Zoey had no recollection of what she had said in her sleep. She drew a complete blank. The only thing she could remember was Laurence pushing her down that cliff and into the abyss in her dream.“Sorry for bothering you while you were sleeping. Why don’t we sleep in separate rooms for the time being? You’ll get a better night’s sleep. It’ll be better than this.”And besides, she couldn’t control her nightmares.Laurence was a light sleeper in the first place; it was no surprise he had been awoken so easily. He pressed his lips together. “No need,” he said calmly. He scanned her face for a few moments before continuing, “I was just curious about what I did in your dream.”“I don’t remember,” Zoey answered, making up an excuse.“Never mind then. It’s still night. Just go to sleep.”“Right.”…Zoey only woke up at noon the next day. Laurence had already gone to work by then. Her phone had switched off due to low power, so when she turned it back on, hundreds of unread notification
Zoey stayed at home the entire day. She didn’t have the courage to turn on her phone. She hadn’t dared to leave the house in days due to the lack of mental preparation. All the poisonous words cursing her to the ends of the world weighed on her heart. Zoey remained curled on the couch. She wasn’t even sure what was airing on the television —she wasn’t paying attention to the screen. However, she heard Laurence’s car outside the house before evening arrived. Zoey glanced out the window to see Laurence get out of his car. His face was blank, and she could sense his sternness even from this distance. He was in a bad mood. Although she couldn’t see it, she could sense it.Laurence didn’t usually leave the office so early. Sometimes, he would be so busy that he’d be at work til eight or nine o’clock. He rarely returned home at this hour.Laurence saw Zoey spacing out on the couch when he entered the living room. Her frail figure looked especially lonely. After stepping into his hous
The next morning, the footage from the security cameras near the offending internet cafe was delivered to Laurence’s office. All the irrelevant footage had been edited out, leaving only the important moments.Laurence didn’t play the footage. He sat as his mind wandered elsewhere. Zoey had been asleep when he left for work. She hadn’t spoken much the last few days, immediately going back to sleep after waking up and waking up shortly after falling asleep.“Miss Jenner entered the internet cafe sometime past six that day. She arrived by taxi. The cameras show that she went in, but illegal internet cafes don’t require guests to use their real name or show their ID, so there are no official records of her.”It didn’t matter whether Sarah’s name was on the internet cafe’s records—the important thing was that she was there.Hearing the report, Laurence wasn’t surprised. Instead, an odd feeling filled him, but it wasn’t disappointment. He wasn’t even interested in playing the footage f
Sarah was terrified by Laurence’s calm gaze. His silence was even more frightening than outright anger. He showed no emotion.Sarah forced herself to calm down. Her tears stopped as she decided to give in a little to save herself. “I’ll apologize to Zoey. I was wrong.” She clutched Laurence’s hand and cried again.Laurence slowly shook her off and sighed before looking at her. “Sarah,” he said evenly.Sarah had a bad feeling as her heart skipped a beat.“Do you think saying sorry would erase everything you’ve done?” he asked her.Sarah was at a loss for words. Tears hung off her lashes as she was scared out of her wits. She looked pitiful. “I know apologizing won’t do anything, but I can make up for it. Even if she wants me dead, I’ll do it.”Laurence was quiet for a long while. “Why did you do it?”Sarah looked down, her voice frustrated and carrying a hint of a sob. “I wanted you two to split.”Laurence never thought that he would be the reason behind the leaked photos. “We’r
”He’s alive. He’s still in the hospital but awake,” Laurence said flatly. He wondered why he had to add those two extra sentences. She shouldn’t be concerned whether Shawn was alive or not.Still, Shawn’s survival had been a miracle. Laurence had heard countless times that Shawn’s life was in danger, with warnings from doctors that he might not make it. The many illegitimate Zuckman children that Shawn had silenced had probably been out of their minds with excitement, thinking that he wasn’t long for this world. One by one, they came rushing back to the country from overseas, worried that they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on a slice of the Zuckman family fortune pie.Sometimes, when Zoey recalled the stabbing, the memory came back to her in a blur, like she was dreaming. All of a sudden, she returned to reality. She didn’t know why she had admitted it and had no idea why Laurence was being so cold. Then again, her relationship with Shawn had always been a sore spot for him. If
Sarah was detained by the police for the next 14 days. When Zoey next saw her, she looked wan and worried. Sarah seemed unaware that she had crossed the line this time, probably because she had never thought Laurence would treat her this harshly. Or had Laurence changed instead? It never was obvious whenever he changed his attitude.Sarah was going insane. She had never lived through such a hellish experience in her life. She wasn’t the only one in the jail cell either; there were other cellmates. They had hair dyed in various shades and smelled of cigarette smoke. She felt she would suffocate if she had to spend another second with these women. She sobbed, begging for a lawyer. She wanted bail, but her request was denied. It seemed that a certain someone would only be satisfied if she sat through all 14 days of her detainment.When she met Zoey again, Sarah had already dried her tears. She would not let Zoey see her at her lowest. Even now, Sarah still feigned sincerity. “Zoey,
Zoey still found it difficult to handle everyone’s perception of her. She hadn’t even brought herself to meet any of their gazes when Laurence pulled her into his office. It had been a while since she had entered it. The last time she was here, she had a bad argument with him.Zoey peered outside of the window. The seat at the desk across the door was still empty. No one had taken it since she left. The new secretary that Laurence hired was a young man fresh out of university. Other than this, there were no other major personnel changes.Laurence watched as she looked out of the window, not bothering her. His phone kept buzzing in his hand, however—the post that he had made had garnered scores of likes and comments. The last time he posted something was when he had lost a game, and that was about half a year ago. Anyone with a brain could see that he was standing up for his wife. All those horrible comments and rumors online apparently couldn’t break their marriage, which these outsi
Zoey got pulled into Laurence’s embrace, her chin resting against his shoulder. She was lost as she asked with a whisper, “Would it have been better if we met earlier?”Clearly, things had turned out this way because they had met too early. Now, their relationship was a mess.Laurence wordlessly wrapped his arms around her waist tightly. Rarely was he so unsure about anything. After some thought, he answered, “Probably.”Zoey’s heart was numb. After a long while, she said, “We met early enough.”Laurence closed his eyes and didn’t speak. She had a point—they used to go to the same school but never exchanged a word.Zoey struggled. Laurence’s grip was strong, his arms like a vice as they held her in place. She had no idea where a sudden surge of resentment came from as she bit his shoulder. However, Laurence didn’t seem to mind as he wordlessly weathered through the bite.Zoey’s cheeks hurt from biting him. When she finally tasted blood, she withdrew. Still, she was forced to lean