Henry waited for Zoe’s response. He could tell she was fuming now, as he heard her heavy breathing on the other end of the call. Things did not have to be like this."Bring back my daughter while I am asking nicely," she finally said into the phone. "I will. After we talk like civilized parents," Henry responded. "Where is she? Tell me right now!" "Do not be in such a hurry. Maria is more than fine where she is. In fact, she is very comfortable here with me." Henry glanced over at Maria and Daniel on the dining table, chatting away like two jolly best friends. The girl sure did know how to talk. "Don't you dare touch a hair on her head!" Zoe warned. "C’mon, she is my daughter too. I am no assassin. Plus we have been getting along so well." "Henry..." "Come tomorrow to my house. I would love for us to discuss," he said. "I will text you the address." With that, he ended the call, not waiting for what she had to say after that. She would probably throw insults at him and the li
Zoe was astonished. No word could express the level of shock she felt.Five years ago, he had given her a condition to be his mistress. Now he was proposing marriage. Of all things. She sat down on a couch to calm herself down. She knew better than to yell or exchange words with him. That had happened many times before and they never worked in her favor. "It is a reasonable proposal," he continued. "I want her and you. You want her. We both want her. And we can't keep fighting this way if we both want to keep her." "We can co-parent. Marriage is out of the table." "I want what our daughter wants," Henry continued. "A family. Do you know how sad she gets when she sees other kids in school with a family and she does not have one?" "And you know that after spending a few hours with her?" Zoe deadpanned. "Maria and I have bonded so well. This should be a sign that we all belong together." Henry said. "Maria has a family. She has me and Leo." "You know very well that is not enough
"He said what?!" Emily exclaimed on the other end of the phone call. Zoe had just told her of Henry’s proposal, and her reaction was understandable. "It sounds crazy, right?" "Crazier than when he asked you to be his mistress? Yes," Emily said. "This is marriage, Zoe. You are going to spend the rest of your life with him. Are you sure you want to do that?" "Do I really have a choice? I want to do it for Maria." Emily sighed deeply. "I understand. But it is all just so surprising. You have been running away from him, and now you are going to marry him. The universe must really want you two together.""This has nothing to do with the universe. That bastard would not just leave me alone." "Did Maria and Henry get along?"Zoe scoffed. They did more than getting along. "I would say she even loves him more than she loves me at this point." "You know that is not true." "Emily, please. I know what I saw." Zoe was not jealous Maria seemed to like Henry a lot, she just did not think Mar
Zoe moved into Henry’s apartment by the end of the week. He was out with Maria when she stopped by the house. Daniel happened not to be home too. She had been instructed to pick up the house key from inside the flower pot just beside the front door. Zoe dragged her luggage inside the empty house, taking a look around. His taste in house decor had not changed over the years. Everything still looked expensive and shiny. She was conflicted on whether she should share a room with Henry or take a separate one. This was just a marriage contract because of Maria, she thought. Zoe did not feel obligated to share a room with him. Making up her mind, she chose a room and settled in it. Maria and Henry were out having father and daughter time, and Zoe could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy no matter how hard she tried to push it away. They were getting closer day by day and she did not want Maria drifting away from her. But then again, they both still had to make up for the five years
There was nothing else that could quench Henry’s curiosity other than what he was about to do. Zoe kept giving him reasons to suspect her, and his gut never failed him. There was something about her so called boss she was desperately trying to hide. Henry could tell from her reaction yesterday when he mentioned him. It was either they had an affair, or some other activity Henry was yet to fathom. He called Daniel into his office and Daniel showed up immediately. "There is something you have to do for me," Henry said. "I am all ears." "Zoe has a boss. His identity is unusually unknown. I want you to find out who he is and what he does." "Are you sure about that?" Daniel asked. "If Zoe finds out you are digging into her work life, she is going to be pretty pissed." "Let us worry about Zoe later. Do what you are asked to do." Daniel knew contradicting Henry’s opinions would only cause an issue, so he nodded and left the office. Doing long distance was harder than he thought, and
It was a bad sign that Henry was getting suspicious about her. If only Maria had not been too forward and ran her mouth like that. The cons of having an overactive five year old. Henry had even went ahead to do a background search on Mario without her knowledge. Him digging a bit deeper might ruin everything. She had to be extra careful now and quit being so distant from Henry. Her actions was what was making him grow suspicious. He surprised her earlier by stating he was trying to make things right between them. It sounded like this was not about Maria anymore. It was about both of them resolving their past issues. He even got flowers for her with Maria. Zoe came out of the shower that night and noticed Henry was not in the room. They had not spoken a word to each other after she walked out on him in the kitchen. Was she being too harsh? Even Emily advised her to give him another chance. Henry and Zoe were going to spend the rest of their lives together, it was only reasonable t
What Mario asked her to do was impossible. Crash Henry’s company of all things? He had already admitted to his wrongdoings and even apologized, doing what Mario suggests would be beyond heartless of her. "I can't..." Zoe tried to muster up courage. "I can't do that. I settled things with him. There is no need for that." "I am not asking you to do it for yourself," Mario said. "I am asking you to do it for me." Zoe could not understand why he was being this way. It was not like he held a grudge towards Henry or anything. She used to hold a grudge and she was finally letting it go. Mario’s demands were questionable. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Since you can't hack into their system, I want you to crash the system servers. If his branch here becomes useless, then he can go back to America where he came from." Mario did not know yet that if Henry leaves for America, she is going along with him and that meant she would not be able to work for Mario anymore. "Why can't y
Henry cleared out his work schedule to spend the day with Zoe. The last time they went out together on a date, he ended up messing everything up. This was his second chance to earn her trust again. Maybe if she trusted him, she would not have to be sneaking around in the house and be open to him. If she was hiding something from him then there must be a reason. She had never been one to be too secretive. Zoe would come to him herself whenever she was ready, but for now, he had to focus on winning her back. Zoe changed out of her clothes into something perfect for a date. She wore a dress with heels and a sling bag. Henry suggested a date together out of nowhere. Was he really changing for the better? Why did he have to be nice to her now of all times? If Mario had asked her a year ago to crash the servers, she would have done so with glee and without hesitation. But not now that he is actually putting in effort to make sure she was happy. Zoe joined Henry outside who waited for he