Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings

Chapter 69 Open Provocation 

Faced with Ian’s apology and confession, Erin’s heart was thrown into chaos. She supported his body, preventing him from getting any closer. 

The anxiety and hesitation in her eyes boosted lan’s confidence. He continued, “Erin, please just give me one last chance to make amends! I swear, I don’t even love Tracy!” 

Recalling his initial betrayal, Erin’s heart ached. She asked tearfully, “If you don’t love her, why did you choose to betray me, our love, and our marriage?” 

Ian grabbed her shoulders with both hands tightly and spoke urgently, “Don’t you understand? I’d only gone to her in the first place because all I had been thinking about at that time was giving you a taste of your own medicine! You kept resisting and rejecting me, so I thought you didn’t love nor trust me!” 

“You thought I didn’t love you? That I didn’t trust you?” Erin’s smile was pale and tired. “If I didn’t love you, would I have married you? If I didn’t trust you, would I have given you everything I had then for you to start your own business?” 

Thinking about the past, Ian’s eyes filled with tears. He sighed. “Of course, I know that now. It’s just–please just think of everything as my fault!” 

Erin watched as the man she once loved admitted to his faults. Deep down, part of her had begun to soften a little. 

Ian looked at her titled face under the dim light. She was so beautiful, so delicate. Instinctively, he tugged her chin toward himself and angled his face to kiss her. 

Erin was still hesitating when her phone rang. It was Chandler! 

Shocked, she pushed Ian away. The atmosphere earlier had gotten out of control. She almost forgave lan! She blamed and cursed herself for being soft–hearted. 

Walking toward the dressing table, she grabbed her handbag and walked directly into the bathroom, locking the door behind 

her. 

Ian watched her coldly. He knew that Chandler must have called her. 

In the bathroom, Erin pressed the answer button with some trepidation. 

“Why is Ian in your bedroom, Erin?” 

She was immediately alarmed as soon as she heard his icy voice. How did he know that Ian was in her bedroom? 

She retorted, “You sent someone to follow me?” 

Chandler was sitting in his car at that moment, a cigarette held between his fingers. The smoky halo in the compartment he inhabited made his gaze seem dreamlike and hazy. He looked in the direction of Erin’s window on the floor at which she was located, all the while speaking through thinned lips, “If I hadn’t sent someone to follow you, you would’ve long betrayed me 

“Chandler Frost, I already resigned, okay? I will not be your secret lover! I refuse to be! Whoever you choose to love in the future is none of my business. I do not want nor wish to be someone else’s replacement!” Thinking about Claire made her anger flare up instantly. 

“That deceitful young girl!” she thought. 

Chandler knitted his brow when he replied. “Replacement? Whose replacement are you?” 

Erin inhaled deeply. “Quit pretending. Claire loves Matthew, and you love Claire. You couldn’t have her, so you found me and 

proceeded to treat me like her replacement. There. I’ve said it. Are you happy now? Admit it. If you’re a fucking man, admit it— 

|| 

“Erin, listen to me. You are no one’s replacement. I want you, and it does not have to do with any other woman, 

alright? I’m 

giving you ten minutes to come downstairs. One minute later, and I’ll upload your photo onto all the major websites on the Internet!” Chandler hung up after that. 

“You bastard–Chandler Frost, you–hey!” Erin was so mad that she hurled her phone against the bathtub. 

Jan’s voice sounded from outside the door. “Erin, are you alright?” 

Erin immediately rushed over to check on her phone. She picked it up and noticed that apart from it being a little wet, it was still functioning properly. She suppressed the rage within her and stalked out of the bathroom. Without wasting any more time, she grabbed her clothes and returned to the bathroom, locking the door again. 

Ian watched her bring her clothes into the bathroom. He knew then that she was about to go out. When Erin was dressed with her handbag at the ready, he grabbed her arm as she was about to open her bedroom door. “You’re really going to see him, then?” 

He had looked down from the window earlier and saw a black Maybach parked downstairs. Even though he couldn’t clearly discern the car’s license plate, from the wealth radiating from the car alone, Ian immediately knew it was Chandler’s car. 

He was amazed that Chandler could drive overnight and reach Southwrok County this soon! 

“Let go of me, lan. It’s my business, and I’ll settle it myself!” Erin’s tone was evidently displeased. She was not in the mood to deal with Ian right now, and her patience was running thin. 

lan’s eyes flashed with anger. “Look at the time now! Are you going to see him in the middle of the night? He no doubt just wants to fuck you!” 

Erin answered expressionlessly, “I have no other choice.” 

Chandler’s threats had been tried and tested many times. He had long found her most vulnerable spots to target. 

“Are you really willing to sink that low? How much did he pay you for you to act like his prostitute, answering his commands and letting his wants eclipse your free will?” Ian’s eyes were red with anger. He itched to rush downstairs to beat some sense into Chandler, but the mere thought of Chandler’s identity and status stopped him from doing anything rash. 

Erin hit his hand with her bag. The chains on her bag forced him to let go in pain. 

“If you have the ability to prevent Chandler from finding me, lan, by all means, go ahead. If not, shut your fucking mouth. He has something on me, and I need to go-” 

She opened her bedroom door and left. Ian didn’t run out after her. When the door was shut again, he felt disappointment, and anger took hold of him. He could only watch as his ex–wife met up with another man in the middle of the night. He no longer had the right to control her actions anymore. 

Even if he had wanted to control her, he felt powerless in light of everything that had happened. 

lan’s heart was filled with raging anger. He couldn’t help but think about the female president of Soaring Electronics Corporation, Angela Wood. The confidential information he had gotten from his private detective unexpectedly showed that Angela was a lesbian even though she had been the one who seduced him at a party, leading him to quickly file a divorce with 

Erin. 

What he hadn’t expected was that it had all been a trap. Ian now suspected that the one who set the trap was none other than Chandler. He got up and walked to the window, pulling the curtains back slightly to reveal the black, jarringly conspicuous Maybach. His eyes gradually darkened with bloodthirsty rage. 

Meanwhile, in the car, Chandler felt the presence of a shadow. Even though the lights were off, a thin ray of coldness streamed through the gap between the curtains. 

Chandler watched as Erin mounted the passenger seat. Without saying another word, he forcefully pulled her over to him and attacked her lips with a storm of passionate kisses, completely ignoring Erin’s open protests. 

It wasn’t until the curtains in the window upstairs had closed that Chandler glanced provocatively in its direction and drove 

away. 

In the bedroom, Ian watched as Chandler provoked him openly, yet he was powerless to do anything! Angrily, he punched the wall next to the window, his knuckles fraying immediately. 

Momentarily, his lips curled in a sly smile. “Chandler, you just wait and see-” 

The car sped on the county roads. Chandler had yet to speak to Erin. She watched and contemplated his unpredictability, fear seizing her heart. He had kissed her as soon as she’d gotten into the car. Now, however, he was driving over the speed limit with an icy exterior. She felt herself trembling with fear. 

He had not spoken, and she dared not speak first either. 

It wasn’t until they drove onto the highway that Erin couldn’t help but ask, “Where are we going?” 

“Back to the city.” 

“What? Now? I don’t want to go back! I still haven’t told my mom-” Erin’s head was on the verge of exploding. Chandler’s selfish behavior was really suffocating her. 

Chandler glanced at her briefly. “What else? Do you wish to go back to sleep with Ian? Erin Lane, do you really have the audacity to betray me?”