CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: YOU CAN HOLD ME AS LONG AS YOU WANT

Suddenly, both of them were startled.

Donovan Xavier held the woman in his arms, turned his head slightly, and asked in a hoarse voice, "You have a guest?"

Panic filled Chloe Preston’s eyes, and she hurriedly pushed him away. "Get up, quickly!"

What guest? Anyone who can just open my door and walk in... that has to be Dad!

She had just transferred the full 4.8 million into the account Ethan Irving gave her. The casino should have released her dad after receiving the money.

Suddenly, a crisp knock sounded on the bedroom door.

"Chloe, are you there? I’m back!"

Hearing a man’s voice, Donovan Xavier rolled over and pinned her beneath him, his face turning cold. "It’s a man?"

He didn’t even have a key to her house, yet some other man could just walk right in!

Facing his menacing gaze, Chloe sighed. "Donovan, you’re unbelievable..."

"That’s my dad!"

Donovan Xavier was taken aback for a moment, immediately retracting his murderous impulse.

The bedroom door was knocked on again. "Chloe, can I come in?"

Come in? No way! They were lying on the bed, completely naked. If her dad walked in now, what kind of epic disaster would that be!

Chloe shouted in panic, her voice hoarse and out of tune, "No! I’m changing!"

Silence fell outside the door.

Chloe pushed the man away, scrambling out of bed. She ran to the wardrobe and grabbed a white turtleneck and a pair of white pants. Her body was covered in hickeys he had left, and she had to find a way to cover them up.

Donovan Xavier got out of bed, bent over to pick up his black shirt and trousers from the floor, and methodically put them on one piece at a time. He had a tall, straight posture, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He carried himself with a refined air, like a power player accustomed to high society. He was the type of man who would stand out in any crowd.

"How do I look?"

He raised his hand, his long, slender fingers with their defined knuckles moving slowly as he tied his tie.

Chloe tidied her hair and glanced back, her red lips parting slightly. "You look great."

Why is he asking that all of a sudden? Is he insecure about how he looks?

Donovan Xavier approached and gently pulled her in by the waist. "Will your dad like me?"

Chloe was stunned for a few seconds before she found her voice. "You don’t actually want to go out and meet my dad, do you?"

"I do," Donovan Xavier replied.

"Absolutely not!"

"Why?"

Without further explanation, Chloe pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed. "You’re not allowed to go out. You have to hide in here."

Donovan Xavier’s brow furrowed in deep displeasure. "Chloe Preston, am I some dirty little secret that has to be hidden from the light? On what grounds are you not letting me out?!"

It’s not like he was unpresentable. What was so wrong with meeting her dad?

Seeing his anger, Chloe quickly straddled his thighs to coax him. "I need to go talk with my dad. Can you please not complicate things for me?"

As she spoke, she reached out a delicate, pale hand, hooking her fingertip around his long fingers and giving them a little shake.

"Next time, when we have time, you can go see him. Alright?"

"When is ’next time’? What’s the exact date? And when will *you* ever have time?"

Chloe was at a loss for words.

She was just trying to placate him. How was she supposed to know when ’next time’ would be!

Donovan Xavier met her slightly evasive gaze and sneered. "Miss Quinn, if I’m not mistaken, your ’next time’ and ’when there’s time’ really means ’never,’ doesn’t it?"

The door was knocked on again.

"Chloe, why aren’t you out yet? I think I hear a man’s voice in your room!"

Chloe panicked and said hurriedly, "It’s... it’s the TV!"

She glanced at Donovan. "I’m going out now. Don’t you dare come out!"

With that, she slid off his lap, turned, and left the room.

Donovan Xavier watched her slender, graceful back, his expression darkening slightly.

Chloe opened the door just a crack, slipped out, and immediately shut it behind her.

Wyatt Quinn even leaned in to try and peek inside, but he saw nothing.

"What are you doing? Acting all sneaky."

Chloe didn’t answer him. She walked to the sofa and sat down, the look in her eyes slowly turning cold. "Dad, didn’t you say last time that you wouldn’t gamble again?"

Wyatt Quinn walked over but said nothing.

Chloe glanced at him, then got up, went to the kitchen, and came back with a cleaver, which she placed on the table.

"I remember you said that if you gambled again, you’d let me chop off your hands. I can’t bring myself to do it, so you do it yourself!"

Wyatt Quinn trembled, throwing the cleaver to the ground in disbelief. "Chloe Preston, I’m your father! You’d really chop my hands off?!"

"I just lost a little money! Do you have to be so dramatic?! I’m your father! It’s your duty to spend money on me!"

Hearing this, Chloe’s composure began to crumble, and her eyes reddened. "What kind of father are you to me? Since I was a child, have you ever once cared for me?! All you know is how to gamble, gamble, and gamble some more! You even borrow from loan sharks and leave me with a mountain of debt to repay!"

At her words, Wyatt Quinn flew into a rage. He grabbed a glass from the table and smashed it at her feet. "Chloe Preston, how dare you speak to me with that tone!"

Chloe flinched, frightened by the sudden violence.

"If I hadn’t taken pity on you and picked you up, you might have frozen to death on the roadside by now! You owe the Quinn Family!"

"You’re just upset about that little bit of money you made, right? Fine! I’ll go win it back for you!"

With that, he turned and stormed out the door.

Chloe instinctively moved to stop him.

She knew. He was going to gamble again.

"Dad, I’m begging you, please don’t go gamble again..."

She called out to him, but her foot slipped, and she fell hard, her hands landing in the shattered glass.

It hurt. It hurt so much. Blood began to ooze from her palms.

Chloe looked up at the now-closed door as tears fell one by one, hitting the floor and staining the surface.

It’s always been this way. He gambles, and she works to pay for it. Every day, she had to think about how to earn more money, how to pay off his debts when the collectors came to their door. And then he would just go and gamble again. When would he ever let her go? She was so, so tired...

A part of Chloe wanted to ignore him, but she couldn’t. She was the Quinn Family’s adopted daughter, a child Wyatt Quinn had picked up from the side of the road.

She’d heard the story. When she was abandoned, she’d had a high fever. Covered in snow, she was on the brink of death. He had picked her up, taken her to the hospital, and saved her life. And while they never cared for her or loved her—beating and scolding her daily—they had, at the very least, given her a roof over her head, a shelter from the storm.

When she first became independent, she had tried to ignore them. As a result, all her relatives and neighbors called her an ungrateful brat, saying she’d be struck by lightning and die a horrible death for her impiety.

The next second, Donovan Xavier opened the door and came out.

His gaze landed on Chloe, who had fallen to the floor, and his pupils contracted sharply.

When Chloe noticed him, her nose began to sting. Her eyes reddened, and tears blurred her vision.

"Donovan Xavier... can you... can you come here and hold me? Just for a little while, okay...?"

Donovan Xavier said nothing. He walked over and knelt on the cold floor, pulling her into a tight embrace. He gently stroked her hair, then lowered his head to kiss her forehead, his eyes filled with nothing but heartache.

"I’m here," he murmured. "You can hold on for as long as you want..."