Zoe Lancaster practically froze, her limbs turning ice-cold as she completely forgot to move. By the time she reacted, Stella Joyce had already swatted her hand away and sprinted toward Simon Hawthorne. She threw herself straight into his arms, her beautiful eyes brimming with hot tears. They fell like pearls, leaving her looking utterly pitiful and endearing.
"Simon... it hurts so much. Is my face going to be ruined?" she sobbed, sounding incredibly wronged.
Simon lowered his gaze, his calm eyes settling on Stella. The woman’s cheek was indeed swollen, making her look quite miserable. "What happened?" he asked. The question was directed at Zoe.
Stella beat her to it. Biting her lip as if enduring immense pain, she said, "I just wanted to buy Alice’s Heart. I never expected the seller to be Miss Lancaster. She doesn’t seem to like the necklace, but for some reason, she suddenly backed out of the sale. She even...
"She even insulted me, calling me shameless, and then just started hitting me. I don’t understand. What did I do wrong?"
Her tears fell even harder now.
Zoe was simply astounded by the woman’s shameless ability to twist the truth. Unfortunately, Stella had a face that naturally evoked pity. When she cried and acted like this, how many people could actually resist her? Let alone Simon, a man who loved her.
Crystal Hayes laughed out of sheer anger. Throwing herself at someone else’s husband right in front of the wife—did she have no shame?! "Alright, then. If you’re lying about even a single word, your entire family will get hit by a car the moment they step outside. How about that?"
A vicious glint flashed through Stella’s eyes before she burrowed deeper into Simon’s embrace as if terrified. "I’m sorry..."
Simon’s gaze suddenly sharpened, shooting a vicious glare at Crystal. The terrifying look made Crystal jump.
However, Simon didn’t bother arguing with Crystal. Instead, he grasped Stella’s hand and pulled her out of his arms, ignoring her fleeting look of displeasure. He strode over to Zoe on his long legs, his eyes behind his glasses dark and icy. Staring fixedly at her, he enunciated every word, "Did you do this?" His tone made it impossible to gauge his mood.
Zoe clenched her fists tightly, feeling the oppressive aura he exuded so effortlessly. She wasn’t sure what he intended to do after asking that question. Crystal was indeed the one who had hit Stella just now, but what Simon had ultimately seen was Zoe grappling with her. Knowing Simon’s temper, if he found out Crystal had laid a hand on his beloved woman, how could Crystal possibly bear the consequences?
Suppressing her growing numbness, Zoe looked up at him. "It was me."
Crystal panicked and immediately stepped forward. "Don’t talk nonsense! It was clearly—"
"It was me. It has nothing to do with anyone else. I dare to take responsibility for my actions." Zoe grabbed Crystal, cutting off her confession.
Crystal looked at her in astonishment, feeling a sharp pain where Zoe was squeezing her wrist. In that instant, she understood Zoe’s intentions. At the same time, she began to regret her actions. Had she just caused major trouble for Zoe?
"Do you even know what you’re doing?" The corners of Simon’s lips curled into a nearly imperceptible, mocking arc. His expression was cold and entirely devoid of warmth. "Zoe Lancaster, there are many ways to solve a problem, yet you insist on using the most foolish one?"
Zoe’s facial muscles twitched slightly. She didn’t know how many layers of meaning his words held; she only knew that the man standing before her was undeniably on Stella’s side. "It already happened. Deal with it however you see fit."
She glanced over at Stella, who was wearing a smug expression. Zoe knew that Stella would never admit it was Crystal who hit her. Stella wanted nothing more than this exact situation—a deepening misunderstanding that would make Simon loathe Zoe even more. Naturally, she wouldn’t drag Crystal into it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have slapped herself earlier just to frame her.
Simon stared at her with borderline apathy. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Since you’ve admitted it yourself, apologize."
Zoe’s entire body tensed. Her nerves turned into sharp thorns, frantically surging and piercing her flesh. She could no longer play the role of the long-suffering wife she had originally planned to maintain. "I hit her, but that doesn’t mean I think I was wrong."
With that, she shoved the velvet box into Simon’s chest. A very faint smile surfaced on her face. Her emotions were completely suppressed, making her seem entirely unbothered. "Use this to coax your Miss Joyce into a better mood. I hope you two stay stuck together forever."
She grabbed Crystal’s hand and turned to leave without a single shred of hesitation.
Simon frowned, looking down at the jewelry box against his chest.
Stella finally walked over, tears still clinging to her lashes. "Simon, did I cause trouble for you? Miss Lancaster..."
Simon remained silent.
Stella sneaked a glance at the doorway, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement. She thought that the woman was nothing special and still had to scurry away in disgrace after all. Her gaze fell on the velvet box, a thrill of victory washing over her. "Is this necklace for me?"
"Does it still hurt?" Simon turned around and asked, his eyelashes lowered.
Delight bloomed in Stella’s heart. She reached out to tug at Simon’s sleeve. "It hurts so much. It’ll probably be swollen for a couple of days, and my filming will be delayed..."
"Didn’t you know your own strength when you hit yourself?" Simon’s tepid tone caused Stella’s coquettish expression to freeze entirely.
"What?"
Simon showed zero emotion, which only made him all the more terrifying. The oppressive weight of his presence left her practically gasping for air, yet he merely stared calmly at her swollen face. "When you slap yourself, the handprint is reversed. Remember that for next time."
Stella’s face drained of all color.
Once they reached the side of the road, Zoe finally let out the breath she had been holding. She felt like she was going to explode from the pent-up frustration!
Crystal scratched her head, thoroughly depressed. "I’ve caused a disaster for you... I was just so furious that I completely lost my mind. What are we going to do now?"
She understood Zoe’s painstaking efforts. After all, Simon was not someone to be trifled with. If his heart truly ached for Stella, wouldn’t he come after her? Zoe was just trying to protect her.
Zoe shook her head, sighing up at the sky in total resignation. "We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Why are you apologizing? You stood up for me, and honestly, I feel a bit better because of it."
Sometimes, a woman’s sixth sense was deadly accurate. All those little things Stella had done recently to make her uncomfortable had been entirely deliberate. It was rather comical, really. A woman who already had a man’s love still bothered to play such underhanded, petty tricks. What was the point?
She was going to divorce Simon sooner or later anyway, wasn’t she? Was Stella really in that much of a hurry?
Before she got married, Zoe genuinely hadn’t known Stella existed, otherwise things would never have progressed to this point. But Stella, knowing that Simon was married and that the situation couldn’t be changed, shouldn’t she have kept her distance out of basic decency and common sense?
Crystal spat on the ground. "Then I should have swung with all my might and slapped the living daylights out of her! But then again, a bitch like her might actually enjoy it!"
Zoe pursed her lips. "I told you to watch less of those twisted romance movies. You’re starting to sound like a masochist."
Crystal just snorted.
Zoe sighed. "I’ll figure out a way to deal with Simon on my end." Whatever was coming would come. After blowing up into a situation like this, there was no way he would just let it go.
Crystal’s phone suddenly rang. She slapped her forehead. "I completely forgot I have a private coaching session today! I took a huge order—some super rich guy wants me to train his younger brother. I have to head out now."
Zoe nodded. "Be careful on the way."
After seeing Crystal off, Zoe was just about to hail a cab when she saw Shane Shaw pull up in front of her in Simon’s Maybach.
Shane stepped out and opened the rear door for her. "Mrs. Hawthorne, please get in. Mr. Hawthorne asked me to take you home."