The young woman was pleased with the progress and looked forward to seeing the final product. “Alright then.” She’d heard that Zoey was tight on money, so out of the goodness of her heart, she referred a potential client to Zoey. “Miss Jenner, my uncle recently bought a house for his girlfriend, but it hasn’t been remodeled yet. He’s probably looking for someone to help with the remodeling. I’ll point him your way in a few days.”Zoey definitely wouldn’t give up the chance to make money, but it didn’t hurt to be more careful after the example that was James. “How old is your uncle? And what would you say his personality is like…”The young woman laughed. “He’s quite young, not much older than you, actually. He’s a nice person too. He’s a man of his word. He’s very good-looking but not much of a chatty person, so he’s on the distant side. To be honest, I don’t know if that lady is actually his girlfriend—he seems to be into her, but that woman has been trying to get back with her
Zoey was prone to feeling cold, so she pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders before looking for a deserted corner. She then asked for a warm water from one of the waiters.Sarah had a rather wide network; the venue was filled with many notable people tonight. Zoey spotted plenty of well-known people in Northwell.In truth, Zoey had initially studied jewelry design. During the summer break in her freshman year in university, her lecturer signed her up for a major competition.Sarah and Zoey were in the same year, and they were also in the same faculty. However, they had different lecturers.Newbies were able to make their debut during the annual competition. Her tutor sent her the collections of designs that had won first place right before Zoey handed in her own work. The designs that her tutor sent were completely identical to the work that Zoey planned to send in.Zoey’s heart had stopped at the sight.The tutor kept singing his praises over Sarah’s winning design. Zoey c
Shawn had walked over to her languidly, picking her up from where she had fallen. His arm was on the skinny side, his veins popping prominently under his skin. He wrapped a hand around her neck as he casually said, “Zoey?”Zoey had never exchanged a word with him until then. She had no idea what she’d done to cross him.Shawn waited until she was close to dying from the lack of air before tossing her aside like trash. He loomed over her with mad red eyes. “If you get in Sarah’s way again…”Shawn was a beautiful man, and his smile was breathtaking. However, the words that left his mouth were cruel and vicious as he pointed at the men behind him. He continued to smile as he casually let Zoey know, “I’ll let them take turns having their way with you.”Tears kept streaming from Zoey’s eyes, but she didn’t make a sound. She watched as Shawn left with his groupies and curled up on the ground, unable to stop her trembling.She knew that Shawn would follow through with his words, for he w
Zoey didn’t pay much heed to Laurence’s words. Although there were quite a few unfriendly looks thrown her way, she remained as cool as a cucumber. She eyed Jasmine indifferently. Jasmine was almost 40 but looked like she was in her early 30’s. While she wasn’t a standout beauty, her features fit together harmoniously. Her face was gentle and easy on the eyes, making people feel at ease around her.Zoey still remembered the first time she met Jasmine. Her mother had been lying in a hospital bed on the brink of death while Jasmine stood outside of the room, peering through the glass panel of the door.Jasmine had then said in faux concern, “How pitiful.”The Fulton family was practically decimated, and Zoey’s uncle was in prison due to a white-collar crime. Meanwhile, Robert had brought her over to Northwell. She knew very well that Robert hadn’t taken her with him out of the kindness of his heart—he was simply worried that tongues would wag, so he reluctantly took her in. Jasmine woul
Laurence liked Zoey’s intelligence and her occasional acts of spontaneous seduction. He looked at her face, her lovely smile still hanging on her lips. Even if she had been forcing it, her smile was still far prettier than anyone else’s in this banquet hall.“Don’t get on her bad side next time.” Laurence didn’t say anything else.Zoey felt like a dagger had stabbed right through her heart, but she ignored the pain, gradually letting her smile disappear. “Why would I rile her up? She was the one who started it,” Zoey said.Laurence nonchalantly raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you avoid her?”“She’s trying to hurt me because she thinks of me as an obstacle. How can I avoid her?” Zoey squeezed his arm affectionately and smiled again. “Why don’t you tell Jasmine that I’m just your wife on paper? Maybe she’ll stop out of the kindness of her heart.”Laurence was quiet for a while after she finished. Perhaps it was because he didn’t believe that Jasmine would be petty enough to pull such childish
Zoey understood the true meaning behind his words when he said that love shouldn’t be mentioned: it was a warning to her. It was also a tacit understanding between them. Zoey felt like she had already practiced this masquerade enough to be a skilled actress. Even when her heart had been stabbed over and over and even when she was in so much pain, she still looked normal on the surface. She forced herself to grin at him. She would not let him see any of her sadness and hurt.“I was just kidding.” She let him go. “If you don’t want me to say that, then I won’t bring it up anymore.”Laurence couldn’t put his finger on the reason behind her oddness as he eyed her and her captivating smile.“You seem to be in a good mood tonight.”Zoey did indeed have a wide smile on her face, but it looked forced. Laurence didn’t like that fake smile. Forced smiles always looked overly stiff.“I’m doing good.”“But you don’t exactly look fine.”“Oh, maybe it’s because I prefer thinking about my design work
Shawn’s tone was filled with the intention to humiliate, with many unsaid meanings behind his words. Laurence looked at him blandly.“Now, why are you suddenly so interested in my life?”Shawn usually wasn’t one to poke his nose into others’ affairs as he wasn’t interested in them, especially ever since he took over the family business. He was far too busy getting his hands dirty, so he didn’t have the time to get nosy even if he wanted to. Shawn had an icy expression on his face, the look in his eyes indiscernible.“Just curious.”Laurence grinned.“Do you even get curious about anyone other than Sarah?”Shawn’s feelings for Sarah were no secret. Anyone could see it from a mile away, and this was coming from Laurence when he was still a young and childish boy. Laurence would be lying if he said that he didn’t care about Laurence’s crush on Sarah. However, he had been young and wild back then, and he allowed Laurence to go after her. If Shawn successfully wooed Sarah, then he would acc
Robert didn’t care at all about his daughter’s happiness. Zoey still hadn’t mentioned her marriage to Laurence because she knew that Robert would keep hounding her for money. The Zuckman family was like an abyss that swallowed everyone. Shawn’s ability to secure his position and root out the rats so quickly proved that he was no regular man. He was certainly cruel. Shawn had found Zoey’s weak point.“Zoey sure did leave an impression on me.”Zoey knew what Shawn was referring to: it was that love letter, the proof of a teenage Zoey’s feelings. Proof that should never see the light of day. She couldn’t let Laurence know that she had once had such a huge crush on him, or she would be done for. Laurence would not want someone who had feelings for him. Things would get complicated once feelings were involved. Feelings would make someone foolish, as Laurence had once said.Zoey had no idea if Shawn was threatening her. She was still irritated that she still couldn’t understand how Shawn had