Laurence lay awake for most of the night. He stared at Zoey until her mumbling stopped. She seemed to have stopped dreaming.The woman buried her face in the pillow. Her face was flushed, and her brows were relaxed. She looked peaceful in her sleep. Her pale neck was bruised all over with marks from his hands from the heat of passion. He didn't mean to lose control but he couldn't help himself.Laurence reached out to caress her face. His touch was gentle so he wouldn’t wake her. His chest tightened. The name she said in her sleep haunted him like a curse. He wanted to let it go, but Laurence couldn't shake it off his mind. Even though he didn't think Zoey had feelings for Shawn, when she whispered someone else's name in her sleep, it felt like a knife to his heart. The pain and annoyance lingered. Laurence had no idea who else she loved. It could be her young-looking husband or Shawn, who had been missing for a while now. But it could not be him.He stared at Zoey. His eyes were
Zoey took a deep breath. Her fingers trembled as she tried to button up her dress. She did not want to act differently. Even though last night's event had gotten out of hand, she had to remain calm. "I'm dressed." Laurence turned around and looked at Zoey. He then put on his clothes in front of her. Zoey couldn't believe how strong the alcohol had been. She couldn't remember how she got drunk. She had not blacked out, but she couldn't control her actions. She pulled herself together to face Laurence. She refused to mention the events of the night before. She looked calm. "Can you leave?" Laurence was more at ease than she was. He looked at her and asked, "Are you trying to get rid of me after having your way with me? You don't strike me as the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am type." Zoey was still shy about the subject even though many years had passed. She choked. She couldn’t believe he would be so blunt about what happened last night. She thought adults would pretend nothing had
Zoey always threw up after taking the morning-after pill. She vomited non-stop, and it was very uncomfortable. Laurence watched in anger as she bought the pill. However, he could not say anything about it. Before the pharmacist could bring Zoey the pill, Laurence grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the drugstore. Zoey believed he had lost his mind. She tried to fight back, but she couldn't break free from his grip. She often felt frustrated that she could never overpower him. "What are you doing?" Zoey raised her voice. "What has gotten into you?" It was not wise to create a scene in public. To everyone else, they looked like a couple having a spat. Zoey scratched the back of Laurence's hand, and it started bleeding. It was the first time she had ever done that. Laurence felt no pain, but he found it different and new for her. He explained patiently, "Don't get the pill."She took a deep breath. "Can you be sensible? You won't have to bear the consequences. That's why you
Zoey repeated, "We're not together." The owner, Claire, let out a long "Oh.” She meant no harm, but she was curious. "So he's chasing you?" Zoey shook her head. "No." Claire snuck a smile and winked playfully at Zoey. "It doesn't seem like nothing. He even reserved all the rooms on your floor." Since Claire looked like she was about Zoey's age, she could speak comfortably with her. Claire smiled and hinted, "I think he's into you." Zoey pretended like she and Laurence were not close. "Maybe. I don't know him well." Claire had been running the bed and breakfast for many years. She had met all types of people, including newlyweds, college sweethearts, and married couples who weren’t in love. She had a keen eye for people. "I'm a good judge of character. He has feelings for you." The pair didn't seem like friends. The way the man looked at the woman was more than friendly. "He's hot. You look good together." Zoey took the comment with a grain of salt. She didn't say anythi
"Sorry." Laurence's apology didn't seem genuine. Zoey was speechless and appalled by Laurence's audacity. He added frankly, "I followed you here. I wasn't going to tell you, but I couldn't help myself." He handed her the milkshake. "Don't you want it?" Zoey fell silent for a while but accepted the milkshake. She had a habit of biting the straw. She took a sip, and the drink wasn't too sweet. Laurence bought himself a cup, too. He had never had a milkshake. He usually passed on them. Tonight, he wanted to try something Zoey liked. He took one sip, and the drink was too sweet for him. Laurence gulped down the mouthful of milkshake with a straight face. He lied, "It's delicious." Zoey curled her lips. She saw through his lie. "You don't like it." Laurence took another sip and made his act believable. "It's delicious." He then asked her, "What? Yours isn’t?" Zoey saw an improvement in his patience. He didn't comment in annoyance that the drink was alright like he used to. S
The man screamed in pain. It didn't take long before he was black and blue. He helplessly lifted his arms to block his face. His friends in the back finally realized they should help him. They were kicked and thrown against the wall on their backs before they could get close. They sat against the wall, unable to get up as they winced in agony. Even when they teamed up, the men were no match for Laurence. He may have looked like a gentleman with a slender build, but his attack was ruthless.The man tasted the rust and spat out the blood in his mouth. He forced himself to get up. He didn’t want to look weak in front of his friends. He asked, "Who the hell are you? Why do you care? You attacked us out of nowhere!" Even though he was beaten to a pulp, the man endured the pain and added furiously, "What? Who is she to you? Why are you protecting her?" Laurence had not used violence in a long time. He knew that violence was immature and would not solve the problem. The act of aggressi
The ambulance arrived on time. Zoey sat in the ambulance with Laurence. As he was wheeled into the operating room, Zoey stood outside the surgery doors in a daze. She stared blankly at the red light above the door that told her the surgery was in progress. The blood on her hands had dried. Her clothes were stained with his blood too. She looked like she had been through a lot. The nurse thought she was injured, too. "We should patch you up." Zoey snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the nurse. She couldn't really hear what came out of her own mouth. She replied, "I'm fine. I'm not injured." She was covered in Laurence's blood. The shade of red on her palms brought her back to that gruesome year. The stab wound may not have been fatal, but the cut was deep. When the knife was removed, the blood gushed like a faucet had been turned on."You have a lot of blood on you. We should get you checked out. Maybe you're injured somewhere that you don't know about." "It's okay. I'm
Zoey was exhausted. It was way past her usual bedtime. She leaned onto the bed. Her eyes were sore from exhaustion, but her mind was wide awake. She couldn't stop reliving the incidents of the past. Before she knew it, she dozed off against the bed. Zoey dreamed a lot, but she couldn't remember a single thing when she woke up. Zoey woke up in the morning. Her arms and neck are sore. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked as her memories came back to her. She remembered she was at the hospital. Laurence had not regained consciousness, but the anesthesia should have worn off by now. The doctor and nurse had made their early rounds. They examined him, and he seemed fine. All that was left was to wait for him to wake up.Zoey stood up and rubbed her sore neck. She couldn't resist asking the doctor. "When can he wake up?" The doctor couldn't give her a concrete answer. "It's hard to say." Zoey nodded and turned to Laurence. She responded absent-mindedly, "Okay." Not long after th