Before Ember arrived, Zachary had told her that he would not hold Lulu Adams’s death against her, but in other words, he was saying that he would not show mercy if she kept meddling in his affairs.
In fact, even if she was his mother, Zachary would have her thrown in prison -she could not afford to provoke him.
But she was still pleased-he had clearly grown out of the shackles of family ties. All she wanted was for him to be able to stand up for himself, and she would die happy to see him become a ruthless head of the family!
Naturally, that meant she could not help Ember, and as she returned to her room right away, Ember was left downstairs, wobbling again.
Zacahry then said flatly, “Sign this now, and I could consider paying for your living expenses. You can’t blame me for what happens if you don’t.”
That was all he said, and it left Ember staring blankly at him, as if she did not know him.
He was now a stranger-a heartless man!
“You’ve changed…” she murmured.
Zachary smiled. “No thanks to you.”
Finally calming down, she exclaimed, “You always took offense that I cheated on you, didn’t you? But you set me up in the first place!”
“I wouldn’t stoop that low,” Zachary replied, his eyes turning cool. ‘ You’re the one who charmed your parents into manipulating my mother, who in turn had Lulu killed. The instant you did that, it would end badly for you!”
“Lulu…?”
Ember was stunned. She could not believe that she lost to a dead person, and turned hysterical right then. “All you care about is her, don’t you?! But she’s dead! She’s not coming back no matter what you do, and I’m the one who did it-so don’t involve my parents!”
Zachary watched as she threw a tantrum. He suddenly rose to his feet and slowly walked up to her as he said, “You inherited your heinous nature from your father, didn’t you? Well, it’s true neither of you were angels, and he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison now.”
In reality, the police announced the case very swiftly because they had been investigating the man who helped keep Peter Lindt safe from any culpability for that factory fire incident.
It was a corruption case that Zachary was not involved in.
As a matter of fact, the police had already been investigating Peter Lindt in secret.
Everything that was exposed online-from testimonies to physical evidence -only served to give them more evidence.
Even so, Ember still had not given up. “Don’t you have any feelings for me at all?”
Zachary actually wanted to laugh right then.
“Me? Having feelings for you?” He growled every word heavily. “All I feel toward you is spite!”
Ember was left dumbstruck for a while, but soon reared her head and laughed with madness and hate.
“You want a divorce? You want your freedom? Dream on! I’ll never divorce you if it kills me!” She laughed maniacally. “You think you could divorce me to find that dead woman? Fine! Just kill yourself and meet her in hell!”
Zachary simply ignored her raving. “You already have nothing to negotiate with.”
However, Ember had been pampered rotten and never lost to anyone. Still unable to see the truth even now, she was still convinced that her parents’ business would be her shield.
“No, but I can keep you tied down so that you won’t ever be with that dead bitch! I’ll always be your wife!”
With those words, she turned and ran out of the house, bawling as she did.
There was no telling how long had passed. She wore herself out from crying and running, and she simply slumped on a patio by the road, sobbing and wiping her tears.
She was confused and in denial-how did things turn out like this?
As the skies became dark, she finally remembered her mother and took a taxi home.
There, she found the gates of the mansion shut and her own mother curling a ball as she sat by the side of the road, looking more homeless than a rich man’s wife!
Her heart broken, Ember ran up to her. “Mom?”
When Shirley saw her, she quickly wrapped her arms around her, as if she had grasped salvation. “Are you alright?”
She was still worried that Ember would not be able to accept what Zachary did.
Taking a moment to calm herself, she finally said, “I’m sorry, Mom. Zachary wouldn’t have come for US if not for me…”
Shirley had still been hopeful, but she finally accepted that it was all Zachary’s doing.
Her eyes welled with tears. “So it really was him… how could he go so far? He had Peter arrested, and tricked US out of all our money!”
Ember’s gaze was at once dark and in denial. “But I won’t let him off easy, Mom. I’ll cling to him even if I die!”
Shirley looked at her for a while and eventually asked, “What’s the point?”
She would only make Zachary hate her more…
“He went so far for his freedom, didn’t he? And I’ll keep denying him that!” Ember declared, while wiping her face and helping her mother up to her feet. “Let’s find a place to stay for now. I still have some money on me.”
Shirley sighed, squeezing Ember’s hand just then. “How much do you have?
I had nothing on me when I was thrown out.”
She had to think about their future.
On the other hand, Ember was quiet for a moment before saying, “You have nothing to worry about, Mom.”
She did not have much either, but she still had her jewelry and other luxury items that could be exchanged for money.
Despite understanding the importance of money, however, she arranged for her mother to stay at a fancy hotel that cost thousands per night, and returned to the Slates’ residence to get her things.
However, the servants kept her out when she arrived.
“I’m Zachary’s wife! How dare you stop me?!”
Her eyes narrowed-she was in trouble, but even the servants were abusing her now too!
This was outrageous!
She raised her hand, ready to attack, when someone caught her wrist!
Ember turned to find that it was Zachary, and her expression turned from savagery to tenderness in a split second.
However, even before she could cajole him, Zachary spoke. “I told them not to let her in.”
Ember’s face fell, her visage turning ferocious again as her voice turned shrill, “We aren’t divorced yet! You have no right!”
“So what if we aren’t divorced?” Zachary said flatly. “I won’t let you in either way. What can you do about it, hmm?”
Ember’s eyes widened-she had never expected Zachary to become like this, and there soon spite showed in her look of disbelief as well.
She should have seen him for what he really was, instead of believing his lies! To think that she believed him!
“Zachary Slate!!!” she screamed.
Zachary simply ignored her and said, “You’re not coming in if you’re not signing the divorce agreement. You returned so quickly because you wanted money, didn’t you?”
Ember blinked.
“Y-You’re heinous,” she snarled.
“I got that from you,” he said coolly, and headed inside.
Ember tried to follow, but was stopped again, leaving her stamping her feet out in the courtyard.
Even so, she refused to accept defeat and sign the divorce agreement.
Over at Hotmesh Research, Abigail and the researchers had developed an antidote for the virus.
However, it was still at the testing stage, and since animal testing took time with a long observation time frame as well, Abigail decided to test it on herself.
“I’ll do it instead!” Stephen Carr volunteered, worried about her body.
Abigail shook her head-her son’s life was on the line, and the test could potentially be lethal or worse, crippling.
She would not play around with another person’s life.
Bzzt…
Abigail’s phone buzzed just then and she whipped it out to see that it was a text.
[We found Ricky. The team will rescue him as we speak.]
Abigail’s eyes lit up-her development for an antidote was showing progress, while Diarmuid found Ricky Bernstein as well.
Things would be over soon, would it not?
Taking a deep breath, she replied: [Got it.]
Naturally, Diarmuid told her because he wanted her to worry a little less.
Indeed, since Diarmuid was succeeding on his front, she became more determined to test the antidote.
However, she was about to reach for the syringe when she found that it was gone from the table, and looked up to see that Stephen had it, and that it was already empty.
“Just doing this bit would ease the guilt I feel toward you.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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