qualls were bound to grow even more powerful.


    Every prominent family in Yarfdale longed to establish ties with the Steeles, but it was the two Quall daughters who had managed to seed.


    Wade managed a smile, though a flicker of worry passed through his eyes.


    Beside him, Willow clenched her jaw, seething. The way these people spoke made her feel like nothing more than a relic of the past.


    Just then, she noticed someone approach Chloe and whisper something. A momentter, Chloe drifted away from Brian’s side.


    This was a good opportunity.


    Willow stepped up to Brian. “Brian, can we talk in private?” <fn7574> Chapters first released on find?novel</fn7574>


    Brian’s gaze turned cold. “And what exactly do we have to discuss alone?”


    “I know I said the wrong thing at the vist time, and I’m sorry if I upset you,” Willow began. “I never meant any harm. I just wanted to show that you and I… That we’ve been close since childhood. I only wanted Chloe to know how much I care about you.”


    “You care about me?” he scoffed. “If you truly cared, you wouldn’t have run away in fear all those years


    ago.”


    Willow’s face fell. That was the one mistake she regretted more than anything.


    Back then, she had stumbled into that forbidden room and seen the walls lined with whips and the raw wounds carved into Brian’s back, and Emily copsed on the floor. Terrified, she fled.


    If only she had stayed tofort him, maybe he would have opened his heart to her long ago.


    “I… I was just a child back then,” she stammered, scrambling for an excuse. <b>“</b>I was terrified by what <b>I </b>saw, and I ran. Any kid would’ve done the same!”


    But hadn’t she already paid the price? Losing her eye had been punishment enough.


    “Yes, you were young and scared, so you ran,” Brian said nonchntly. “I’ve never med you. You had no obligation to stay for me.”


    “Brian, you do me me,” Willow insisted, her voice urgent. “But I’ll make it right. I swear, no matter what happens, I’ll never abandon you again.”


    “I told you, I don’t me you. There’s nothing for you to atone for,” Brian replied. “But that doesn’t give you the right to spread my family’s secrets. You should be thanking Chloe that you’re still alive right now.”


    Willow nearly bit her tongue in frustration. She despised Chloe with every fiber of her being. Why on earth would she ever feel grateful to her?


    Brian, on the other hand, paid Willow no mind. His eyes followed the direction Chloe had gone.


    Now that he finally understood his own feelings, an even deeper restlessness stirred within him. She had only just left, yet he was already aching to see her again.


    Chloe followed the orphanage director into the hotel’s medical room. Maisie Fulmer, the child who had fallen into the water,y on the bed, her face still clouded with fear.


    But the moment she saw Chloe, she struggled to her feet and threw herself into thetter’s arms.


    “I’m so sorry,” the orphanage director said with an apologetic smile. “Maisie has been in distress ever since we pulled her out, crying and asking for you.”


    “It’s alright,” Chloe murmured, holding Maisie gently. “What’s wrong? You’re safe now. There’s nothing to fear.”


    “I’m still scared… I’m so scared!” Maisie sobbed. The ordeal of nearly drowning had clearly left her shaken.


    “Don’t be scared. I’m here. If you’re ever in danger, I’ll save you,” Chloe said.


    “Really?” Maisie looked up, her face still etched with the terror of her narrow escape.


    “Yes, really. I’ll save you. I promise!” Chloe said firmly.


    Her steady, resolute voice calmed Maisie and eased her fear, but it made Curtis, who had just stepped into the doorway, freeze in ce.


    Those words… They were almost identical to what he had heard while drifting in and out of


    consciousness in the river all those years ago.


    Why was Chloe saying them now? And why did her figure keep ovepping with the hazy silhouette he


    had seen in that half–conscious dream of the past?


    Who was the one who saved him back then?