Chapter 105 His Past

By the time Meryl had removed the IV and reached the company entrance, Chandler had already disappeared.

A hint of loneliness flashed in her eyes, but just then, a rare vintage car pulled up in front of her.

Meryl’s eyes brightened again.

Walter stepped out of the car, saying, “Mrs. Aniston, Mr. Aniston asked me to take you home.”

Meryl instinctively glanced at the back seat, but Chandler wasn’t there.

She thought, “He’s clearly upset, yet he still sent Walter to drive me back?”

She bent down and stepped into the car.

On the way, Meryl noticed that the car wasn’t heading to their home but to the apartment she had rented for the past few days.

It seemed Chandler had been secretly keeping an eye on her.

Deeply touched, Meryl couldn’t help but wonder, “Chandler, what kind of man are you, really?”

She knew he was a man of integrity, the head of the Aniston family, wielding immense power.

But beyond that, her understanding of him was limited to that one time, ten years ago, when she had saved his life.

Back then, he had been covered in blood, with a gaping wound in his chest, lying in an inconspicuous haystack in the countryside.

If she hadn’t happened to know acupuncture and managed to stop his bleeding, he likely wouldn’t have survived.

“Mrs. Aniston, are you thinking about Mr. Aniston?” Walter glanced at the rearview mirror.

The streetlights outside cast dappled shadows on Meryl’s face as she leaned quietly against the back seat, murmuring, “I think I’ve upset him.”

“You flirted with Mr. Aniston in front of everyone like that. He believed it was real, but you were just acting. How could he not be upset?”

His words were like a wake-up call, and Meryl suddenly understood.

She thought, “So that’s where the problem lies.”

Walter continued, “Mr. Aniston is actually someone who’s been starved of love.”

“What do you mean?”

Walter’s tone turned somber.

“When he was three months old, he was sent to live with a farmer’s family. Within a few years, the family had children of their own, and he was pushed out to the woodshed, eating cold leftovers, barely clothed in the dead of winter. For fifteen years, the Aniston family ignored him completely.”

Meryl felt her heart clench as she listened.

She had never imagined Chandler had gone through something like that. She thought, “Isn’t that abuse? But the Aniston family is such a powerful household. How could they not find room for a three-month-old child… and drive him out of the family?”

“And after he turned fifteen?”

“At fifteen, he caught a lucky break and was selected by the police academy. It wasn’t until last year, when the Aniston family needed an heir, and none of the other branches were up to the task, that Galaxy Holdings Group suffered massive losses, and Sir Aniston called him back from retirement. He fought his way back to the Aniston family’s ranks on his own merit.”

Meryl thought, “They ignored him for over twenty years, only to remember him when they needed something? How ironic!”

Meryl suddenly recalled the scar on Chandler’s chest. It must have been from one of his missions at the police academy.

So, all these years, he has been living on the edge, risking his life every day.

Meryl furrowed her brows.

“Mrs. Aniston, people often say Mr. Aniston is ruthless and cold. But since he was little, no one has ever shown him kindness.”

“When other children had the love of their parents and the warmth of family, all he had was a cold woodshed and endless farm chores.”

“I understand.” Meryl nodded.

In his early years, Chandler endured psychological torment.

At the police academy, he faced relentless physical exhaustion from daily training and missions.

No wonder when she saved him back then, Chandler remembered it for a full decade.

Her act of saving him was probably one of the few moments of warmth and kindness Chandler had experienced in his 29 years of life.