It had been a week since Zoe Lancaster submitted her resume to Lance Langley. Since the company was still on the New Year holiday break, she had no idea how it went and could only keep waiting.
Every year during the holidays, aside from Martin Lancaster, she would also send New Year’s greetings to her aunt, Claire Sutton. Her grandparents had their daughters late in life; they were already forty when her mother, Wyatt Sutton, was born. A few years ago, her grandmother had taken a fall that led to multiple organ failure and passed away. Her grandfather outlived her by only a year before passing away peacefully.
Her mother, Wyatt, would have been forty-seven this year, while Aunt Claire was forty-four.
Back in the day, Aunt Claire had married her college classmate. However, Leo Linden came from an average background, having tested into a big city university from the countryside. Her grandfather, on the other hand, was a university professor, and her grandmother came from a wealthy lineage. For that era, their family’s conditions were considered excellent.
Aunt Claire had married beneath her station despite her family’s strong opposition.
The Sutton Family had provided them with plenty of support over the years.
But later on...
The moment the call connected, Zoe heard the sound of things smashing in the background. It was accompanied by a drunk man’s vulgar, foul-mouthed shouting, making her frown instantly.
"Aunt Claire? What’s going on?"
Claire froze for a second. When she spoke, she couldn’t hide the tears in her voice. "Zoe, how have you been? I’ve been so busy that I completely forgot to call you—"
BANG!
Another massive crash erupted on the other end of the line.
It sounded like someone had slammed the door and left.
Even Zoe flinched at the noise.
Her expression changed. "Did he go gambling again?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m used to it by now," Claire replied, suppressing a sob.
Anger flared in Zoe’s chest, and her tone grew serious. "Aunt Claire! Tell me the truth, did something happen? Why are you crying? Did he hit you?!"
Her uncle, Leo Linden, had been disciplined and fired from his assigned job years ago after yielding to temptation and making a grave mistake, which had even been publicly announced. Arrogant and full of himself, his temperament changed drastically after that. Instead of finding a job to support the family, he spent his days picking fights with Claire. Later on, he developed a gambling addiction, lost constantly, and began getting physical with her.
In the early years, Aunt Claire had endured the marriage without divorcing him because her daughter, Autumn Linden, was still young. Later, she simply couldn’t escape. Leo became increasingly extreme, racking up more and more debt, and taking all his frustration out on his legal wife, Claire.
Claire lived in unspeakable misery.
Claire sobbed a few times, finally unable to hold back anymore. "He owes over a million. The debt collectors have already shown up at our door. We don’t have that kind of money! That animal, Leo, he—
"He wanted to sell your cousin Autumn to pay off his debt!"
Zoe was so shocked and furious that her whole body trembled.
Autumn was only a sophomore in college!
Leo no longer had the conscience of a father. Hooked on gambling, he had completely lost his humanity!
"Where is Autumn now?" Zoe forced herself to calm down. "Aunt Claire, don’t hesitate anymore. You need to divorce him!"
"Autumn was taken by those people," Claire wailed. "They said if we don’t pay up within three days, they’ll give her to... I want to get a divorce too, but Leo absolutely refuses. There’s nothing I can do—
"Zoe, what should I do? They even said they know Autumn goes to college in Kingsford, and told me to just wait and see what happens if I call the cops. They’re inhumane animals!" Driven to a dead end, her words turned incoherent as panic completely overwhelmed her.
Zoe took a deep breath. "Aunt Claire, calm down first. I’ll figure something out. I won’t let anything happen to Autumn."
Claire felt even worse. "But you’re just a child yourself, and you have such a hard time in the Lancaster Family. I didn’t want to drag you down with me..."
That was why she hadn’t contacted Zoe. She understood Zoe’s situation all too well; the girl’s life was no easier than her own!
Zoe clenched her fingers. The sharp sting of her nails digging into her palms brought her a moment of clarity. "Who took Autumn? The casino? Or someone else?"
"It was the loan sharks," Claire said. "They’re connected to the casino, probably part of the same gang. I can’t reach Autumn right now. If... if anything happens to her, I won’t be able to live with myself—"
Zoe frowned deeply but softened her voice to comfort her. "Don’t panic just yet. They only want money, so they won’t do anything drastic before they get it. I’ll think of a way. What casino is it? What’s the name?"
These underground casinos usually operated with blatant arrogance, driven entirely by greed. Calling the police would be useless and might even provoke them directly. Autumn was just a young girl who wasn’t even twenty yet. If they flew into a rage out of humiliation and did something depraved to her, it would be too late.
She couldn’t take that risk lightly.
Claire was well past the point of rational thought. "Chase. I only know it’s called Chase. Nothing else—
"Zoe, what can you possibly do?"
Zoe lowered her eyes, a trace of bitterness flashing through them. "Leave it to me. I’ll do my best to handle it."
She didn’t tell Claire about her marriage.
If she had known about this earlier, she might have had some spare cash to help. However, she had just used a portion of the money she recently received to top up her hospital account, and the rest to pay for a caregiver. She had hired round-the-clock care, and since the cost of living in Portellis was many times higher than inland, the wages were proportionally exorbitant. She had paid a lump sum of nearly four hundred thousand for the caregiver’s six-month salary.
She hardly had any money left on hand.
And right now, it wasn’t just about saving someone; more importantly, it was about securing a divorce.
If her aunt didn’t get a divorce, this nightmare would never end.
She would definitely need to hire the best lawyer to handle it, which would require another hefty sum.
Furthermore—
To rescue someone from the hands of such extremists, one either needed immense power and influence or boundless wealth. Otherwise, an ordinary person had absolutely no chance of putting up a fight.
As for the Lancaster Family, Martin Lancaster would never help her. Aunt Claire’s relationship with Martin had been strained for years because of her mother, so he would likely just kick them while they were down. The only person left who had the ability to help was Jules Yates. But Jules was currently in seclusion filming a movie, and he would be unreachable for at least a week or two. Autumn couldn’t wait that long.
It seemed she only had one option left.
Sitting on the sofa, Zoe’s hand trembled as she clutched her phone. Her knuckles were pinched as white as her lips.
Life was truly strange.
She had finally made up her mind to draw a clear line with Simon Hawthorne—to arrive clean and leave cleanly, sparing her heart from being crushed over and over again.
And now—
Zoe sat on the sofa in a daze for nearly two hours.
During those two hours, countless thoughts raced through her mind.
It felt like fate was playing a cruel joke on her. She let out a bitter laugh, brushed the bangs from her forehead with both hands, and took a deep breath.
Only then did she dial Simon’s number.
She didn’t know what his attitude would be. Since she had just thrown a temper tantrum at him, he probably wouldn’t give her much face and might even mock her mercilessly.
He didn’t answer.
It was to be expected.
Simon was not a man without a temper.
Her reckless departure on New Year’s Eve was bound to invite gossip within the Hawthorne Family, and the elders would certainly have a major problem with her. Simon would inevitably have to bear the brunt of that pressure. On top of that, her attitude had been terrible. Given how smart he was, he had likely grasped the underlying meaning of her words that night. He was undoubtedly angry—after all, a wife he had bought with money had dared to defy him.
Left with no other choice, Zoe could only call Linden.
Linden picked up right away. "Mrs. Hawthorne."
Zoe could hear loud, chaotic music in the background. It sounded like a nightclub or some similar venue of indulgence and debauchery.
She pursed her lips. "Where is Simon? I have something... to discuss with him."
On the other end, Linden seemed to pause. She wasn’t sure if he was asking for someone’s permission, but after a long moment, he replied, "He’s at the Riverbend Tavern. I’ll send you the private room number."
Upon receiving the room details, Zoe quickly left the house.
She stared at the reflection of her pale face on the elevator wall.
She wondered how any man could possibly like such a lifeless, bitter face.
Pulling out her lipstick, she carefully smudged it across her lips. In an instant, her face became strikingly bright and alluring. She knew all too well what her relationship with Simon entailed. The divide between them was as clear as night and day, and she had always been at a disadvantage.
Why would Simon help her?
What did she have that he would even look twice at?
The only thing she could use to her advantage was simply her own body.
Wasn’t that what he wanted?
No—
More accurately...
Would he even still want it now?