Ch.4- Regret

Alpha Zach arrived home tired, as usual. The Butler greeted him at the door, and he hummed in response, took off his jacket, hung it, and walked to the living room.

He doesn't fancy going back home, but he knows he has to do it because he is a family man.

A trace of disapproval flashed across his eyes the moment he sat on the couch.

His mind traveled to the past, and the moment he would arrive home, Wendy would run to the door to welcome him. She would help him take off his coat and even ask him how his day was.

Even though he would elbow her aside and remain mute to her sweet greetings, she would still swallow her pain and continue maintaining a smile on her face.

When he arrives at the table, he will find his evening snacks already freshly baked for him and waiting for him at the dining table.

He would also find magazines of the day arranged there for him in case he wanted to go through them while leisurely sipping on his coffee and munching on his snack.

Most of all, the house always contained a certain warmth, a warmth that even the Butler had failed to achieve when he asked him to make sure that the house was always warm.

Although the house was cozy, it was chilling. The silence in there wasn't the most comfortable one, but it pissed him off.

A beautiful maid came in with a tray of coffee and snacks. He took magazines from his briefcase and placed them on the table, beside the snack tray. He took a sip, then a bite, and his lips curled in disgust.

That's not what he expected! Yes, the snack and tea were his favorites, but they didn't taste the way he wanted. As much as he wanted to fling everything on the table at the girl's face, he had to maintain his calm. "You may leave now." He dismissed her.

Only God knows how many restaurants he has visited in the past five years.

Although he had paid a visit to almost all of them, none of them could serve him what he wanted, or, in other words, they served him what he wanted, but...

They never tasted the way he expected them to. Finally, he gave up and had his food cooked at home. As long as his stomach was full, he could endure.

“Honey, can I have five hundred dollars, please? There is this new purse I want to buy.“ A voice jarred him from his half-conscious state of mind.

That was when he realized there was someone in the living room, bundled up on the couch.

He lifted his head from his meal, stared at the bundle with lips curled with disgust, and then scoffed, "You already bought a purse yesterday, Venessa; what more do you need?"

He wasn't short of money, but he couldn't understand why Venessa spent five hundred dollars every single day.

“That was another brand, and this time I really, really need this brand.“ She pouted, unbundling herself from the couch and coming to him.

Alpha Zach pinched his brows, then answered, "You said the same thing yesterday."

"I know, but..." She pushed the tray and cup of tea aside, tossed the magazine he was reading, and sat on his lap, planting a kiss on his neck.

“Venessa," he called, then pushed her off his lap. "You do know that I would give you money even without selling yourself to me."

Venessa gasped,"sell? What are you talking about, honey? We are husband and wife, and it's my duty to"

She was cut off. "Mmh, and you do your duty when you want money. Is that not selling, Venessa?" He raised his brow at her.

“Please, please.“ She started acting cute, pouting her lips outward, thinking Alpha Zach was teasing her.

Getting tired of her acting all cute, Alpha Zach rolled his eyes and placed a black card on her palm. "Go buy whatever purse you want. In fact, you can keep it.“

“Really?“ She asked in shock. She had wanted to keep it from the beginning, but he wouldn't let her. "Thank you so much.“ She squealed and spread her arms to hug him, but Alpha Zach politely shook his head in denial.

“You don't need to thank me. That is what you had been after, after all.“ He smiled at her, even though his words had a second meaning.

If it were not for the fact that Venessa was a bumkin blinded by riches, she would have understood what he had meant.

Venessa walked back and bundled herself on the couch after telling Zach that she would go out later to shop for her new purse, of course.

Zach was already used to Venessa's nature; he mumbled an okay and went upstairs since he had lost his appetite.

He sighed heavily and slumped onto the bed. With his eyes staring at the ceiling, he smiled bitterly, then shook his head as if getting rid of some Half an hour later, he stripped off his clothes and started adding to the bathroom.

Cold shower. That was all he needed to get back to his mood again. While heading to the bathroom, he caught sight of something on the side table.

It was a black card. Different from the one given to Vennesa, this was unique.

It wasn't popular because no one could have it. Only a few elites, him being one of them, had been invited to apply for it eight years ago.

It happened to be the time he was getting married to Wendy, and since he thought she was married to him because of money, he tossed it to her.

The funny part was that no notification had ever beeped into his phone, implying that it was used.

She had never used it.

He only came to be aware of that after she died. He was helping the butler clean the mansion he had bought her when he saw it lying on the ground.

It was that moment that he picked it up when he knew she was never a golddigger because if she really were, she would have used the card several times.

It was because of that card that he started doubting himself and asking himself questions.

Was she really who she was painted to be? She was a gold-digger because she was married to him; a killer because she pushed her mother off a building; a slut because she brought men home; and a thief because she stole his most expensive things and sold them in second-hand stores.

These questions led him to investigate all these accusations, and he only got a huge blow on the face.

There were all lies—pure lies.

“If only I could apologize to you, Wendy, if only.“ He mummered, dragging himself to the bathroom.

At Zach Junior's school.

The driver responsible for taking Zach Junior from school found him standing beside the gate, his little hands folded across his chest, and his thin lips curled up into angry pouts.

As long as the driver wanted to ask, he forced himself to shut his lips. Zach Junior was a demon in disguise. Foul-mouthed, rude, arrogant, and...

“James, will you take me home or stand there gazing at space?“ A sharp, stern voice asked from behind him.

James turned around only to see Zach Junior already in his seat, curled up like a ball, his eyes glowing red in his direction. “I'll be taking you home, young master Zach,” he responded, rushing to his seat and driving off.

It was always hard to get him off the car whenever they reached home, but not this time. Zach Junior came out of the car all by himself and rushed inside the house.

His habit of greeting his mom, who was known for spending all her day on the couch, curled up inside cute blankets, hugging stuffed animals, and barking orders at the servants, was even neglected today.

Venesa raised her head from the pillow and stared at the disapering figure of his son. She then titled her head to look at the door. “James, what happened to him today? Did he lose a fight or something?“

“I don't know Luna Venessa. Maybe you should go and check him up because that is unusual of young master Zach.“ James responded but got no response from Venesa.

Her eyes were stuck on the big screen in front of her, and her whole attention was preoccupied by it. Typical Venessa! She never cared about their young master, despite being his mother.

Hours passed by quickly, and finally the whole family sat down for their evening meal. Four faces, one belonging to Alpha Zach, another belonging to Luna Vennesa, the other from Alpha Hilton Zach's father, and the last belonging to Luna Kesha Zach's mother, stared at Zach Junior.

He hadn't touched his food since he walked to the dining table. All he had been doing was stabbing his food.

“Did anything happen today at school?“ Alpha Zach, although cold, asked in a caring voice. He knew Zach Junior as someone with a big appetite, so it was odd for him to not eat. The foods dressed on the table were all his favorites.

“Did Miss Eva do you wrong?“ Kesha asked, but received the same silence.

“Fine,” she said at last. "Let's talk about it when you are ready, okay? But for now, eat something because that will make your grandmother happy.“ She smiled caringly at him, scooping some soup from the hotpot and filling his eating bowl.

After a single spoonful of soup, Zach Junior raised his head to look at Keisha. "Grandmother, you said demons aren't real.“

Shocked since she didn't expect such a thing to bother her grandson, she parted his head and responded, "Yes, honey. Demons aren't real, even though books and television try as much as they can to bring them to life.“

“You do know lying is bad, right?“ He asked, eyeing her suspiciously, “You always tell me that.“

Keisha looked at the other people present around the table as if wanting to know what was going on in his grandson's head, but they all shrugged in confusion.

Left with no choice, she turned to him and said, "Yes, I know that lying is bad. You don't think I am lying, do you?“

After taking a deep breath and releasing a short sigh, he finally responded,I think you are.“

“And what makes you think so?“ His grandfather decided to join in the conversation.

“One joined our class today. From a single glance, you'll think she is an angel. Long green hair, sparking green eyes, her nose is so long, and her lips are so small and pink, but... He trailed, then crouched in his seat as if making himself look as small as possible. “She is a demon grandmother. Everyone was scared of her, even Miss Eva.“ He raised his teary-eyed eyes to look at her.

“It's okay. Maybe you were just dreaming; demons don't exist.“ His father, concerned about his son's sudden fright, decided to coax him.

“It wasn't a dream, dad. Her name is Miracle, and she's new." Suddenly, his small finger stretched forward and pointed at the TV screen still running in the living room. “That's her dad, Miracle, and the woman beside her—is it a mother demon? Will she follow me home and take out my eyes and heart?“ Zach Junior suddenly started crying.

Young Master Zach was truly shocked.

Following his gaze on the TV screen, the four elders sitting at the table gasped. The headline on the news was “Did Wendy Queen resurrect, or is it her ghost roaming around with an exact young copy of her?"

In the image, it was a mother and daughter standing beside a black Maybach. Their green hairs were let loose, and their sparking green eyes were looking directly at the screen, a menacing black glitter radiating from their white eyeballs.

“Wendy Queen?“ Zach Hilton and Venessa Hawking gasped in unison.

Wasn't she dead?

Weren't they the only people who saw her getting consumed by fire until her last breath?

In that heavy silence, only two people looked at each other. One with fear in her eyes, one with... No one could really know what was going on in his head, as his face and eyes were all emotionless.

What these people didn't know was that Wendy Queen never died.

Yes, they might have left her on fire, but the same guard who was asked to lock her in the burning room was the same one who, after Zach's car drove away, hurriedly returned inside and rescued her.

Wendy was the only person who had always made him feel like family. While everyone at Alpha Zach's mansion saw him as a servant, Wendy treated him like a human who needed to be valued.

Besides, she had driven Wendy around so many times and acted as her bodyguard when she was doing her duty as Luna.

They had so many similarities; their tastes were the same, and most of the time he felt like she was his sister, who got killed by her drunkard fiance long ago.

He didn't know what to do at that time, so he took her out of the fire and secretly called a doctor to take care of her burns. Since then, he doesn't know what happened to her.

The guard never knew if she had died or survived since she suddenly disappeared. On asking the doctor he had trusted to take care of her about her whereabouts, he said that he walked to his clinic to find her missing.

While shock was evident in people's faces,only one person who had a genuine smile on his face and even a sigh of relief escaped his lips.

It was Harrison, the head guard, who was asked to lock her in the burning room five years ago.

But the question that didn't leave his head was, Why was she back?