Shawn had walked over to her languidly, picking her up from where she had fallen. His arm was on the skinny side, his veins popping prominently under his skin. He wrapped a hand around her neck as he casually said, “Zoey?”Zoey had never exchanged a word with him until then. She had no idea what she’d done to cross him.Shawn waited until she was close to dying from the lack of air before tossing her aside like trash. He loomed over her with mad red eyes. “If you get in Sarah’s way again…”Shawn was a beautiful man, and his smile was breathtaking. However, the words that left his mouth were cruel and vicious as he pointed at the men behind him. He continued to smile as he casually let Zoey know, “I’ll let them take turns having their way with you.”Tears kept streaming from Zoey’s eyes, but she didn’t make a sound. She watched as Shawn left with his groupies and curled up on the ground, unable to stop her trembling.She knew that Shawn would follow through with his words, for he w
Zoey didn’t pay much heed to Laurence’s words. Although there were quite a few unfriendly looks thrown her way, she remained as cool as a cucumber. She eyed Jasmine indifferently. Jasmine was almost 40 but looked like she was in her early 30’s. While she wasn’t a standout beauty, her features fit together harmoniously. Her face was gentle and easy on the eyes, making people feel at ease around her.Zoey still remembered the first time she met Jasmine. Her mother had been lying in a hospital bed on the brink of death while Jasmine stood outside of the room, peering through the glass panel of the door.Jasmine had then said in faux concern, “How pitiful.”The Fulton family was practically decimated, and Zoey’s uncle was in prison due to a white-collar crime. Meanwhile, Robert had brought her over to Northwell. She knew very well that Robert hadn’t taken her with him out of the kindness of his heart—he was simply worried that tongues would wag, so he reluctantly took her in. Jasmine woul
Laurence liked Zoey’s intelligence and her occasional acts of spontaneous seduction. He looked at her face, her lovely smile still hanging on her lips. Even if she had been forcing it, her smile was still far prettier than anyone else’s in this banquet hall.“Don’t get on her bad side next time.” Laurence didn’t say anything else.Zoey felt like a dagger had stabbed right through her heart, but she ignored the pain, gradually letting her smile disappear. “Why would I rile her up? She was the one who started it,” Zoey said.Laurence nonchalantly raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you avoid her?”“She’s trying to hurt me because she thinks of me as an obstacle. How can I avoid her?” Zoey squeezed his arm affectionately and smiled again. “Why don’t you tell Jasmine that I’m just your wife on paper? Maybe she’ll stop out of the kindness of her heart.”Laurence was quiet for a while after she finished. Perhaps it was because he didn’t believe that Jasmine would be petty enough to pull such childish
Zoey understood the true meaning behind his words when he said that love shouldn’t be mentioned: it was a warning to her. It was also a tacit understanding between them. Zoey felt like she had already practiced this masquerade enough to be a skilled actress. Even when her heart had been stabbed over and over and even when she was in so much pain, she still looked normal on the surface. She forced herself to grin at him. She would not let him see any of her sadness and hurt.“I was just kidding.” She let him go. “If you don’t want me to say that, then I won’t bring it up anymore.”Laurence couldn’t put his finger on the reason behind her oddness as he eyed her and her captivating smile.“You seem to be in a good mood tonight.”Zoey did indeed have a wide smile on her face, but it looked forced. Laurence didn’t like that fake smile. Forced smiles always looked overly stiff.“I’m doing good.”“But you don’t exactly look fine.”“Oh, maybe it’s because I prefer thinking about my design work
Shawn’s tone was filled with the intention to humiliate, with many unsaid meanings behind his words. Laurence looked at him blandly.“Now, why are you suddenly so interested in my life?”Shawn usually wasn’t one to poke his nose into others’ affairs as he wasn’t interested in them, especially ever since he took over the family business. He was far too busy getting his hands dirty, so he didn’t have the time to get nosy even if he wanted to. Shawn had an icy expression on his face, the look in his eyes indiscernible.“Just curious.”Laurence grinned.“Do you even get curious about anyone other than Sarah?”Shawn’s feelings for Sarah were no secret. Anyone could see it from a mile away, and this was coming from Laurence when he was still a young and childish boy. Laurence would be lying if he said that he didn’t care about Laurence’s crush on Sarah. However, he had been young and wild back then, and he allowed Laurence to go after her. If Shawn successfully wooed Sarah, then he would acc
Robert didn’t care at all about his daughter’s happiness. Zoey still hadn’t mentioned her marriage to Laurence because she knew that Robert would keep hounding her for money. The Zuckman family was like an abyss that swallowed everyone. Shawn’s ability to secure his position and root out the rats so quickly proved that he was no regular man. He was certainly cruel. Shawn had found Zoey’s weak point.“Zoey sure did leave an impression on me.”Zoey knew what Shawn was referring to: it was that love letter, the proof of a teenage Zoey’s feelings. Proof that should never see the light of day. She couldn’t let Laurence know that she had once had such a huge crush on him, or she would be done for. Laurence would not want someone who had feelings for him. Things would get complicated once feelings were involved. Feelings would make someone foolish, as Laurence had once said.Zoey had no idea if Shawn was threatening her. She was still irritated that she still couldn’t understand how Shawn had
Zoey’s body stiffened. She hadn’t thought that Shawn would remember that. There would always be times when one would find themselves at an impasse. If she hadn’t been so desperate for money and had another way to make a living, she wouldn’t have gone to work at Nightbloom. Laurence didn’t care. He could guess why Zoey worked at the nightclub: her mother’s medical fees couldn’t be shouldered by a young student.Laurence had never once heard Zoey bring up her father. Maybe her father had already passed away, if it wasn’t because of some other reason that was difficult for Zoey to explain. Seeing how Laurence seemed unperturbed by this revelation, Shawn lost interest. That was right—Laurence probably didn’t care because he didn’t have feelings for Zoey.Shawn’s head began to ache again. In truth, he had been weathering the pain for a while now. Every time he saw Zoey, the pain would shoot through his temples, crippling him. And yet, he didn’t want to turn his gaze away from her. Shawn had
It was only natural for Zoey to feel out of her element when she bumbled her way into becoming a worker at a nightclub. She had been desperate for money then, so whenever a customer wanted her to drink with them, she did so. She would keep going even if she threw up from the sheer amount of alcohol as it would get the customers to buy drinks from her. Whatever obstacles were thrown her way, she gritted her teeth and put up with them.Zoey had always felt that she had terrible luck, especially when she ran into Shawn at Nightbloom. She had been rather debauched that night, her skirt stained with wine and hair hanging messily over her shoulder. Other than lipstick, she didn’t have any other makeup on.Zoey had just finished puking her guts out at the washroom then. Her face was pale from her ordeal, so she quietly covered her cheeks with some blush. Her gait was shaky when she left, and that was how she accidentally bumped into someone. The man had two rows of bodyguards lined up behind