Chapter 420 A Ploy
Nestled in his arms, the woman leaned against his chest, her coy demeanor striking right at his weakness. Chandler suddenly realized Meryl had him totally whipped.
Meryl’s voice continued, “Do you know how many ways I had to think of to escape from Dalton?”
As she spoke, Meryl extended her hand towards Chandler. Her palm bore a visible cut from a shard of porcelain. Chandler’s eyes darkened at her injury, a flicker of anger clearly rising in their depths. He grabbed Meryl’s hand, gripping it tightly as he asked anxiously, “How did this happen? Did Dalton do this?”
Meryl bit her lip and shook her head. “I did it to escape. I cut him with a piece of porcelain.”
It was a case of hurting the enemy at the cost of injuring herself. She had indeed cut Dalton, but not without wounding herself in the process. She continued, “I overheard Zane calling Dalton, saying they’d lured you here. I was scared something might happen to you, so I came up with a plan to hurt Dalton and steal his car keys.”
Meryl lifted her head, looking into Chandler’s eyes. She knew full well why Chandler was so angry. It wasn’t just about jealousy. The angrier Chandler got, the more it showed he cared about her. Meryl didn’t want this incident to create a rift between them.
These words successfully dissipated a good portion of the anger in Chandler’s heart, but he still maintained a stern expression. “How can you be sure Dalton’s act just now wasn’t a ploy? A deliberate setup to gain your sympathy? You even hugged him and told me not to harm him! You’re actually protecting him!”
Meryl was silent for a moment, then said, “If Dalton hadn’t taken that knife for me, I’d be the one injured. Considering that, I can’t let anything happen to him at your hands.”
After all, the situation had been so urgent, and Zane’s attack was both vicious and precise, leaving no room for error. In her mind, Dalton couldn’t possibly be in cahoots with Zane. Meryl had clearly seen the dagger plunged into Dalton’s chest, dangerously close to his heart. He could quickly lose his life over this. She didn’t believe Dalton would orchestrate such a scene just to win her sympathy. Having grown up with Dalton, Meryl understood his character. Though he might be swayed by others’ provocations, blinding him temporarily, his heart wasn’t genuinely malicious.
Meryl was more inclined to believe that Zane had manipulated Dalton. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have quickly retaliated against Zane with a kick, causing Zane to hit his head on the fake mountain and pass out right after Zane had attempted to harm her. Dalton played a big part in Zane’s successful arrest.
Hearing Meryl’s unwavering faith in Dalton left a bitter taste in Chandler’s mouth. His face darkened once again. No man wanted his wife to have such a long-standing childhood sweetheart. Worse still, this old flame seemed to hold a special place in Meryl’s heart, as she trusted him unconditionally when trouble arose.
Meryl let out a sigh. Seeing Chandler’s grim expression, she knew he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion again. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mix of exasperation and understanding. “Chandler, Dalton and I are ancient history. There’s nothing between us anymore. This kidnapping was a complete fluke."
Meryl meant every word she said from the bottom of her heart. For her, Dalton was ancient history. He just couldn’t let go, and Chandler kept getting jealous over it. The whole thing was a vicious cycle. There was nothing she could do about Dalton, so she pinned her hopes on Chandler. Meryl knew she and Dalton could never be together. She wasn’t one to backtrack on her choices. In her book, once you missed your chance, that was it. She always looked forward, never dwelling on people or things from the past.
Meryl leaned into Chandler’s embrace, wishing he could understand her feelings. “Once his wounds heal, you can punish him however you want. I won’t stop you. I’m not protecting him. It’s just that Dalton lost a lot of blood, and he got hurt because of me. I can’t turn a blind eye to that. You get where I’m coming from, right?”