Noah regarded Maddox wordlessly. The young man was beaten up so badly, but it did nothing to diminish his refined good looks. Chuckling lightly, he murmured repeatedly, “Held hands, have you? With which filthy hand did you hold hers?” Rising, he picked up a baseball bat. Maddox raised his eyes and glared at him. He couldn’t believe this was how Gwynn’s husband was. She was so slender and fragile, while Noah was so cruel and violent.Gritting his teeth, the young man said, “We’re just friends! You might own her body, but you’ll never own her mind. She’ll never be yours. Believe me when I say she’ll break free from you someday.”Picking up the document, he read it. A philosophy student?Snorting, he slipped his hands into a pair of white gloves and put on a pair of safety goggles. Instead of wasting another word on Maddox, he swung the bat at him.A minute later, both of Maddox’s hands were ruined. A bloodcurdling scream filled the air. Lowering his gaze, Noah smiled fa
“Noah!”Zoe jolted awake. She opened her eyes and it was pitch-black in her room. She just had a nightmare about Noah and Gwynn. At first, he treated his wife well, but they ended things on a sour note. They were going through the same thing as her and Mason, painful and miserable.Sitting up, she curled up and held herself. She was still trembling to this moment. The dream felt too real. All of a sudden, someone held her shoulders. Raising her eyes, she saw Mason in the darkness. He was wearing a bathrobe and sitting in a wheelchair. If it wasn’t for the wheelchair, she wouldn’t have been able to tell that there was anything unusual about him.His voice was gentle. “Yanni’s going to be fine very soon!”“I know that,” she murmured. Raising her head, she looked at him with a silent plea. She needed to hug him now.The tough act she put up in daylight had all but come undone at this moment.This was the first time she behaved like this. Her voice was both soft and broken. “Can
She wanted to know if he was telling the truth or bluffing her.Mason stared right back at her. They knew each other very well because they had been married for several years. That was why she knew he still had feelings for her. She was sure of it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone to Kirk Manor, had sex with him, and held onto him so tightly.The truth was that she couldn’t take it anymore after the first couple of rounds. However, she pushed herself to go on just so she could satisfy him.She wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t love him from the bottom of his heart.Mason felt sorry for himself. They loved each other but they could never get the timing right. In the past, Zoe loved him. Then, she grew disillusioned and stopped loving him over time. After that, it was his turn to fall in love with her. Now, however, they couldn’t love each other. Every time he got his hopes up, one glance at his busted legs was more than enough to kill his dreams of getting back together w
She looked at the kids from the rear-view mirror, swapped glances with Mia, and smiled faintly.Fifteen minutes later, a car pulled into the private route leading to her manor. As it was coming closer to the place, she saw that it was a black Land Rover. A man got out of the car. It was Liam. She didn’t say anything, but she wore a nonchalant expression. Mia, however, couldn’t hold her temper in check and exploded, “How dare he show up here?! He has done enough to tear up our entire family. Why does he still show his face around us?”Zoe hadn’t had the chance to tell her stepmother about Noah and Gwynn. Now that Liam was here, she thought perhaps she should fill her in. “Noah married his sister, Gwynn, a year ago. She was only twenty-one years old.”Mia was completely stunned.After a brief moment, she came to her senses and said, “That’s not possible! We were also staying in Silvercrest for the past year. How did he manage to keep such a huge thing from us? Are you sure Liam
Liam also kept dreaming about Zoe. As time went by, he came to realize that he wasn’t taking pity on her. Instead, he missed her. He reminisced about the moments when she stood in front of him and told him how tragic her marriage was, sounding heartbroken and looking all vulnerable. He missed it when she used to regard him with trusting eyes. That was why he’d pay her a visit whenever he went on a work trip to Silvercrest. He even sent Gwynn to Silvercrest Art College so that he could have another good reason to visit Zoe. All they ever did was have a meal together or have a cup of coffee, but that was good enough for him!Now, however, all of that was lost to him. It didn’t matter how much he loved her, he was simply undeserving of her. After all, his love was despicable and tainted.…Zoe walked back into her manor. Mia was playing with the kids. Hearing footsteps, she raised her eyes to look at Zoe, who was slipping out of her shoes at the door. She said to her stepmo
Zoe went upstairs by herself.She had only gone to the eastern master bedroom on the second floor. Opening the door, she crossed the private lounge and walked into the bedroom. There were no wedding photos above the headboard. The bedroom lacked any of a young lady’s usual belongings. There was only a small canvas on the couch. It was only half-done, but she could tell from the features that it was a portrait of Noah. There were only some lady’s clothes in the fitting room. What was weird was that there were even fewer men’s clothes in there!Touching the fine fabric of the lady’s clothes, she could already tell that Noah hadn’t been treating Gwynn well. Otherwise, why would there only be a few clothes when they’ve supposedly lived together for a year?She didn’t stay there for too long. After she had looked around, she went downstairs slowly. Kim was visibly unnerved when she came down.She asked, “Am I right in saying that Noah doesn’t come here frequently?”Kim didn’t l
Zoe didn’t let him intimidate her. Looking back at him, she said, “I can’t help you! They flew out of the country and I’ve no idea when they’ll be back. I don’t think they’ll stay in the same place when they come back. “I’m sure you know this, but Noah spent two years garnering more powers and influence than I have in Silvercrest. There’s nothing I can do if he intends to hide from me.”“I know you’re telling me the truth. I’m just trying to leverage on your conscience,” he said.She responded mockingly, “Here I am, thinking conscience is the last thing you care about in the world.”Then, she had no intention to talk with him further. Putting on her sunglasses, she said, “I’ll be in touch when I have news!”The next thing she knew, he gripped her arm. It was reminiscent of how he had grabbed her hand all those years ago. He was also touching the slash marks on her wrists back then. Back then, she was weak and vulnerable. Now, however, she was much more powerful. She was no lo
It was night and Mason was wearing a white bathrobe on the second floor of his manor. Sitting on his couch, he had a blanket on his knees as the private doctor massaged him. She said, warmly, “Dr. Cecil said that you're getting some sensation back to your legs. Your right arm seems to be recovering well too! Looks like the newly formed research team is making strides.”Did she just mention a newly formed research team?Mason didn’t seem to recall investing in it. The private doctor knew she had let it slip, but there was nothing else she could do other than tell him the truth. “Ms. Zoe sponsored it. The first donation was already twenty million dollars, much less the subsequent ones.“This is how Dr. Cecil put it. If the research team needs to be maintained for five years, then it would probably exhaust Ms. Zoe’s entire wealth and properties.” She continued to massage him and said, “Ms. Zoe is doing everything she can to help you, Mr. Mason. She’s one heck of a lady.”Mason rem