The High-Libido CEO’s Cold Wife Chapter 04
Lydia did not look the way I had imagined.
She had clear skin, an innocent expression, and a pair of simple glasses. Her conservative office clothes tnade her look like a recent graduate entering her first professional job.
“I’m so sorry.” She hurried to retrieve the cake box.
Unfortunately, the cakes had been crushed inside.
Lydia looked close to tears. “Mrs. Caldwell, I’m so sorry.”
Before I could answer, the comments flooded my vision.
[Lydia didn’t do it on purpose. Chloe isn’t going to use this against her, is she?]
[The cakes were ruined, but Julian doesn’t even like sweets.]
[He wouldn’t have taken a single bite anyway.]
[Does Chloe think she’s better than Lydia?]
[Three years as Mrs. Caldwell, and she’s already forgotten where she came from.]
[Is she going to slap Lydia?]
[After all, Lydia will soon replace her as Mrs. Caldwell.]
The comments interpreted a simple accident as proof that Lydia and I were destined to become
enemies.
This was our first meeting, and neither of us knew the other’s intentions. Condemning her because of strangers’ predictions would have been irrational.
I ignored the comments. “It’s fine.
Would you throw the box away for me?”
Lydia looked mournfully at the ruined cakes. “They looked so beautiful.
What a shame.”
An executive assistant arrived to escort me into the CEO suite.
She explained that Lydia was an intern recommended by Quinn and was temporarily rotating through the executive-assistant team.
“Mrs. Caldwell, Mr. Caldwell and Quinn are inside. I’ll take you in.”
[Chloe didn’t make trouble for Lydia. Was that an act?]
[Quinn is the divorce attorney Julian hired.]
[Either way, the divorce is inevitable.]
I entered the suite.
Julian and Quinn were indeed discussing divorce documents.
Julian glanced toward my hands the moment I entered, and a brief expectation crossed his face
before he could hide it.
When he saw they were empty, he quietly looked away.
“Quinn, I’d like to speak with my wife alone. Please wait outside.”
“Of course, Mr. Caldwell.” Quinn rose and passed me on his way out.
Only Julian and I remained in the office.
He spoke slowly. “Chloe, did you come to discuss the divorce?”
I glanced at the two sets of papers on his desk.
“You already had everything drafted?” I picked up one copy and skimmed the proposed terms.
He had prepared every detail.
With every term already written and organized, declaring that I wanted to remain his wife suddenly
felt like offering him another chance to reject me.
The assets offered to me filled two full pages.
I searched the list carefully.
The private preserve and my laboratory were the only things missing.
They were what I wanted most.
Without thinking, I asked, “Why isn’t it here?”
Julian raised his eyes. “The thing you want most isn’t included?”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
Expectation flickered in his gaze. “What do you want most, Chloe?”
“What I want most is…” I almost said the laboratory.
The words reached my lips before I understood what a mistake that would be.
If I told him the lab mattered most, he would be deeply disappointed.
The comments became frantic.
[Say it, supporting character!]
[Are the words my laboratory too difficult?]
[If you ask, he’ll give it to you.]
[You get the lab, Lydia gets Julian, and everyone wins.]
But I knew why I had come today.
I wanted to save our marriage.
It was not only because Julian had given me a mountain and a laboratory.
I sincerely believed he had been a wonderful partner.
So I changed my answer. “What I want most, Julian, is you.”
