After Divorcing my Captain Husband (Chloe and Michael)

"Ma'am, you'll have to pay for the damage you've caused to our resort's property. And besides, don't you know this is a significant safety hazard..." The staff member continued to chatter, but Michael didn't hesitate. He scooped Chloe up from the floor and carried her out of the room. "I can walk on my own..."

"You inhaled a lot of smoke just now. I'm taking you for a checkup."

She was pregnant now, and it must have taken quite a bit of burning to trigger the smoke alarm. There were even some streaks of soot on her face. Chloe struggled a bit in his arms. "Put me down first. I still have things to take care of."

She needed to find out who was behind this.

"Someone deliberately locked me in. I have to get to the bottom of this."

Michael looked into her determined eyes and sighed, "I'll go with you."

This time, Chloe didn't refuse.

She didn't know where to find the chairman, so she decided to try her luck at the conference room she had visited earlier.

As she appeared at the conference room door, she saw the assistant who had greeted her initially. The assistant's eyes widened in surprise at her disheveled appearance. "Ms. Nelson, what are you doing here?"

"Is your chairman done with his meeting?"

The assistant stammered, utterly confused, "It's over, Mr. Portman is currently inside..."

Before he could finish, Chloe walked straight over and pushed open the conference room door.

Two people were seated inside, and one was standing.

Both of the seated individuals had smiles on their faces. Chloe recognized one of them. It was Ariana.

Behind her stood a man, the same employee who had offered to take Chloe to the lounge over an hour ago.

So it was Ariana behind this.

Jeremy Portman was startled to see Chloe. "Ms. Nelson, why are you back?"

"Back? Shouldn't I be back?"

Chloe frowned, and her eyes filled with anger.

"Ms. Carey said you had something urgent come up and wouldn't be able to discuss the partnership with us today. Has Ms. Nelson's matter been resolved?"

Jeremy looked at her disheveled appearance, then glanced at the equally puzzled assistant behind her, even more confused.

Something urgent came up.

So that was what Ariana told him.

Chloe walked up to Ariana, looking down at her. "Ms. Carey, would you please explain why you said I had something urgent and left, and why you had your people lock me in a room at the resort?" Ariana's face paled. She hadn't expected Chloe to escape from that room.

"What? Wait, Ms. Nelson, I don't understand what you're saying. Ms. Carey is also here today to discuss the partnership. I was planning to choose one of you to collaborate with."

Jeremy's words made everything clear to Chloe.

No wonder Ariana had been so hostile towards her from the start. It turned out they were competitors.

But the tactics she used were simply too low-class.

Chloe looked at Ariana, a cold glint in her eyes.

"Ms. Carey, I understand you want this project, but using such underhanded tactics is truly unprofessional. Locking me in a room under the pretense of Mr. Portman's name? Do you have so little confidence in yourself?" Chloe wasn't wrong. If Ariana wasn't insecure about her skills, she wouldn't be so afraid of competition. Ariana's face turned sour.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Jeremy, having heard all this, finally understood. He looked at Ariana with disappointment in his eyes.