It wasn’t as if Laurence had never learned the meaning behind the word “goodnight”. It was a little childish and somewhat covert way to say I love you. There were many inexpressible affections buried within the details that went unnoticed. It was apparent to Laurence that something inside him had changed. Yet he had no words to describe the feeling. Still, something felt different. The woman in his arms had drifted away into dreamland. Perhaps she was having a beautiful dream of sunshine and rainbows. With her head resting against his arm, she fell into a deep slumber. Laurence’s mind often wandered to the subtleties during downtimes. She used to always whisper earnest goodnights to him. It sounded so sincere every time the word came out of her mouth. He lowered his head to kiss her by the corner of her lips, tempted to ask her whether she meant that she loved him. Alas, there was no turning back to the past. It was pointless to ask the question now. All that
It was dull at the building site. Zoey and Jim were busy at work. Laurence knew nothing about the nature of the work to give his two cents. Nevertheless, he didn’t find it boring at all. Laurence stayed there quietly without bothering Zoey. Zoey’s face looked tiny under the helmet. With spare time on her hands at last, Zoey crouched down and drew something on a discarded plank. A dizzy spell overcame her when she got up, probably from the low blood sugar. Laurence put his hands against her waist to hold her up. “Watch out.” Despite feeling uneasy, Zoey whispered a “thank you” to him. She then fished out a few candies from her bag and absent-mindedly ate a couple. Laurence took a glance at the drawing on the plank, finding it rather adorable. Come to think of it, Zoey was more than capable of finding a good job after graduating from college if she hadn’t become his secretary. The lot stayed on site until the afternoon. Jim wanted to buy them lunch, but as soon as the suppl
Laurence calmly relayed the information before turning to Zoey. After much silence, he asked, “Is she really your grandmother?” Unable to deny the blood ties, Zoey nodded her head. “Yes. She is.” Old Mrs. Jenner had accomplished what she’d set out to do. Zoey was put on the spot and beyond humiliated. “Why?” Zoey inquired. “You don’t look alike.” Laurence gave it a thought before giving his two cents. Balling her fists, Zoey drew a deep breath. The humiliation shouldn’t get to her, as this wasn’t the first time Laurence had seen her at her worst. “I’m not close with her.” In the end, Zoey added the statement. It didn’t sit well with Old Mrs. Jenner because she couldn’t stand to see things going well for others. The old lady could comfort herself by thinking that even if Zoey’s husband had a bit of money, he must be an ugly old man. It was tough on Old Mrs. Jenner as she was married to one. Now it appeared Zoey’s husband was neither old nor ugly. Not only that, but Zoey’
Shawn wouldn’t harm Jasmine so deeply for no reason. Zoey looked at him, and his eyes were red and unreadable.His expression turned ugly at what she had said. After a long while, he choked, “I know.”He knew it had been one-sided all along. Shawn did not want to apologize to Zoey. It wouldn’t help anything. He had hurt her severely in the past, and that was the truth. He wanted to tell her how much he regretted it and how he hadn’t meant to hurt her like that. It was just because he had forgotten everything.However, he couldn’t bring himself to say any of it to her. It felt fake and pretentious. She would find it laughable for sure.Shawn’s eyes teared up, but he held them back as he looked at Zoey. He remembered her shedding tears and trembling in fear, how she gritted her teeth and said that she would hate him for the rest of her life. He felt an unbearable ache in his heart.“Were you waiting for me here?” Zoey asked, calmer than she was before.Shawn nodded, his face pale. Zoey n
The sound of gossip died down.Laurence’s expression did not change. He said casually, “There’s some cake there. It looks good.”Zoey had a sweet tooth. She liked desserts and sweet, creamy cakes. She nodded, “Oh, okay.”After setting a slice of cake onto a plate, she sat down on the nearest chair and dug in. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulders. Laurence had put his jacket over her shoulders as a gust of wind blew by. The night air was chilly as it would soon be autumn. Under the moonlight, Zoey’s skin looked like porcelain. Her long hair draped over her shoulders elegantly.She sat beside him and said softly, “It’s okay. I’m not cold.”Laurence froze for a moment before replying stiffly, “Just wear it. Even if you’re not cold.”“Perhaps he’s being possessive again,” Zoey thought. However, he had picked the dress she was wearing himself. It wasn’t that revealing. She gave in and wore the jacket anyway. Going against him would only make things difficult for her.Zoey felt drows
Zoey kept her word and sent Laurence’s mother a message the next morning. In the text, she said that she was still young and had just started her career. So, she was not ready to have a child yet. She put all the blame on herself and not on Laurence. This was so that Laurence could not find fault with her regarding the issue.It wasn’t that Mrs. Scott really wanted a grandchild she could care for. She simply thought Laurence and Zoey’s relationship would improve if they had a child. She knew that her son was too cold and distant. If he had a child, maybe he would change for the better. Perhaps he would become a good husband and father.After seeing Zoey’s text message, she sighed and went on to nag her son again. “Look at you. I’m sure you’re not considerate and caring enough to Zoey. That must be why she doesn’t want to have a child.”Laurence was already in a bad mood. When he saw his mother’s text, his expression soured even more.“She had such a difficult past. She needs someone wh
Was Sarah doing fine? Heck, she was living the best life!She was living it up, and the world revolved around her. Sarah never had to worry about living paycheck to paycheck. Instead of giving Jason a straight answer, Zoey was careful to pick up on her uncle’s facial cues. “Uncle Jason, what’s with the sudden interest in her?” Jason raised his eyebrow and answered curiously, “I was just asking.” He added, “It seems she’s been doing well for herself over the years.” It didn’t take rocket science to figure out that Sarah would be in good hands with her father. Jasmine’s heart of stone hid behind her kind and compassionate façade. The woman grinned and bore through the years before finally flipping the script to her advantage. Of course, Jasmine would give her only daughter the world. Zoey gave it some thought before answering, “She’s being held in custody. She should be out in a couple of days.” Sensing Zoey’s reluctance to talk about Sarah, Jason ended the conversation there
Zoey was dismissive toward Laurence on the phone. Picking up on her half-hearted attitude, Laurence grew furious. His mood swings had worsened since the day he had been foolish enough to bring kids up in the conversation. Zoey spoke in hushed tones as if she did not want to be caught dead talking to him. “I’ll be back a little later today.” Laurence scoffed in rage. “Oh, so you do know you have a home. I thought you’d turned your back on me now that your uncle is out of jail.” Zoey had to get over his snide remark. Laurence hung up before Zoey could speak. It was as though he wanted nothing to do with her. Zoey saw red. She kept reminding herself that she had four months to go. Only four months until the insufferable marriage was over. Laurence was out of excuses to threaten her this time. Once the contract was up, Zoey would not violate the terms when she cut ties with him. …The day of Sarah’s release from the detention center came.Robert sent a car to pick her up.