The call ended quickly. Zoey continued to stay at the cafe, which had yet to close for the night. The neon lights and street lights outside the window made the shadows on the ground stretch impossibly long. She was in no rush to return home, and she didn’t want to run into Laurence and his friends. She wasn’t close to Tristan, and Amanda was a stranger that she had only exchanged words with a few times.There was a mall nearby with a cinema on the sixth floor. Zoey went there and bought a ticket. Two hours at the cinema would kill a good amount of time. At this hour, most of the cinema-goers were young couples. Zoey was the only one alone. She chose to sit in a more private seat. When the movie started, she realized the main actress was a celebrity she liked, so she watched the entire film. Even with her fangirl glasses on, she had to admit that the movie was crap. She was exasperated—it seemed like every movie she had watched recently was bad.When the overhead lights came on, Zoey
Zoey truly believed that she wasn’t as happy as usual. It wasn’t a big deal, and the bad days would eventually pass. The cold breeze kept her mind alert. Through the door, she could see that the lights in the living room were still on. The security guards were respectful as they let her in.Zoey’s feet hurt after being in heels the whole day. Before entering the house, she politely asked, “Are the guests still in?”“They left half an hour earlier.”“I see.”Zoey pushed open the door and plucked her high heels off her feet, exchanging them for a pair of comfortable house slippers. The lights were on, but no one was in the living room. Laurence was most likely in bed already.Zoey bent down to rub her sore heels. After the pain had abated a little, she slowly went to the kitchen to get a glass of ice water. Grumbling about how it wasn’t cold enough, she dumped more ice cubes into her glass. After drinking it, she went upstairs. Light shone from under the door of the master bedroom
Meanwhile, Laurence was distracted at work as he listened to his employee’s report. He spun the pen between his fingers a few times before he pressed the tip to the paper and signed it. The employee from finance didn’t realize that Laurence hadn’t been listening until he had finished talking. They eyed each other, unsure how to continue.A few moments later, the employer gathered the courage to speak. “Mr. Scott, an auditing firm has been hired to re-audit the finances again. Mr. Langley still won’t admit that he was the one who hired that man as the head of finance. He claims that he has nothing to do with it.”Laurence was quiet for a moment before he gave a hum of affirmation. He said, “If the auditing firm finds anything wrong, report it to the police.”The employee wasn’t surprised. Laurence may seem even-tempered, but he was heavy-handed when doling out punishment. He usually didn’t show any mercy.The head of finance was James' nephew. Typically, anyone else would have spare
Laurence drove Zoey back to the main family residence for dinner. The drive was a little long as the house was in a different residential area, and the roads were packed due to rush hour. While they waited for the traffic light to turn green, Zoey couldn’t help but turn her head to look at Laurence. His slender fingers were beautiful and attention-grabbing, splayed out across the steering wheel. Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating his perfect features. The buttons of his shirt were undone, and his tie was loose. He was the complete opposite of his usual put-together self. It gave him a casual air.As Zoey withdrew her gaze, she heard him speak. “Next time, don’t get your check-ups at a hospital so far away from home.”Zoey understood what he really meant—he wanted her to go to one of the Scotts’ hospitals. Perhaps because he felt uneasy? Or perhaps he thought she had faked her results? Zoey wouldn’t do that. His lack of trust in her was a whole different matter.
Robert’s assistant wasn’t a naïve woman. Whenever Jasmine was there, she would keep a low profile and pretend to be a fragile little flower. Without anyone knowing, she ended up pregnant. She successfully hid it for the first three months of her pregnancy. Once the baby was safe from the risk of early miscarriage, she immediately flew abroad to check the baby’s gender. Upon finding out it was a boy, she immediately called Robert to inform him.Old Mrs. Jenner was beside herself with joy when she found out the assistant had given birth to a baby boy. All of the family’s assets would go to him. No one would be able to contest it. Meanwhile, Jasmine blew her top, but she still pretended to be a good, dutiful wife in front of Robert. Robert initially felt uneasy. After all, he had been married to his wife for so many years that an extramarital affair would indeed rock their marriage. Still, he wanted that son and had to deal with the assistant. He’d never expected Jasmine to be so underst
The new hearing aid was so compact that Zoey felt nothing when she had it on. She had never used such a good hearing aid. It had no annoying wires, and it didn’t feel irritatingly foreign in her ear. She tried to thank Laurence for his kindness, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn’t say it. They looked at each other in silence.Fortunately for Zoey, a servant knocked on the door at that moment to inform them that dinner was ready.Laurence unravelled his tie. He didn’t like being dressed so sharply all the time. He extended a hand to her. “Let’s go downstairs.”Zoey followed him, their fingers intertwined as they headed down. They looked very much like a loving married couple.Mrs. Scott kept placing more food onto Zoey’s plate. “Eat more,” she said.On the table was crab, Zoey’s favorite. Laurence put on a pair of disposable gloves before he began deshelling the crab. He did so artfully, making sure there was not a single bit of shell left on the flesh. After he was done, h
The karaoke joint was dark. This suited Zoey as no one could see her face, and she didn’t need to look at the others. Zoey sat on the sofa and dimmed her phone screen to the very lowest setting. Absent-mindedly, she scrolled through her news feed. She didn’t know what she could do here. She didn’t want to drink, and she wasn’t the greatest at poker. She also had no interest in participating in their games.Someone then brought the spotlight back to Zoey. “Hey, you were late. No way you’re getting off lightly.”Zoey silently clenched her fists. She felt uncomfortable being teased so casually when they weren’t close friends. Instinctively, her gaze darted over to Laurence. His face was impassive, seemingly unaffected by her predicament.Zoey gave it some thought. In the end, she decided to apologize. It seemed there wasn’t anything else she could say. She couldn’t even be bothered to explain herself. She pressed her lips together. “Sorry,” she said.Adrian Hayes stiffened upon hear
Zoey hadn’t thought it through before she blurted it out. Laurence’s expression changed. She wondered if she had said something wrong and unwittingly hurt him again. She didn’t want to keep bringing up awful memory with him. She had no idea what came over her—perhaps the memory had…affected her that deeply. Even though she kept telling herself to forget it, to forget every hurtful thing he had done, she still subconsciously spilled her thoughts.Zoey rubbed her temples, trying to hold back her tiredness. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to use you as an example.”There was a subtle shift in Laurence’s expression. It was difficult for him to swallow his feelings. When she apologized, a fire roared in his chest. If it hadn’t been for the sincerity in her eyes, her words would have come off as condescending, mocking him for his moment of violence.Laurence’s face was impassive as he reined in his emotions. His gaze was chilly, and his aura as frosty as ever when he uttered, “It’s okay.”Since sh