“Mr. Scott is already being generous. “After all, Miss Jenner’s wish to cease the agreement before the stipulated time period is in violation of the contract. The law will be on my client’s side if he decides to pursue the case in court. Every expense from the last two years has been accounted for and clearly shown here. “If I may be frank, it is not a small sum at all. The medical expenses for Miss Jenner’s mother alone were a million dollars a month. There are also other expenses paid. If we followed the original contract to the letter, she would need to pay back ten times the owed sum, instead of just two million dollars.”Damien’s arguments might sound reasonable, but they didn’t hold up under scrutiny. The contract only specified Zoey’s obligations. Laurence’s weren’t mentioned. All he had done was cause both physical and emotional damage to Zoey. As such, she had the right to end the contract earlier than expected. Even if Laurence didn’t admit to the damage he had caused he
Zoey had also underestimated Laurence’s desire to leave this marriage. Perhaps he wasn’t deliberately messing with her and was simply prideful. She went quiet for a moment. “If you don’t agree, fine,” she said and hung up.This was probably how Laurence’s family became a family of wealthy capitalists. To think that he even wanted interest from her. She never expected that. Mercy? There never was any. He wouldn’t spare a penny that should go to him.Zoey told herself not to be angry, but she couldn’t help it, so she headed to her bedroom. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would tidy her bedroom—cleaning it, changing the sheets, dusting her desk. Anything would do, as long as she didn’t think about what upset her. Once she was drenched in sweat, she took a shower. She had calmed down significantly by the time she had finished drying her hair. All her anger at Laurence had disappeared.…The next day, Zoey went to the nursing home. She didn’t hide anything from her mother as she d
Shawn entered a treatment room. He changed into a paper gown and lay on the bed. As he stared at the ceiling, no one could tell what he was thinking.The doctor was still hesitant as he asked Shawn one last time, “Are you sure you want to do this?”Shawn grunted in affirmation.Before starting, the doctor reminded Shawn, “We cannot guarantee the procedure’s success. It might take many sessions over an extended period.”Shawn had heard the doctors say that before. If one session wasn’t enough, then two sessions. And if those two sessions didn’t suffice, stretch it to ten. Shawn had the patience to spare. Since those were his memories, he didn’t want them to be lost forever. He slowly closed his eyes, his patience beginning to wane. “Let’s start.”Electroshock therapy was undoubtedly a cruel procedure. While it was being administered, he would feel nothing other than sheer agony. The procedure may seem simple, but the shocks were persistent. Those constant jolts of electricity would
Naturally, Shawn didn’t bring this up for no reason—he was overcome by the urge to mention it. After all, it wasn’t like Zoey was important to Laurence, right?Still, saying it didn’t make Shawn feel any better. He was the first to find out about Zoey’s crush on Laurence; it was easy to see how she felt about him. Whenever Laurence was on cleaning duty in high school, Zoey would stay back longer after class, taking her time to pack her bag. Young girls were prone to doing dumb things in the name of love. She would always hang around after school, waiting to run into him in the corridor. They would meet for only a few minutes at most. Most times, however, he would only pass by her for a few seconds.Laurence paid no attention to her in high school, and he never knew how much Zoey had tried to get his attention back then.Shawn immediately shut up. He was irritated, his heart caught in a constant sense of hollowness, a resounding emptiness.Laurence lifted his head and leveled a look
When Laurence received that phone call from George, he hadn’t sat on his hands and did nothing. Instead, he looked up Zoey’s movements for that day. Getting his hands on the necessary camera footage wasn't difficult, and finding the taxi she had gotten into had also been easy. She had been kidnapped while on her way to Shawn’s house, and there were cameras along that road.It wasn’t like Laurence had never noticed Shawn’s animosity toward Zoey, with how disgusted he was to even so much as look at her. Leaving her alone even when she begged for help was definitely something Shawn would do. Laurence had never brought this up with Shawn before. After all, Shawn and Zoey had nothing in common then. They weren’t friends, and they certainly weren’t married either. They were enemies who observed each other from opposing sides. It wasn’t all that strange, and there was nothing to berate them about. It wasn’t Laurence’s responsibility, after all. However, when did Shawn start having feelings
When Zoey smelled the smoke on Laurence, she mentally beat herself up for forgetting to change the passcode of her front door. She yawned. “Whatever you want to say, say it.”She felt slightly more tolerant of him now, probably because he had already agreed to the divorce.Laurence was quiet. Right now, there was no point asking her those questions. So, she liked him in the past. And? Everything had already ended.Seeing Laurence remain silent, Zoey piped up, “Don’t tell me that you’ve… finally agreed to let me pay in installments?”Laurence’s eye twitched. Now that was a quick reaction. He smirked, “No. Don’t get your hopes up.”Zoey nodded, unbothered. “If you want two million dollars from me, then sure, you’re getting it. I’ll pay you.”Once her mother was out of the hospital, Zoey’s expenses would lessen. She could manage it.Laurence pursed his lips, seemingly having no response for her. He couldn’t possibly tell her that he was having second thoughts. That he wanted twenty
Laurence’s words did not leave any room for doubt. He had made himself clear. It happened so quickly that Zoey didn’t have time to react. She stood still, watching him quietly. She was shocked by what he had said. “Psychiatric assessment report? What does he mean by that? Is it a document issued by the hospital to prove that I am mentally ill?” she thought. Zoey had only seen such things happen in soap operas. She did not expect Laurence to be so cruel. “Psychiatric assessment report?” she repeated in a daze. Laurence stared at Zoey’s pale face, which contrasted with her red lips. Her eyes looked red and watery, but he was unsure if she was tearing up or if the lighting made them appear that way. However, it did not matter. Her pitiful appearance would no longer fool him. It was easy for a man like him to be ruthless. Laurence raised her chin and sneered, “Don’t look at me with teary eyes. Did you look at them like this too?” Zoey had mixed feelings. It was hard for her to erase he
“I’m sorry for disappointing you. I’m a cold-blooded and ruthless person, and I don’t know how to empathize with others,” Laurence announced with an aloof tone before Zoey could reply. Zoey could only cry in her heart. Her eyes were no longer watery when she asked, “Would you still treat me like this if I was the one who saved you back then?” She used the word “if”. It was a supposition.Laurence hated two kinds of situations. Firstly, he hated regretting his decisions and actions. Secondly, he hated talking about “what-ifs”. In his opinion, talking about things that had never happened was useless. Laurence was standing against the light in the living room. His expression was hard to read as his exquisite features were shrouded in the shadows. “I don’t like talking about what-ifs,” he said. Looking at Zoey’s pale face, Laurence seemed to recall a scene that was similar to the current situation they were in. He stayed silent momentarily before insisting coldly, “What are you getting a