Semua Bab A Love Meant to Crumble: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Anne didn't even need to check online to know the video clip was blowing up, and the comments were probably full of nasty attacks on her. She'd been trying to move on, but the Judds wouldn't let her be.Right then, a car pulled up across the street. Zachery got out of the driver's seat, with Sophia and Carol following from the back.Anne took a deep breath, stepped out of her yard, and walked right toward them."Anne? Y–You live right across from us?" Sophia asked, looking stunned, like she just realized it.Anne didn't answer, barely gave Carol a second glance, and locked eyes with Zachery."Your mom says I've taken so much from you. So, what exactly did I take?" she demanded.Zachery's expression turned hard. "Stop blowing this out of proportion.""Who's blowing it out of proportion?" Anne shot back. "We broke up—clean and simple. But your mom won't leave me alone! Well, we're all here now, so let's clear this up. Don't act like I ever took advantage of you."Carol jabbed a f

"I'm thinking about adding some flower beds on both sides," Anne said, picturing how she wanted to redo the yard."I took a look at the backyard. It's huge, and there's a pool," Caesar said, taking a sip of his beer."Yeah, but the pool's empty, and the yard's a mess," Anne said, shrugging."This is Oceanwind Villas," Caesar pointed out. "Even the smallest houses here are going for 20 to 30 million dollars. This one's got the perfect spot and is supposed to be the largest. It's got to be worth 50 to 60 million dollars, no doubt.""That much?" Anne asked, surprised.Julius nodded. "Probably more, actually."Anne pursed her lips, figuring Harvey had to be dealing with a hefty mortgage."You might want to ask the owner before you get started on the yard," Julius said. "You don't want any misunderstandings.""Uh… Actually, this house belongs to my fiancé," Anne admitted. "I'm fixing it up for us to move in together.""Fiancé? When did you get a fiancé?" Caesar asked, sounding skep

Zachery had no choice but to look for the first-aid kit. He combed through the whole house before finally spotting it in the living room.Everything inside was neatly arranged—several over-the-counter medicines, with a bottle of stomach medicine right on top. When he took a closer look, he saw it was about to expire in three months.The drinking at the work events had taken a toll on his stomach. Anne had always been the one to look after his health.She made easy-to-digest soups, included probiotics in his diet, and even picked up a special massage technique from some alternative medicine practitioner to help his digestion.She would give Zachery massages now and then. Because of that, his stomach had been doing pretty well, and flare-ups were few and far between.But recently, no one had been making him those soups, adding probiotics to his diet, or giving him those massages, so his stomach issues came roaring back.After taking the medicine, Zachery collapsed on the couch and

"Does Harvey play the piano?" Anne asked, glancing back.Walter looked away as he replied, "Yeah, sort of."Anne didn't ask any more questions. Everyone had their past, including her."Watch out when you're moving the piano. Don't scratch it or screw it up," she warned the workers.…Anne took her work seriously. By noon, she returned to Zachery's to make lunch, deciding on chicken pot pie. She picked up some chicken and started chopping it up.Before long, Zachery came down the stairs."Can you keep it down? Sophia's trying to sleep!" he snapped.Anne was surprised to see he was still home."Aren't you going to the office?" she asked."I'm off today," he muttered."Did you make seafood chowder this morning?" Anne asked, eyeing the leftovers in the pot."Yeah.""Wow, you can actually cook!"Anne had always thought Zachery would probably end up starving if she ever stopped cooking for him."It's not as good as yours," he admitted.She snorted. "Well, look at that—a compl

Carol's mug slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor. She jumped up, freaking out."I-I already drank a whole mug of that broth!" she gasped, immediately sticking her fingers down her throat, trying to make herself throw up.Sophia had taken a few sips and was doing the same.Zachery looked at Anne, who was leaning against the kitchen door. She was laughing so hard that she almost doubled over. When she caught him staring, she flashed him a grin.Exasperated, he sighed and said, "Anne didn't poison anyone."But Carol and Sophia wouldn't listen and kept gagging themselves."Oh, my stomach hurts," Carol groaned, clutching her stomach with a look of pure dread. "Agatha, hurry! Call the police. No, call an ambulance!"No matter how many times Zachery tried to assure her that Anne wouldn't do something like that, Carol wouldn't have it. Even when Anne came out and said it wasn't true, she just couldn't believe it.Eventually, the ambulance arrived. Carol grabbed Sophia's ha