Chapter 16
Pressed on the ground, Walter no longer had that gentle and refined air about him. In truth, he had only been pretending.
Back then, Zoe had been too naive to see through the duplicity. Looking at the trembling man before her, she suddenly felt a strange calm.
Walter was just an ordinary person. She had placed him on a pedestal and mistook infatuation for holiness.
Looking back, there was nothing extraordinary about him at all.
Taking a deep breath, Zoe steadily said, “Fine, I’ll go with you, but I’ll only give you half a month. After that, you must bring me back.”
Hearing that, the entire hall gasped.
Elijah’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his voice sharp like a blade. “You love him that much?”
Then, Malcolm lifted his gaze and grabbed Zoe’s arm tightly. “Zoe, don’t. I’ll protect you.”
She gave him a small smile and gently patted his hand as if to soothe him. But when she turned, the tenderness in her gaze vanished, replaced with cold resolve.
“No, I stopped loving him long ago. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left Midernia and married someone else,” she said. “I just know that if I don’t go with him today, he won’t stop until one of us is utterly destroyed. It’s best to end this quickly.”
Zoe reassured Rowan and cast one last lingering glance at Malcolm. Then, she mouthed the words, “Take care of Dad. I’ll be back soon.”
Though torn, Malcolm respected her decision.
She walked down the step one steady stride at a time and pressed Elijah’s gun down with her hand. “Let’s go.”
Elijah personally piloted his private jet and took her away. They landed on a deserted island,
The moment they stepped off the plane, he clung to her like a puppy seeking comfort. Anyone watching would see a couple in love, but they alone were aware of the divide that ran deep between them.
“Now, no one will bother us. Only you and I know this place, so no one will ever find us,” he
said.
Chapter 16
At that, Zoe’s expression hardened. She struggled against him, trying to push him he refused to loosen his grip. “You promised. Half a month and you’ll send me back.”
away,
but
At that, Elijah only held her arm tighter, as if trying to fuse with her. “Ave, don’t leave. Please, “he pleaded, his voice raw with desperation.
The humility in his voice struck her. It was the first time she had heard him do so, but it left her utterly unmoved.
“It’s just us here, so you can drop the act,” Zoe sneered. “Our marriage was just a transaction from the start, it was never about love. What you call love is nothing more than obsession and possessiveness. You never loved me.”
Unmoved, Elijah’s cool lips brushed gently against her earlobe as he huskily whispered, ‘ That’s not true, Ave. The truth is, I fell in love with you long ago. I just failed to see it myself.”
He remembered the moment it hit him. It was when he saw that marriage contract.
His chest had burned with such agony that blood rose in his throat and spilt down his chin, dripping onto the paper.
Elijah clutched that bloodstained contract. His body trembled uncontrollably while his eyes burned with fury and grief.
It turned out that the one person who had stood by him, the one who had treated him best, had never loved him at all.
Dragging himself back from that memory, he said, “I know you only married me because of that agreement. I’ll transfer 30% of Tarver Group’s shares to the McPhersons if you want. All I ask for is for you to look at me.”
Hearing that, Zoe’s eyes widened. 30% of Tarver Group’s shares was a fortune beyond imagination, but she no longer cared.
Suppressing the emotions rolling in her chest, she replied, “I was a fool once. I threw myself into the flame just for a man. Even if you gave me the entire Tarver Group today, I wouldn’t want it. As for you, I want nothing more than to stay as far away from you as possible.”
Elijah froze. He had handed his heart over, only for it to be crushed beneath her heel.
But unlike before, Zoe didn’t shrink back to spare his feelings. She turned and walked away.
When she went inside the villa, she came to a sudden halt. Her luggage from before she’d left Harrington was neatly arranged, and the room was decorated exactly as it had once been.
A wave of nausea hit her so hard she doubled over, retching against the wall. The lengths Elijah went to for this grotesque play of his made her sick.
Chapter 16
When Zoe finally straightened, her voice was sharp with disgust. “You brought all of this here just to remind me of the torture I endured?”
At that, Elijah turned pale. “No, Ave, that’s not what I meant—”
But she slammed the bedroom door in his face, refusing to hear another word.
Zoe didn’t emerge until after her bath that evening. As she stepped out, towel in hand, she froze at the sight of him slipping in through the windows.
This was the third floor! Had Elijah lost his mind? A fall from this height meant certain death
or severe injury.
Yet, he acted as if nothing was wrong. He jumped from the window and dragged a food cart in with practiced ease.
“Even if you’re angry, you still need to eat, right? It pains me to see you hungry,” Elijah said.
Blood streaks marred his arms from climbing, but he ignored them, calmly setting the table.
Zoe felt as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
No one had cared about her pain when she needed it most. Now that she was over it, here Elijah was, rushing to show his heartache.
Well, it was too late and too cheap. Belated affections were cheaper than dirt.
Scanning through the dishes, Zoe gave a cold laugh. “Did you make these yourself?”
Elijah nodded earnestly. “You cooked for me so many times before, so from now on, I’ll cook for you.”
“Do you know that I’m allergic to nuts?” she said, giving a mocking laugh as she pointed at a dish with nuts. “If you cooked every day, I’d be dead in a week.”
At that, he froze, then carried the dish out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. But from now on, I will remember everything you like and hate.”
“Is that so? Then remember this. The person I hate most in this world is you.”
Each syllable was deliberate, inescapable. His chest burned like molten lava, every word of
hers a blade.
After a long silence, Elijah’s voice was rough as he tried to change the subject. “I’ll make your favorite sea bass tomorrow. Will you eat it?”
Seeing him like this almost made Zoe laugh. The mighty Elijah was reduced to a beggar.
Suddenly, she flung down her cutlery, sweeping her bangs aside to reveal the scar on her
Chapter 16
forehead.
4/4
“This is the scar I got when you forced me to bungee jump. It’ll never fade. This scar is here to remind me forever of how you treated me.”
Elijah stared at the scar. His eyes were clouded with regret and pain. Met with his silence, Zoe laughed mockingly.
Just as she was about to throw him out, he suddenly grabbed a plate and smashed it. Then, he picked up a shard.
Without hesitation, he drove it into his own forehead.
Blood gushed down, staining his face, dripping into Elijah’s eyes. His gaze, red and twisted with desperation, fixed on her.
“I’ll give it all back to you,” he said, his voice shaking with pain. “Please… forgive me.”
Chapter 17.
1/3
Chapter 17
