Sotiria lifted her chin lightly, looked straight into Zachary’s eyes, and announced in her calmest voice, “Zachary, on behalf of all of Lory’s friends and family, I’m handing her over to you today. Now that you are officially husband and wife, I hope you will live up to her deep love for you and treat her well for the rest of your life.”Zachary looked at her expressionlessly, and his voice was cold, magnetic, and flat as he replied, “Thank you.”Sotiria’s fingers trembled hard.In the next second, she tried to pull up a smile at the corner of her mouth and uttered the wish that she had recited a million times in advance.“Zachary, Lory, may this day be the start of a long, happy, prosperous life for you both, and I look forward to hearing the patter of tiny feet.”Zachary retained his expressionless face and replied flatly, “Thank you.”A round of applause erupted from the crowd as they all showered blessing words at Zachary and Lorraine.Sotiria pushed Lorraine into Zachary’s
Sotiria couldn’t bear to watch this anymore. She turned her gaze away and looked toward the villa’s main house. “My stomach is feeling uncomfortable. May I please use the washroom in Zachary’s house?”Garrison smiled warmly.“From now on, you’re Zachary’s sister-in-law. You’re welcome to treat his home like your own. You can use whatever you like in his house, no one will stop you. I’ll go with you.”He held Sotiria and walked ahead.Sotiria chuckled. “No need, you’re Lory’s brother. You still have a few more responsibilities after she and Zachary have exchanged rings. I’ll go on my own.”She turned around and left as soon as she said that.She didn’t really want to use Zachary’s washroom. It’s just that she couldn’t bear to watch this wedding ceremony and wanted to find a quiet spot to sit down.Most of the servants in Divine Sanctuary District had gone to help out at the courtyard for the wedding. Only one maid was left in the main house in the first floor living room to wat
Zenios, who sat on the steps, still looked handsome and attractive despite having a full-face beard. He lifted his face and looked at Sotiria. “Second Uncle may be breathing, talking, eating, and going about his own business right now, but he’s just a shell. His soul has disappeared elsewhere.”“I don’t understand! Do humans really have souls? Zachary… Where has his soul gone?” Sotiria hurriedly asked.“Wherever Carlie is.”Zenios sighed.“Don’t judge the situation simply because he’s having a wedding ceremony with Lorraine. He’s really thinking of Carlie every second of the day. People like you have never experienced being forever separated from the people you love. You’ll never understand how it feels.”Sotiria immediately understood.‘So Zenios was really using a metaphor when he said Zachary’s soul had disappeared elsewhere… He was merely describing Zachary’s current state—which resembles a walking zombie, trapped in the agony of his memories of Charlotte and his longing fo
Sotiria arrived on the second floor.She was just about to open the door to the second-floor living room and walk in when she suddenly remembered the maid’s reminder—she was not allowed to go to the third floor. This piqued her curiosity.She looked downstairs and saw the maid sitting on the couch and falling asleep. Thus, she tiptoed to the third floor. Zenios, who had seen Sotiria slip into the third floor, shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered to meddle.The door to the third floor was wide open.Sotiria walked in, made a turn in the hallway, and was stunned at the sight of the scene in the hallway.This was not a living room! It was obviously a wedding hall!Everything in the venue was decorated to look like a wedding hall, extremely luxurious, romantic, and festive. The walls were filled with wedding photos. Sotiria wondered why Zachary didn’t just have his wedding here since he had already decorated the third floor to look like a wedding hall. Instead, he had chosen t
“You still owe me a favor.” Zachary’s clear, magnetic voice seemed to show no signs of emotion.Sotiria was stunned.Then she heard Zachary’s reply in an indifferent tone as he said, “I want that favor now.”“Okay…” Only then did Sotiria turn around to face him. “What favor would you like?”Zachary had his back turned against her. His crystalline eyes were staring fixedly at Charlotte in her wedding picture. “Have you heard of the song ‘My Love For You’?”“Yes,” Sotiria nodded as she walked toward him. “Sing that song for me,” Zachary replied, his face resembling an icy glacier.Sotiria stopped in surprise. “Are you sure that you want me to sing that song for you as your third favor?”She couldn’t believe it.She owed Zachary three favors for saving her life. She had also promised to grant him three favors. Zachary’s first request was for her to buy him a meal. His second request was for her to watch a movie with him…Now, she owed Zachary one last favor. She thought that
“I know…”Only then did Zachary return to reality from reminiscing about the past. He opened his lips. His cold and smooth voice seemed to have come from another world. “You owed me three favors, and now you’ve paid them all in full. From this day onward, we don’t owe each other anything.”Sotiria wanted to say “Yes”.However, at that moment, a strong painful pang suddenly rose from within her heart, grabbing a firm hold on her throat, rendering her unable to make a sound.‘It’s true! I’ve never liked owing anyone anything. I’ve always thought that once I’ve finished paying my debt to Zachary, I could finally be free of him. But why does my heart not feel as a weight has been lifted from it? Why does it not feel as if I have cleared my debt, now that the moment has finally arrived? Instead, I feel an inexplicable sense of pain?’A silver light flashed across Sotiria’s eyes.Then, a heavy object landed between Sotiria’s feet with a loud thump. She lowered her gaze to look and
Sotiria was on her way down the spiral staircase when she suddenly heard a loud scream from below.She paused, lifted her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, and realized that Lorraine was standing a few steps below from her, staring at her in panic.“Lory…”She murmured as she opened her lips. Her salty tears slid into her mouth.“What are you doing?”“N-nothing…” Lorraine’s face drained of color as she stared at the silver gun in her hand. Her voice trembled. “Car— Mmph! I mean… Tiria! Are you very angry? Calm down. You must know that murder is a crime, and you have an adorable daughter waiting for you. If you lose your cool and kill me, you’ll be sent to jail, even if you aren’t sentenced to death. What will happen to your daughter?”‘Huh?’Sotiria was shocked.Then, she trailed Lorraine’s gaze and realized that she wasn’t just holding Silver Charm in her right hand—the gun was pointed at Lorraine’s chest to boot. Anyone would have easily misunderstood and thought that she
Sotiria’s eyes turned cold.“Then let’s leave, right now.”“Hmm?” Garrison was taken aback. “Tiria, there’s no need to hurry. Besides, Lory and Zachary’s wedding isn’t over yet. We can always wait until tomorrow—”“No!”Sotiria indifferently cut Garrison off. She inadvertently lifted her head toward the third floor. Her eyes filled with even more determination than ever.“Let’s leave right now and never come back!”Garrison followed her gaze and looked toward the third floor.Just then, Lorraine and Zachary were walking down the spiral staircase arm in arm.He saw them and looked at Sotiria, whose eyes were quietly filling with tears despite trying very hard to stay calm. Garrison immediately understood… He pulled Sotiria into his arms, feeling sorry for her. “Tiria, we’ll do as you say. We’ll leave right now and never come back.”He gently wrapped his arms around Sotiria’s delicate waist and held her as they walked towards the living room door.Sotiria followed him. She ha