Zoe Shaw sat up slowly, sleep still lingering on her face. Her eyes flashed with surprise. "What’s going on? Who arranged this?"
It seemed that even a genius hacker baby couldn’t escape the agony of going to school.
Jonathan Shaw clutched the bedsheets, looking indignant. "It’s Daddy! He’s forcing me to go to school today. I’ve already learned all those easy lessons. Logically speaking, I should be in college by now. WAAAH!"
He complained about Cyrus Ford’s tyranny, his face a picture of absolute reluctance.
Zoe pondered for a moment, adopting a slightly gloating, spectator-like attitude. "But the problem is, your Daddy doesn’t know you’re a genius, right? So off you go." Of course, she fully supported this arrangement. School hours would provide plenty of free time; she might just find a chance to sneak Jonathan out of school. It was much better than being trapped in the Ford villa! Jonathan had been too naughty lately anyway—it was time to teach him a little lesson.
Jonathan’s eyes widened in disbelief. He never expected his Mommy to leave him in the lurch and throw him to the wolves. He immediately howled even louder.
"WAAAH! Mommy, you can’t do this to me! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go to school! Please talk to Daddy for me..." Jonathan clung to Zoe and refused to let go, as if grasping at a lifesaver.
But Cyrus had given the order, and no one could change it.
"Master Jonathan, this is Mr. Ford’s wish. Please just come with me," the butler coaxed earnestly after tracking the boy down.
After a brief stalemate, the butler forcefully dragged Jonathan off to school.
"WAAAH, I don’t want to!" Jonathan looked at Zoe with tearful eyes, his face full of grievance as if he had suffered a monumental injustice.
Soon, the butler smiled and nodded at Zoe in acknowledgment, then gleefully led Jonathan out of the room.
Zoe tutted and muttered to herself, "Looks like the butler has been tortured enough by this brat, too."
Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.
Zoe could already imagine the look of absolute despair on Jonathan’s face at school. Having made up her mind, she packed her things and prepared to go out and pick him up. Even if she couldn’t take him away directly, getting out of the house would at least give her a chance to scout for opportunities.
Zoe had barely reached the front gates when she was stopped by a security guard. "I’m sorry, Doctor Shaw. Please return to the house."
Zoe instantly understood, her eyes clouding with a layer of frost. "What do you mean? On what grounds are you stopping me from leaving? This is illegal imprisonment!" Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
The security guard wiped cold sweat from his forehead, his heart pounding. "No, Doctor Shaw, this is Mr. Ford’s order. Please don’t make this difficult for us."
Of course it was Cyrus’s idea!
A hint of anger tainted Zoe’s delicate features. Her jaw tightened as an uncontrollable rage surged within her. Right at that moment, the main gates opened from the outside. Cyrus drove his car in; Jonathan had also been picked up and brought back.
Cyrus noticed Zoe’s grim expression and the security guard’s helpless demeanor, easily guessing what had happened. Before Zoe could even voice her demands, Cyrus spoke in a calm, flat tone. "I just wanted to confirm the identity of my child’s mother. Is there a problem?"
Their eyes clashed in the air, laden with unspoken implications, as if the surrounding atmosphere had completely frozen.
Zoe’s heart suddenly clenched. Her gaze flickered with complex and subtle emotions before she let out a cold laugh. "What a joke. What makes you think it’s me? Has Mr. Ford been celibate all these years? Don’t tell me you’re impotent?"
Her words clearly stepped on a landmine. Cyrus’s face instantly turned glacial, his eyes radiating an intense, overwhelming pressure. The next second, without hesitation, he scooped Zoe up into his arms and strode toward the upstairs bedroom.
Despite the anger on her face, Zoe let out a PFFT and laughed. "Is Mr. Ford so easily provoked that he’s in a rush to prove himself?" She was deliberately trying to anger Cyrus, hoping it would make him stay away from her.
Fierce coldness glinted in Cyrus’s eyes as he deliberately emphasized certain words. "I have zero interest in married women."
The corners of Zoe’s mouth curled up abruptly, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. "Then please, Mr. Ford, stay away from me!"
"Weren’t you the one who stuck to me like glue?"
His words pierced Zoe’s heart, viciously poking at her pride. It was exactly what Claire Lockwood had said when she strutted and flaunted her victory in front of her back then.
Zoe’s gaze instantly chilled. "Then give my son back to me!" she shot back, enunciating every word.
"Your son? I thought you were denying it." Cyrus’s emotionless eyes locked onto Zoe.
She realized she had been tricked into confessing! A flash of chagrin crossed her face, but knowing this day would come eventually, she decided to drop the act completely. Taking a deep breath to mask the gloom in her eyes, Zoe said, "Cyrus, give my son back to me. I promise I’ll go far away and never appear in front of you again." Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
"He must stay!" Cyrus’s tone wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable aura of absolute authority.
Anger gathered between Zoe’s brows, and she couldn’t help but sneer. "Cyrus, you didn’t even know Jonathan existed since the day he was born. Are you really going to play the ’deep father-son bond’ card now? How ridiculous!"
Cyrus abruptly closed the distance between them. "Who permitted you to find a stepfather for my son?"
Zoe was backed up to the edge of the bed step by step. She stared at him unblinking, able to feel the warm breath emanating from his body. Everything around them seemed to blur into an illusion. A trace of ambiguity seeped into the air, continuously fermenting and spreading.
Unnerved and sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Zoe forced down her rising panic and tried to pull away, but Cyrus grabbed her. Her eyelids twitched. Before she could even cry out, Cyrus yanked her back, pressing her firmly onto the bed.
His dark eyes stared intently into hers. His hand rested on her waist, slowly caressing it, exuding a tremendous sense of intimidation. Zoe’s waterfall-like black hair fanned out across the sheets. With Cyrus holding her captive, she was completely immobilized.
"You—let me go right now..."
Their burning bodies were pressed tightly together. Cyrus’s warm breath brushed against Zoe’s forehead, bringing a faint, teasing itch, like a weightless feather sweeping repeatedly across her heart.
Zoe’s breathing grew ragged. Deliberately provoked into a flustered state by Cyrus, she couldn’t break free, her body turning as soft as a puddle of water.
They tangled for a moment longer. Panting softly, her face flushed as delicate as a peach blossom, Zoe simply lay flat, abandoning her struggles.
"So you like pestering married women? I guess that’s the extent of Mr. Ford’s abilities," she said, her tone dripping with heavy mockery.
Propping up his body with his elbows resting above Zoe’s head, Cyrus calmly stated his stance. "You are not taking Jonathan away." Now that he knew of Jonathan’s existence, as the child’s biological father, there was no way Cyrus was going to let him go.
Zoe curled her lips into a sneer and turned her head away, too lazy to even entertain him. In her eyes, Cyrus hadn’t fulfilled a single ounce of his paternal duties toward Jonathan. He had absolutely no right to keep him.