Zoe Lancaster was silent for a while. It was such a massive platform, so why wouldn’t they want to make money? To refuse taking down the trending topic... Could it be Simon Hawthorne’s doing?
After all, he had witnessed her and Preston Quincy being set up by their two families. He didn’t love her, but he also wouldn’t allow her to challenge his authority. Perhaps... he had orchestrated the entire situation with the hostess.
Although Preston could be a bit reckless, he had always kept himself out of scandals. Yet, his reputation had been dragged through the mud because of a hostess. Was this a warning to her to not get any ideas, destroying Preston in the process? She felt incredibly guilty for dragging him into this mess.
A chilling sensation seeped into her bones, causing Zoe to tremble continuously. Her lips grew even paler.
Preston stepped forward and grabbed her arm. "Zoe, I’ve been looking for you for a long time. Are you okay? Are you really mad at me? I..."
"Preston." Zoe raised her eyes. The rims were red, yet her gaze was completely devoid of emotion. "Weren’t you curious about where I went?"
She pulled down her collar, revealing the intense hickeys trailing from her neck down to her collarbone.
"You don’t need to explain anything to me. Yesterday, I was in another man’s arms doing everything imaginable. I’d rather sleep with someone else than have anything to do with you. Do you understand?"
The door slammed shut. Preston’s ears were ringing. He stared blankly at the door that would never open for him again. Blinking his dry eyes, large teardrops soon smashed against the floor.
The moment she walked in, Heartbreaker eagerly pounced on her. Zoe crouched down and pulled the little dog into her arms, letting it lick her cheeks. In truth, she didn’t hate Preston, nor did she want to string him along. But now that she had dragged him into the battlefield between her and Simon Hawthorne, she couldn’t let it continue. She had to cut ties cleanly, and this extreme method was the only way.
After taking a good while to calm down, guessing that Preston had probably left, Zoe curled up on the sofa with Heartbreaker in her arms. She stared blankly at the phone in her hand. Ultimately, she dialed Simon’s number.
It rang for a long time. When he finally answered, it felt like an act of charity.
"What is it?"
Zoe swallowed hard, her voice light and devoid of life. "Let Preston off the hook. He didn’t do anything wrong."
Some things didn’t need to be said aloud; they both knew exactly what was going on.
Simon let out an imperceptible chuckle, his faint mockery seemingly seeping through the phone. "You still have the energy to worry about him. What are you, Zoe, a living saint?"
Zoe ignored his sarcasm. She closed her eyes and asked, "About me being drugged... could it possibly be..."
"Impossible."
His reply was cold and decisive, directly cutting off the name Zoe was about to say. It wasn’t an illusion; his attitude had become noticeably more biting. Zoe guessed it was probably because she was about to mention his beloved Stella Joyce that his tone turned so coldly imposing, completely disregarding the fact that she was the victim here.
Simon hung up the phone before she could say another word.
In truth, Zoe had only asked as a test. She wanted to see Simon’s attitude. Obviously, no matter the situation, he would always side with Stella.
She also understood that there was another suspect in this matter: Riley Lancaster. If she scrutinized everything carefully, many details pointed to something being wrong. For example, why did Riley coincidentally bring Martin Lancaster and Mrs. Quincy upstairs? However, what she couldn’t figure out was Stella’s presence. What role did she play in all this? Had Stella truly managed to keep her hands clean?
Zoe rarely took time off, but she asked for a two-day leave. She needed time to smooth everything over.
During this period, Martin called her. "Mrs. Quincy came over to apologize. She said it was all a misunderstanding. Zoe, that’s just how life is. Most of the time, you just have to make do. There’s no need to be too nitpicky. You see..."
Zoe gave a silent, bitter smile. "Dad, Preston came to see me. He said it’s impossible between us now."
Martin was left speechless.
Zoe took a breath and asked, "If something happens between Riley and me, who will you choose, Dad?"
Martin gave a perfunctory reply. "You’re both my daughters. What’s there to choose?"
"But I’m your biological daughter."
A long silence followed from the other end of the line. Zoe hung up.
For the past two days, Zoe intentionally avoided paying attention to the outside world. She just took Heartbreaker out for walks every day, and originally planned to spend the rest of her time watching TV series. But whenever she opened a streaming app, the homepage was plastered with the cover of Stella’s hit drama.
Simon’s word "impossible" suddenly popped into Zoe’s mind. Her heart felt as if it had been clenched tightly. She took a breath and glanced at the calendar.
Only nine months left. There were only nine months left until their agreed divorce date.
It was fine. Her greatest strength was her ability to endure.
Thursday.
Having rested for two days and smoothed out her emotions, Zoe couldn’t be bothered to drive, so she took the subway to the Global Trade Concourse.
The "assault" video that Stella had deliberately exposed had been completely taken down. Even though her face had been blurred out, the thought of someone from the company who recognized her leaking the information—and the filthy comments that followed—made Zoe’s legs stiffen for a moment as she entered the building. It felt as if malicious stares were surrounding her, making her restless.
Zoe tried hard to catch her breath, realizing it was just a stress response. The company wouldn’t let things blow up for everyone to know.
When she arrived at her department, she immediately noticed a group of colleagues whispering about something. Zoe was never close to them and didn’t join in the gossip. However, she realized the seat next to hers was empty. She frowned. "Where’s Summer Thorne?"
Since she was a junior supervisor, someone eventually answered her question. "Oh, Summer? She was fired a couple of days ago."
Zoe was astonished. "Fired?"
Summer was nearing the end of her six-month internship and was just about to become a full-time employee. How could she just be fired like that? What could be so serious?
After all, Summer was her mentee. Zoe immediately went to Director Carter’s office to ask. "Director Carter, what did Summer do wrong? What happened?"
Director Carter looked up from reading a document and replied nonchalantly, "It was an order from above. I just followed it. Apparently, it was an issue that affected the corporate image. It’s really strange, actually. HR just handed down the decision without even going through the standard procedures."
Zoe was silent for a moment. "Was it... Mr. Hawthorne?"
It wasn’t that she was being paranoid. Summer was just a lowly intern with no background. Even if she had done something wrong, she should have gone through the normal dismissal process. It was impossible for it to be this rushed and green-lit all the way through.
Director Carter paused. "Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask. The intentions of the higher-ups aren’t easy to guess."
Walking out of the office, Zoe couldn’t calm down. She didn’t understand what Simon was playing at. Was this a punishment for her offending him a few days ago? Did he intentionally fire the person she had been mentoring? Was there really no personal vendetta involved? She couldn’t figure it out.
During her lunch break, she called Simon twice, but he didn’t answer either call. Zoe had no choice but to avoid the crowds and head straight for the Hawthorne Group headquarters.
However, she was stopped by the receptionist. "I’m sorry, miss. You cannot see Mr. Hawthorne without an appointment."
Zoe felt a headache coming on and couldn’t help but find the situation deeply ironic. She was his lawful wife, yet seeing him required booking an appointment in advance, being reported through multiple layers of management, and waiting for his "royal decree"!