Chapter 0002

Three days after the incident, Zoey felt safe. Her secret of that dark night was something she could hide from her parents and her brother. Fortunately, at the time of the incident, her parents were still abroad, and her brother was out of town on business.

Zoey also hadn't run into that person in the past three days. Thank goodness.

Right now, Zoey was with her brother, Hayden, who had forced her to come along with him to buy some books. She wasn't sure what kind of books, but he seemed insistent that she should accompany him.

"Why are we here?!" Zoey shrieked, already sweating and feeling incredibly nervous as Hayden brought her to Jonathan Robert's house.

The house belonged to THAT man's family.

Terrified of bumping into him, Zoey trembled. 'Somebody, help!'

"Jonathan is back from Paris. I wanna meet him," Hayden explained.

"And what does that have to do with me? You freaking liar! You said we were going to a bookstore. Argh!" Zoey screamed, torn between being angry at her brother and panicking at the thought of seeing that man. She really did not want to meet him.

No, no! W-what if Jonathan remembered what happened that night?! He could accuse Zoey and think she was a promiscuous girl or a desperate flirt.

And to make matters worse, Zoey used to admire him. It would be so easy for him to accuse her, wouldn't it?

"Gosh, you're being so dramatic!" Hayden stuffed an orange peel he had found in the car into his sister's mouth, making Zoey fall silent and even more irritated with him. "You should be happy. Why? Well, your kind-hearted brother here is reuniting you with your long-lost love after five years apart."

"That was a long time ago. I don't like him anymore. Besides, I already have a boyfriend," Zoey grumbled, refusing to get out of the car.

But Hayden, acting crazily, pulled her out of the car and carried her into the grand, luxurious mansion.

Once inside, Hayden finally put Zoey down, but he didn't let go of her hand. He kept dragging her along with him.

"Hayden, Zoey, come here, darling," called a middle-aged woman who still looked beautiful and youthful—Sophie, the mother of the man Zoey was so terrified of.

Blushing slightly, Zoey and Hayden approached her. They kissed her on the cheek and then joined their other cousins.

The Phillips and the Roberts family were close. In fact, Jonathan was Zoey and Hayden's cousin.

"Hey, Zoey, you're even prettier now."

"You've grown up a lot since we last saw you."

Zoey just smiled and nodded slightly in response to her cousins' comments. She silently prayed not to run into Jonathan again, as she had sworn never to see him again.

Secretly, Zoey glanced around, checking where the man she feared might be. 'He's an extreme introvert. There's no way he'd come out of his room. Hah, I think I'm safe,' Zoey thought, breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

"Zoey, what are you doing standing there? Sit down."

Zoey gave a shy smile and nodded once again. She looked around, searching for a place to sit. Some of her cousins were sitting on the floor, and others were on the sofa, forming groups. That was typical.

She really did not want to be there. She would rather be at the cafe than hang out there. The cousin she was close to, Jodie, wasn't even around. Right now, she was pondering where to sit.

'Hayden is such a bloody liar!' Zoey thought angrily, glancing at her brother, who was still standing right next to her, busy typing something on his phone.

If she sat with Raphael, their conversation would be too intense. If she sat with her female cousins, they'd just be gossiping non-stop. Zoey stretched out her hand toward the sofa beside her—intending to rest her arm there. But why did it feel like she was touching hair?

Zoey immediately turned to her side. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she realized whose head she had just touched.

It was Jonathan. The man she feared the most and the one who had stolen her virginity that night.