Abigail had met police officers before, and they always seemed very professional and made her feel safe. But these two police officers were different, and she felt a fear she could not explain. Something inside her told her something was wrong.One man said, "Ms. Renee, Ms. Zane, please come with us."Although scared, she and Esther went with them to the police station. A police car was parked near the convention center's main exit, not far from where they were. The two men started walking faster and faster, almost pulling Abigail and Esther with them. As they got closer to the car, Abigail's fear grew. Soon, something happened that showed she was right to be afraid.Just a few steps from the car, the two men suddenly grabbed Abigail and Esther, pushed them into the car, and locked the doors. It all happened so quickly that they had no chance to escape. They were trapped in the car. The driver started the car, and it sped down the road.Everything made sense now. Abigail had though
Abigail had been playing the role of a parent all day. When facing enemies, she never showed her fear, though she felt scared many times. She gritted her teeth and stayed strong. She told herself she must not show any fear or retreat. She had to hide her fear to protect Esther, who was depending on her. But when Xander appeared, she felt safe. He was her rock, and she could finally let down her guard and show her true self.Abigail looked up at him, ready to say many things, but before she could open her mouth, he asked with a frown, "What happened to your face? Why is it swollen?"Abigail did not want him to worry, so she tried to make a joke to lighten the mood. "Oh, I just lost a fight, so I bit myself in frustration."But Xander was not amused and called for Paxton, their bodyguard.Paxton hung his head. "I didn't keep Mrs. Zane safe. Please punish me, Mr. Zane."Xander looked really serious, and his eyes were sharp behind his silver glasses. "Punishing you will make it alrigh
"You've got to find a way to break free from your nightmares. Trust yourself to escape, and then those nightmares will never bother you again," Xander said. He had always known what Esther was afraid of. That incident was why he wanted to lock Nova in jail all those years ago. People said Xander was cold and heartless. Esther thought so too, feeling that her brother treated her like any ordinary person. She felt he would not even care if she died.Then one day, Esther got hurt. She woke up in pain during the night. Xander was sitting by her bed, looking worried, and putting medicine on her wound. That was when she knew she was not a child nobody liked. Only her parents did not like her. Her brother and grandmother really loved her. When her grandmother took her in when she was a little girl, Esther was free to talk as much as she wanted without being locked in a dark room, and she could eat all her favorite foods. Xander always cared about her without saying anything. Thinking about a
Abigail was too scared to speak her guess out loud. It was a soul-crushing thought. No one with even a tiny bit of humanity could do such a thing to his or her own daughter. Abigail so wished that Xander would deny it, tell her she was wrong, but instead, he just nodded seriously. Abigail's heart shattered instantly, and she almost heard the sound of it breaking. "So...""That's why I put him in jail," Xander suddenly said, his smile filled with firm resolve. "If he dares to hurt those I care about again, I won't hesitate to send him back.""Whatever you do, I support you, Xander," Abigail said.That was enough. That was all Xander wanted to hear. He continued, "Back then, Essy was just a little child. Not only did Nova bully her but he also locked her with over a dozen snakes in a dark room, leaving Essy in there for two whole days." There were things Xander knew and things he did not. Some of those unknown things, Esther was still too scared to mention.Carefully, Abigail reached
"I'll send you my address on WhatsApp," Stella said.Abigail glanced at the address Stella had sent over WhatsApp. It was close to The HC Residences, about a half-hour drive from the Zane residence if there was not any traffic. "I'm heading over now and should be there in about half an hour.""I'll wait for you," Stella replied.After ending the call with Stella, Abigail turned to Xander and asked, "Did Lucas go back to Hayshiport?""There's a big project in Hayshiport that he's leading," Xander replied. "He'll be there for the next two days.""That's good he's not here. Stella sounds down and wants to go for drinks. I need to be there for her," Abigail said.Xander was not too happy about his wife suddenly going to see someone else, but he did not stop her from seeing her friend. "I'll drive you there," he said."You have to wake up early tomorrow," Abigail replied. "I'll just drive myself. If we end up drinking, we can stay at a hotel close by."Xander did not like the idea o
After hearing that, Abigail did not want to listen anymore and, blushing, quickly ran off.Seeing her red face, Cassandra and Susanna asked with worry, "What did you hear, Abigail? Why is your face so red?""Grandma, Susanna... When Xander comes out, tell him I'll be waiting outside," Abigail quickly said, before dashing out. If not, they would surely bug her for details. She waited quite a while in the garage before Xander finally came out. She did not know what else he and Margaret had talked about, so she stayed quiet, feeling too shy to ask. But Xander was the first to say something."Why aren't you asking what Grandma and I talked about?"Abigail did not want to ask. She knew if she did, he would tell her, and she did not want to deal with that kind of awkwardness. "If Grandma wanted to chat with you alone, she probably wanted to keep it a secret. I don't want to make things hard for you."Xander just smiled and did not say anything else. He drove Abigail to the spot where St
Xander said, "Step out of the car."Malcolm asked, "What's wrong?"Xander said, "Who's your driver?"Malcolm responded, "You can be a chauffeur for your assistant, why can't you do the same for a good friend like me? Is it because I'm not as good-looking as Abigail?" Xander did not respond and just started the car, heading toward The HC Residences. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Malcolm suddenly blurted out, "I'm really curious, who is Abigail's husband? She could give up many opportunities for that guy."Xander asked, "What do you mean? She's always busy working. She doesn't have lots of admirers following her around."Malcolm started to say, "I—"Xander cut him off and asked, "You what?"Malcolm said, "I like Abigail. I've wanted to pursue her since the day I first saw her, and you know this. However, she turned me down simply by saying she's married. Now, I've known her for over a year and still haven't met the bugger who got to marry her."Xander, quietly seething at
Xander said, "Who has the time to trick you?""Are you not messing with me?" Malcolm said back. "Then why didn't you tell me you and Abigail are married, Xander? You've made me feel like a fool this past year."Xander responded flatly, "You've been a fool for more than just this year.""Xander, I... I thought we were friends, but to you, I'm just a fool!" Malcolm blurted out, his face flushing with anger. "I've decided, I'm not your friend anymore. I won't listen to you. Don't ever think you can boss me around again.""Oh, you can go now," Xander said nonchalantly."What did you say?" Malcolm asked, taken aback."I said, you can go now," Xander repeated."Wait, you invited me here to drink and now you're kicking me out? You just wanted to show off your marriage certificate?" Malcolm complained.Xander simply responded, "Yep."That single "yep" was enough to set Malcolm off. "Xander, you're heartless."Xander shrugged. "Just remembered, Abigail doesn't want me to drink, so I c