The long-sealed memories flipped through Cyrus Ford’s mind like pages of a script, playing out like scenes from a movie with crystal clarity. He snapped back to reality, absolutely certain of one thing—that was Zoe Shaw!
Cyrus hurriedly chased in the direction Zoe had gone, but there was not a single soul in sight. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
His cold eyes narrowed, glinting with a chilling light. Fueled by an abundance of patience, he actually began searching every room, one by one.
A rare look of panic surfaced on Zoe’s face. She hastily ducked into Jonathan Shaw’s room. She looked like she was fleeing for her life, and her grave expression startled the boy so much that he nearly screamed.
Zoe shot him a warning glare. Jonathan nodded and swallowed his scream, looking at her in bewilderment.
Pressing her ear against the door, Zoe listened to the approaching footsteps outside. Burning with anxiety, she instinctively moved toward the window. "Anything is better than being caught by Cyrus," she thought.
Dumbfounded by her actions, Jonathan quickly rushed over and hugged her thigh. "Mommy! Don’t do anything stupid! I won’t look for Daddy anymore, okay?"
Zoe glared at him and snapped, "This is all your fault!" If Jonathan hadn’t insisted on finding his father and refused to leave, there was no way she would have ended up in such a mess.
Feeling a bit guilty, Jonathan forcefully dragged Zoe over to the wardrobe and patted his chest. "Mommy, just don’t do anything crazy. I’ll handle this. Don’t worry!"
Zoe remained skeptical. She wondered if Jonathan, who was getting bolder by the day, had actually taken Cyrus’s side.
Perhaps noticing her hesitation, Jonathan solemnly raised three fingers. "I swear! If I’m lying to you, I’ll never get to eat chicken wings for the rest of my life!"
Hearing him swear on his favorite dish, Zoe reluctantly believed him. She opened the wardrobe doors and hid inside. Jonathan gently closed the doors and casually returned to the sofa as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile.
Cyrus pushed the door open and stepped in. His dark eyes swept across the entire room before his tall figure cast a shadow over Jonathan. Looking down with a scrutinizing gaze, he asked, "Where is she?"
Hearing Cyrus’s voice, Zoe instinctively held her breath inside the wardrobe, overcome by an indescribable sense of tension. "Cyrus is too sharp!" she thought.
Jonathan’s big, round eyes darted around as if cooking up a mischievous plan. He tilted his head, his face the picture of innocence. "Right here!"
Cyrus’s eyes, deep and cold as a frozen pool, darkened further. "Where?"
Jonathan blinked and pointed at himself. "Aren’t I right here? Huh? Daddy, did I turn invisible or something?!"
His innocent and childish words only made Cyrus’s expression turn grimmer. After a moment of silence, the man actually backed out of the room, looking deep in thought. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
Jonathan was once again blown away by his own acting skills. "As expected, any problem can be solved the moment I step up!" he thought proudly.
Only after hearing the sound of the door closing did Zoe cautiously open the wardrobe. However, before she could even step down, her vision suddenly went dark. Cyrus raised his hand and mercilessly tore off her mask without a second’s hesitation.
Their eyes met. The surrounding air seemed to freeze over, turning the room as cold as an ice cellar.
Cyrus’s gaze was profound as he quietly stared at Zoe. His eyes were like a deep pool shrouded in thick fog—unfathomable and impossible to read.
"Long time no see."
The oppressive aura radiating from Cyrus commanded absolute submission. The coldness in his eyes threatened to freeze Zoe in place.
Zoe maintained a blank expression. She intended to casually step out of the wardrobe, but her foot suddenly slipped, and she fell face-first straight into Cyrus’s arms.
His large hands naturally wrapped around her waist. Feeling her soft body against his, he froze completely. Zoe was pressed tightly against him, her even breaths brushing against his neck.
After so many years apart, this sudden close-quarters encounter created an incredibly subtle atmosphere. The familiar scent of each other lingered at the tips of their noses. As the temperature in the room steadily rose, an indescribable and highly ambiguous tension filled the air.
"Hi."
Zoe gathered her wits. The corners of her lips curled up into a half-smile as she nonchalantly lowered her gaze, taking the initiative to break the silence.
There was a compelling intensity hidden within Cyrus’s deep eyes, but his true emotions remained indiscernible.
Zoe cursed inwardly. Unable to find her center of gravity to stand up, her hands accidentally slipped, groping him a couple of extra times in the process. She furrowed her brows and suddenly stopped. Feeling a scorching, foreign object pressing against her leg, a flash of surprise appeared in her eyes.
"Mr. Ford, are the wild flowers outside not enough to satisfy your appetite?" Zoe raised an eyebrow, pretending to accidentally grab hold of his tie.
It was exactly like that night five years ago, the evening before she left Avenburg. Back then, she had nestled intimately in Cyrus’s embrace, her slender fingertips tracing the exquisite contours of his face. With a teasing smirk, she had lifted his chin and initiated a long, alcohol-laced kiss that consumed the passion of the entire night.
As her words fell, Zoe distinctly noticed a shift in the room’s atmosphere. A chilling aura that felt like it could swallow a person whole began radiating from Cyrus.
"Zoe Shaw, if you’re so bold, why did you run away back then?" His calm tone rippled with subtle emotion.
Zoe was suddenly reminded of the events from that year. She and Cyrus were going through a mundane phase in their relationship when Claire Lockwood, a new transfer student, haughtily blocked her path. Claire had looked her up and down with utter disdain, publicly declaring that she and Cyrus were childhood sweethearts and that she was his official fiancée. According to her, Zoe was nothing more than a wild flower Cyrus had picked up on a whim! This story is hosted at novelping.com.
At that point, a rift had already formed between her and Cyrus. Driven by spite after a class reunion, she had slept with him. Yet, the moment she returned to the Shaw family home, her parents had packed her off to the airport overnight. They had ordered her never to return to the country, no matter what happened.
So she had gone along with it, fleeing abroad in a flash. She had thoroughly blocked and deleted Cyrus from all her contacts in one fell swoop. Who would have thought that from that single night, she would actually end up pregnant with two little rascals...
At the thought of this, Zoe awkwardly turned her head away. After all, Cyrus’s gaze was far too invasive.
Without giving her a chance to escape, he pinched her chin, cutting off any avenue of retreat. Cyrus’s deep, slightly cold eyes stared intently at Zoe, as dark as spilled ink. His voice was slightly hoarse. "After not seeing each other for so many years, don’t you have anything to say to me?"
Zoe pursed her lips into a light smile. "Uh, I heard you’re getting engaged soon? Happy wedding, HAHA!"
Cyrus’s breathing grew heavy. "I’m talking about our son."
His voice, piercingly cold like ice water, seeped straight into Zoe’s heart. A trace of panic flashed across her eyes. Knowing she couldn’t outrun this forever, she chose to play dumb, maintaining a calm facade.
"What son? You have a son?"
Cyrus’s sharp gaze landed squarely on her face, exerting a subtle yet intense pressure. "That’s right. Knowing full well he is my son, you actually dared to take him and marry another man?"
"Let me go!" Zoe’s expression shifted slightly, as if Cyrus had crossed her bottom line. She suddenly began to struggle violently, trying to break free from his iron grip.
Cyrus, however, had anticipated this. He completely blocked off all her escape routes, confining her firmly within his embrace so she couldn’t move an inch. The difference in their strength was vast. Zoe even tried to bite his hand, but he easily stopped her.
Resting his forehead against hers, Cyrus continued to close the distance between them.
Standing off to the side, Jonathan covered his little face but deliberately left a gap between his fingers so his wide eyes could peek through. "AHHH, see no evil!"
To think that their reunion after so many years would turn into such a tit-for-tat confrontation. It was actually quite thrilling!
Jonathan let out dramatic wails on the sidelines. Suddenly recalling what Zoe had just said, he scurried into a corner, feeling deeply hurt. "Mommy is so heartless, actually refusing to acknowledge me!" he thought indignantly. "It’s exactly as the saying goes—mother and son are fair-weather family — they scatter the moment things go wrong!!"
Cyrus’s eyes darkened. Perhaps agitated by Jonathan’s noisy antics, he snapped his head around and scolded, "Be quiet!"
Jonathan playfully stuck out his tongue, made a zipping motion across his lips, and scurried out the door without looking back. He sensibly vacated the room to leave the two adults alone. However, he never expected to run smack into Claire Lockwood the moment he stepped outside.