Zoey didn’t feel like answering his silly question.She lifted the blanket from her body but was pressed back into the sofa as soon as she stood up.The setting sun's light shone on Laurence’s beautiful and sharp eyebrows. Sounding as authoritative as ever, he asked, “Where are you going?”Zoey tried to get up, but his strength was too much for her to overcome. His cold and slender thumb pressed on her shoulder, easily pinning her in place.“I want to go upstairs and rest.”Laurence’s finger hooked onto a lock of her hair as he looked at her slightly flushed face. “It’s too stuffy upstairs; you should rest in the living room.”Zoey was helpless against his strength. She frowned and complained, “Don’t hold me down.”Laurence said sorry to her without any sincerity. Despite his apology, he didn’t intend to let go of her. “As soon as I let go, you’ll run away, won’t you?”At such a close distance, even their breaths became intertwined.Zoey replied insincerely, “I won’t run.”Laurence sta
It was all so that he didn’t appear to be a cruel man who left his wife to her own devices after she had an abortion. He was kind enough to stay home and take good care of her.Laurence looked at her with a smile, but the smile wasn’t exactly sincere. “What do you mean?”Zoey knew that he was suppressing his anger. She said very calmly, “I don’t need it.”After a long time, Laurence said, “Zoey, you’re very forgiving indeed.”Zoey replied, “You taught me well.”Later, Laurence didn’t go into the kitchen but called the hotel to get people to send dinner over. He sat opposite Zoey with his long legs crossed. He looked into her eyes and stayed silent for a long time. Then, he spoke up exasperatedly.“You’re right. None of this was necessary.”He’d never cooked for anyone. His good intentions were all laid to waste that day. It wasn’t worth all the trouble at all.Zoey didn’t reply. She was looking at the entertainment channel on the TV in a daze.Unfortunately, the TV host was broadcastin
“She saved me.”These words sounded light as a feather.Zoey pretended that nothing was out of the norm. “So that’s how it is.”Laurence lit a cigarette, but the moment the flame lit up, he snuffed it in the ashtray after slight deliberation. He asked, “Is it strange?”Zoey still had to act normal in front of him. She could imagine how stiff her expression was. Her eyes stung and reddened. “It’s a little unexpected.”Laurence turned around and looked at her fixedly.Her face was drained of color, and her body was all tensed up. She looked like a frightened bird and wasn’t in a good state.He slowly elaborated, “I was kidnapped when I was small. Actually, no, not that small. It happened when I was a teenager.”Laurence could talk about the past without any sign of discomfort. “I was held captive for quite long, about half a month. I thought I’d die at that person's hands several times, but I was fortunate. I managed to survive no matter how I was beaten.”Thinking back to those days, La
Laurence stood still and looked at her. After a moment, he said, “Sorry, there really is an emergency.”“How sorry can you be? So be it,” thought Zoey.She had broken out in a cold sweat due to the pain. She took a few deep breaths. Showing her weak side to him once was already her limit. She endured the pain and said hoarsely, “Okay, you go on ahead.”Laurence put on his tie, took his suit jacket, and left without turning back. Downstairs, the driver and bodyguards were already waiting. Laurence casually threw the car keys to the driver, his expression cold and serious. “Drive me to the mansion on South Street.”“Yes, sir.”Laurence seemed to remember something suddenly and called the butler. “Miss Jenner isn’t feeling well. Look after her and check on her.”The butler immediately perked up. “Yes, sir.”Laurence hung up the phone and left his household affairs behind him. Zoey was an adult and should know to call a doctor if she was feeling discomfort.He thought of what Sarah had sai
Sarah spread her knees apart and sat on Laurence’s lap. She looked at him with reddened eyes and used her tears to show that she was sorry every time they quarreled. “Laurence, I was wrong.”Sarah shed more and more tears, and her face was soon completely damp. “Don’t do this to me.”She cried and choked as she spoke, her voice and speech slurred. It could be very distressing indeed.Laurence was silent for a moment. He frowned lightly and pinched her chin. He looked serious in the dim light as he slowly wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief. “Forget it.”He told himself there was no need to chastise her.Sarah’s eyes were still red. He glanced at the mobile phone next to the sofa. The call had already been hung up.Pretending not to notice anything, Sarah continued, “I didn’t go abroad to leave you behind.”Laurence interrupted her, “I know. You were sick.”Sarah was stunned as she thought he didn’t know about this. She choked back sobs, lowered her face, and looked aggrie
Getting a divorce now or two years later didn’t make much of a difference for Zoey. She was okay with it either way. Besides finding another way to sustain her mother’s high medical expenses in the hospital, nothing else would change much.Zoey thought about it seriously and told Laurence truthfully, “If you need to, I’m willing to cooperate.”She could unconditionally terminate the contract earlier as long as he paid her the corresponding liquidated damages in accordance with the contract.After she’d said that, she noticed Laurence’s expression darken. He became reserved and gloomy. He was unpredictable, but Zoey had always been unable to gauge his temper. She contemplated it, polished her words a little, and mentioned tactfully, “Well, if it is terminated early, I should get compensation, right?”She asked the question carefully, afraid that Laurence might change his mind if he got upset. She could now understand why Laurence preferred to trade money and goods. It was straightforwar
Laurence wasn’t pleased after hearing that. He shouldn’t have said so much; it made him seem more concerned than he was.He was quiet for a few seconds before his expression changed to a fleeting cold smile. “I hope that you’ll be able to follow through with your plans when the time comes.”Laurence had known many women who were terrible at discerning others’ characters. He had a scatterbrained female cousin who fell in love with a man with a poorer financial background than her. When she finally had him, she provided for all his financial needs. Her actions were that of a lovesick person. And yet, in the end, the man never saw her as a romantic partner; once he’d garnered a fortune and could stand on his own two feet, he’d discarded her without a second thought.Laurence’s cousin had sobbed when she begged through gritted teeth for Laurence to teach the man a lesson that he would never forget. Laurence was annoyed by her weeping, so he simply agreed to her request. Before he could
The nurse was startled by Zoey’s tone. Zoey had always been soft-spoken and civil. She had never raised her voice at the nurse before.“Ms. Teller brought flowers with her, so she didn’t seem like someone with bad intentions. She said that she was an old friend of your mother’s, so I let her in,” the nurse said shakily.Zoey felt a bit light-headed from anger. An icy expression hung on her face, a rare look for her. “Please tell her to leave the next time she comes.”The nurse let out a breath of relief. “Alright.”Zoey’s anger still hadn’t dissipated after she ended the call. She forced herself to calm down and mull over Jasmine’s motives for today's visit. Jasmine wouldn’t visit her mother for no reason—she wasn’t one to do anything just for the sake of it. She was clearly more intelligent than the average person, considering how she’d waited for so many years. Jasmine had played a pivotal role behind the scenes regarding Robert’s smooth and easy acquisition of the Fulton family’