Chleo could feel her heart pounded hard as if it wanted to bounce on the green field. She felt... mysteriously felicitous when she realized Axel would always love her no matter what she did.
But her heart cramped in great pain when she saw his suffering expression. Remembering all the hateful and cursed words escaped from her lips, filling her soul with an enormous sense of regret.
What is this feeling? Chleo clutched her unbelievable aching chest, without knowing Axel gawking at her each expression.
Axel thought Chleo could no longer stand living with him and wanted to go home as soon as possible. He knew that sooner or later, he had to let her go. But he did not expect their parting to be this fast.
"Get ready. We will return to America in two days." Axel walked to go to his room, leaving his stunned wife.
No one could see her face became pale as white as snow. If they returned to America, would that mean Axel would let her go? Does that mean they would take a different path for good?
Still clutching her increasingly tight chest, Chleo sat limply on the couch. Her tears were irrepressible.
Hurt.
It's too painful. Why did the thought about the break-up make her heart aching? Even when she fought with Alexis and parted from him for months, she felt nothing like this.
Now she knows the answer. Chleo realized what made it different when she was with Alexis. Her feelings for Alexis were those of gratitude and appreciation. The man was like the sun shining on her darkness-filled life. She felt indebted to him and found comfort when Alexis by her side.
But her feelings for Axel... weren't feelings of gratitude or feelings of great regret. She felt that if the man were happy, she would be happy too. When Axel was sad, so was she.
Chleo still clearly remembered the man who brought laughter to her life during her stay in Seattle. When she noticed the frown on Axel when he received not-so-good news from his workplace, she prayed hard for him.
Chleo also remembered when she reunited with Alexis; the first person that came into her mind was Axel.
She remembered whatever incident that occurred to affect her mood; Axel was the first person she thought to rely on.
Why only now did she realize it? Why now and not a few weeks ago?
Chleo burst into tears that night under her breath. She covered her mouth, so it was muffling sobbed that escaped from her lips.
This night was the hardest and most painful moment she ever had.
And after that, Axel never showed up again, no matter how long Chleo waited for him.
***
As soon as they arrived at the airport, Chleo sprinted shortly to hug her mother. She missed her mother... a lot. Her mother's warm embrace soothed her soul and warmed her broken heart. Not to mention, she felt safe and treasured when she felt her father's giant muscular arms.
She couldn't help but smile when her father kissed her crown. It made her feel regret when she remembered she once decided to elope with Alexis two years ago.
She was too childish and too reckless, almost to break her parent's heart like that.
Axel watched the family reunion with a guilty look. He shouldn't have separated Chleora from her family. Even though she doesn't show it often, everyone could see that the girl remarkably loves her parents as much as her parents do her.
It's no wonder Vincent was adamant about his eldest daughter's relationship with the son from the cause of Chleo's nightmare. Nor was he surprised to hear that Chleo fought with Alexis because the girl obeyed her parents more than she had to be with the young man.
Chleo often said she didn't like her parents and thought her mother and father didn't love her. But Axel knew, deep inside Chleo's heart, that girl loved her family more than anything.
It looks like he has made a big mistake. He shouldn't go out of control and threaten the girl. If he could think clearly and talk about Chleo and Alexis's rushed marriage, maybe he could persuade the girl to reconsider it.
He didn't have to use the girl's family to threaten Chleo. All he needed to do was invite her to sit down and had fine dining together while discussing her reckless decisions.
Chleo may seem like a stubborn girl and quickly acted based on her emotion, but he knows… that girl was a good listener.
After making sure Chleo was safe with her family, Axel politely said his farewell and walked to his car. The assistant who had been settled in Seattle had come to New York to pick him up. Without further ado, Axel came to Alexis, who happened to be in the apartment.
Alexis opened the door and was surprised to see who had come to his place.
"I have something to talk to you."
"Do you want to show off your married life? Chleora loves me. She will never love you even if you force her to marry you." sarcasm the young man pouring salt to his wounded heart.
Axel already knows that. He knows that very well, but his heart still ached when he heard it directly.
"I didn't come to discuss Chleora. I know what you are doing. You hate Regnz for killing your father and making it seem like an accident."
"…"
"The reason why Regnz is against your relationship with the girl is that they know you are your father's son. I purposely separated Chleo from you because I know you want to use her to get revenge. But have you ever put yourself in their shoes? They have a reason why they resent your father so much."
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
Axel sighed heavily and then handed him a brown envelope containing the results of his investigations over the past two years.
Alexis accepted it and read it carefully. His forehead frowned as he read the content. Alexis had no idea why Stanley and Vincent had a grudge against his father. He had no idea that it turned out that the cause of Chleora's acute phobia was his father.
Alexis did not know it because he was only investigating his father's death, which he found very suspicious.
It never occurred to him that his father died because the dead man had committed an unforgivable sin. Alexsei Peskhov might not the best father he could ever ask, but he still was his father. He never thought his father was so heartless to try raping someone else's wife and treat an innocent little girl so mercilessly.
Axel watched the young man looked stunned to acknowledge all this information. The blue king was relieved that at least he could make the young man understand. After learning the truth, he hoped that Alexis would be willing to stop his revenge plans and forget about the past.
If only this young man sincerely loved Chleo and made him accepted into the Regnz family life, Axel was willing to disappear from Chleo's life forever.