Zoe Lancaster returned to the room. It was their marital bedroom. She stood before the closet, glancing at the large bed before quickly looking away to examine the clothes inside the wardrobe.
She gathered all her everyday undergarments and personal clothing, packing them entirely into her suitcase. Most of the items in the closet were haute couture, jewelry, and designer bags bought for her by Simon Hawthorne. She hadn’t bought much herself, so packing was an easy task.
Zipping the suitcase shut, she let out a heavy breath.
She had made up her mind back at the hospital. Since aborting this child would make it difficult for her to ever conceive again, she would keep it. But there were still five months until their scheduled divorce date. By then, her pregnant belly would be impossible to hide. She didn’t want Simon to know about this baby’s existence. The child was hers alone, and if he found out, it would only lead to endless complications.
She had seen the ruthless nature of his wealth and power firsthand. Once they divorced, it would be all too easy for him to use strong-arm tactics to snatch her child away, and she would have absolutely no power to fight back. She needed to protect herself, and she needed to protect her baby.
Therefore, rather than waiting until she was trapped in an impossible dilemma, it was better to just make a clean break right now.
She didn’t even want the divorce settlement anymore. She simply couldn’t hold on any longer. She had always thought of herself as a total slave to money. But after enduring such a long period of torment and wasted time, compounded by the catalyst of Peyton Joyce’s unborn child, she was suddenly utterly exhausted. With the arrival of her own baby on top of it all, she was left with almost no room for choice.
To hell with it all. She was done playing this game.
With her suitcase packed, Zoe took a deep breath. Her eyes were faintly red, but she didn’t cry. She took one last, long look at the place she had, for a fleeting moment, once believed to be a home. She shouldn’t have held onto any expectations. A childhood devoid of love had driven her to try and fix things in a relationship even when she was bruised and battered. But reality had forced her to recognize the truth, delivering a harsh slap to the face.
Perhaps she should consider herself lucky. Simon had given her breathing room when dealing with the Lancaster Family. He was the one who had advised her, giving her the opportunity to extract ten million in cashed-out shares from Martin Lancaster, as well as two villas. As long as the paperwork went through, she wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while. It gave her the confidence to leave.
She placed a printed sheet of paper on Simon’s desk. Taking advantage of the busy servants, she slipped out through the back door.
The moment she sat in the BMW she had saved up to buy, she pulled out her phone and found Simon’s WhatsApp contact. Her limbs were cold and stiff, but her resolve was set. Leaving herself absolutely no way out, she typed out a few words and hit send.
Message sent, she drove away, vanishing without a sound.
Somerset Gardens covered a massive estate, employing nearly twenty servants alone. They managed the interiors, the kitchen, the gardening, security, and more. The division of labor was clear, covering every meticulous detail.
There was even a servant specifically responsible for Zoe’s diet. Mr. Hawthorne had instructed that, since his wife’s health was fragile, she should be served a bowl of premium bird’s nest soup every day to nourish her body. Right at this moment, the soup had just finished stewing.
The servant brought it up to the master bedroom but didn’t see anyone. She figured that since Mr. Hawthorne and his wife had been at odds the past couple of days, causing the missus to move to the first-floor guest room, she should check there. She hurried downstairs and opened the guest room door, but there was no sign of Zoe.
It was as if there had never been any trace of her existence in this house.
The servant frowned in confusion, wondering why the missus was nowhere to be seen when she had clearly returned earlier. Could she have gone to the study?
Patiently, she took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Pushing open the study door, she walked past rows of bookshelves toward the back. "Ma’am? Are you in here? It’s time for your bird’s nest soup."
No one answered. Even when she reached the very end of the room, it was completely empty.
Baffled, the servant turned around to call Zoe, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the desk. When she saw what was written on the paper resting there, her face instantly drained of color. Her hands trembled violently, spilling more than half of the bird’s nest soup from the bowl.
Atheria. It was located two hundred kilometers from Kingsford, about a two-hour drive on the highway.
The overseas markets had been turbulent recently. The sudden rise of new competitors was certainly having an impact, causing fluctuations in the stock market. In Simon’s eyes, this was only temporary. But just because he could keep his composure didn’t mean the overseas executives could remain unflappable. A last-minute business trip had been unavoidable; he needed to be there to steer the general direction of the meetings.
Between the drive from Kingsford and the meetings themselves, five hours had passed. By the time the conference wrapped up, it was already past eleven at night.
The temperature here was a bit warmer than in Kingsford. Night had brought rain, accompanied by the rumble of thunder.
Standing by the window, Simon watched the stormy night outside, churning like the deep sea. He unconsciously furrowed his brow. Raising his well-defined wrist, he glanced at his cool silver watch. It was nearing midnight.
Originally, he had planned to drive back through the night. Unfortunately, the heavy downpour meant the highways were unsafe, making travel inadvisable. Perhaps it was because of the rain, but his mood was inexplicably gloomy. A frustrating shadow hung over him, impossible to shake off, clouding his thoughts.
His slender fingers hooked into his tie, loosening it from side to side, before he finally fished his phone out of his pocket. He always made it a habit to mute his device during meetings.
The WhatsApp icon displayed a red badge with dozens of unread messages. They were usually work-related, so he tapped the app. Before he could even scroll down, the door was shoved open in a panic.
Linden rushed in, looking visibly frantic. "Mr. Hawthorne, something’s wrong! Somerset Gardens couldn’t reach you, so they just called me. They said..."
At the mention of Somerset Gardens, Simon’s gaze sharpened. He gripped his phone tightly, a flash of worry crossing his deep-set eyes. "What happened to her?"
Seeing Simon’s expression turn instantly chilling, Linden broke out in a cold sweat. He swallowed hard before managing to say, "The servant said... the missus is gone. She packed all her personal clothing, and she left behind—"
Before Linden could even finish, Simon’s eyes darkened heavily. The previously inexplicable sense of dread suddenly materialized, robbing him of the patience to wait another second. Grabbing his coat, he strode out the door. "We’re heading back to Kingsford!"
The rest of Linden’s words were caught in his throat. He still hadn’t recovered from the shock of what the servant had told him. Seeing Simon already heading downstairs, Linden gritted his teeth and hurried to catch up.
With a torrential storm raging outside, driving back to Kingsford was incredibly risky. Sitting in the back seat, Simon tried calling Zoe twice.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later—"
She didn’t pick up.
His eerie sense of unease grew stronger by the second. Suddenly, he recalled how unusually well-behaved Zoe had been. She had been exceptionally compliant during their meal together, and then there was that "goodbye" she had uttered—one that had sounded so terribly ordinary at the time.
Unable to reach her by phone, he opened WhatsApp. With a grim expression, he scrolled to their chat and finally noticed a single unread message from her.
As he read the line of text, his deep pupils constricted violently. The air around him dropped to freezing, swirling into a terrifying storm of suppressed fury.
Evie: [Simon, let’s get a divorce! I’ve already signed the divorce papers.]