The following morning, Zoey couldn’t recall the question Laurence had whispered in her ear the previous night and only had a hazy recollection of a dream she had.Having woken up earlier, Laurence had gone to the kitchen and made a simple breakfast. After finishing the sandwich on the plate, she took a bottle of yogurt from the refrigerator and grabbed her backpack hanging by the door as she went out to take the subway at the residential area entrance. As it was the morning rush hour, the train was crowded. Zoey felt her legs aching from standing too long in her high heels. She managed to get a seat, but after only two stops, it was time to get off again.The office building was in the central business district, where skyscrapers stood densely. Probably because Zoey was in a good mood, she thought the weather was great—the sky was blue, and the sun was bright. Zoey clocked in and was the last person to reach the office, where everyone was already busy as a bee. Anne sippe
The reporter had only one hour to conduct the interview, and the time ran out as soon as she finished asking those questions. Mathew courteously led her and the cameramen to the lift. “We’ve to review all published articles, so please send yours to my email before publishing it.” As it was not easy to secure the interview, the reporter dared not to complain about it even if she wanted to. “Okay, I will. See you next time.” “Goodbye.” Matthew saw them off and was about to go to Laurence’s office when he suddenly came to a halt. After thinking about it, he changed his mind and returned to his office. “There’s no hurry in reporting to the CEO. Besides, his wife is still with him, and it’s best not to disturb them,” he thought. In the CEO’s office, Zoey felt embarrassed. Laurence had been staring at her wordlessly since the reporter had left. She wanted to turn and leave, but she still had an hour before she could leave work. After a while, she tried to sound calm, sayi
Janet was confused by his question, and her smile faded. She wondered if they just shared the same name.She still remembered how young Zoey liked playing with Shawn. That little boy was like her tail, following her everywhere. He skipped classes often too. He was thin, just like a pet that had been injured before, and pitiful since nobody cared about him. He was always with Zoey because she was his only friend. When his parents came to pick him up, he'd cling tightly to Zoey, unwilling to leave. Zoey thought her arm would fall off.After a while, Janet asked, "Are you Shawn Zuckman?""Yes.""Then I should be right." His question had her baffled. Since it seemed like he didn’t remember anything, Janet started questioning if her memory had failed her. After all, she'd been lying here for many years, so she couldn't be sure. "I may have gotten it wrong as well.""Is that right?" Shawn's knuckles turned whiter.Janet replied, "Yeah, I still have a headache. There are some things
Shawn gripped Zoey’s arm tightly and stared at her icily. “Did we really not know each other?”His grip was much stronger than an average man’s. Zoey felt like her arm would be crushed soon. The pain caused her to frown. “I didn’t know you before. How do you not know that?” She thought that he would probably never regain his memories of their childhood. Perhaps that was for the best. Zoey looked down, her long lashes casting a shadow on her face. She pursed her red lips. “I really never met you before high school.”Shawn looked at Zoey closely, observing her expression. Even though he couldn't notice any signs of her lying, he knew that she wasn't telling the truth. Zoey’s mother had just woken up, so she couldn’t have been lying.Shawn was very curious about Laurence’s past with her.“Are you very disappointed, Mr. Zuckman?” Zoey tried to agitate him so that he would let her go.“No. I’m just curious.”Shawn slowly let go of her, and Zoey immediately stepped back from him. She wanted
After breaking the news to her, Zoey anxiously waited for her mother to respond.During the silence, she came up with a bunch of lies about what a loving couple she and Laurence were, hoping to convince her mother that they'd gotten married because they loved each other and that she was living a happy life with him.Janet sighed after a few more seconds. She looked at her daughter’s frantic expression and gently asked, “So you’re married?”“Yes.”“Does he treat you well?” Janet wasn't interested in anything else. All she wanted to know was whether her daughter was being cared for.Zoey lowered her gaze and nodded. “He treats me very well.”It wasn’t a complete lie; though he was mainly violent toward her, there were also times when he was nice to her.Zoey thought back to when she and Laurence had just gotten married. They'd lived in relative harmony, perhaps because they hadn't interacted much with each other back then.She'd kept within her boundaries, and he'd also been courteous to
Zoey didn’t understand him. Nothing she said pleased him, and, like a child, he never made an effort to hide his annoyance. It was as if he was worried that Zoey wouldn’t know that he was upset.She was already trying her best to say the things that he wanted to hear, but he was never satisfied.Laurence looked at her, and the corners of his mouth were slightly curled up. She stubbornly kept her gaze lowered and stared at his shadow on the ground instead of looking at him.Seeing this, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.Laurence’s grip was strong as he pinched her chin with his icy fingers to raise her face. “Are you ignoring me?”After all this time, Zoey had learned how to lie to him naturally. She blinked innocently and said, “No.”Laurence stared into her eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking. After a while, he said, “I was the one wrongfully accused of doing things I didn’t do, so why do you look like the one who was wronged instead?”Before Zoey could answer,
Zoey thought she'd misheard him asking her to get lost because Laurence very rarely used such rough language with her. She was nonplussed before getting her senses back, and she nodded. She turned around to leave without saying anything. She hadn't wanted to come, and she wouldn't have known that he was sick if Matthew hadn't told her. She couldn't be bothered to give him any opportunity to insult or humiliate her. Zoey went out the door and thoughtfully closed it for him before leaving. She walked down the stairs, and just as she reached the living room, he grabbed her wrist from behind. His grasp was hot, and he was gripping her wrist so tightly as if he were afraid she would disappear in the next second. Zoey stood where she was stiffly, already knowing who was gripping her hand without turning around. Laurence still had a high fever, but he'd fought against the discomfort and chased after her down the stairs. He shouldn't have chased after her and just let her leave. Howe
Their kissing turned into chaos. Zoey nearly fell off the couch a few times, and she was wearing a dress, which made it easier for him. Sunlight shone in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and Zoey felt so ashamed that she couldn't open her eyes. Their clothes were still immaculate, but the couch was a mess. She used all her strength to grip his hand and called out in a pleading tone for him to stop. But how could he possibly listen to her? He patted her back in consolation insincerely and said, "Nobody can see us, and nobody will know."Zoey felt hot all over, and she could no longer take it. They finally finished after a long time, and she needed a moment to catch her breath. Her pale face was now flushed, and she fought against the soreness to sit up and smooth out her dress. As she got up, Laurence asked her where she was going."I'm going to take a bath." Laurence nodded, but he was still worried that she would leave. "Go to the master bedroom," he said. Zoey felt slig