"I don’t care what you all think. Just get out."
Zoe Shaw had her back to the crowd. Her slender figure didn’t look frail at all; instead, it exuded an invisible pressure over everyone. Honestly, she hoped her identity as Penney wouldn’t be exposed, just to save herself from the Academy of Medical Sciences hounding her again with a bunch of headache-inducing research topics.
"Hey! If you’re the real Penney, what proof do you have?" Although Claire Lockwood couldn’t see her full face, Zoe gave her a familiar sense of crisis.
Zoe remained noncommittal. She skillfully withdrew the needle, stopped the bleeding, and immediately proceeded to the next step of the operation.
"Cyrus, look at her! She doesn’t even dare to admit her identity! We can’t let her continue!" Claire stomped her feet in anxiety. Just as she tried to lean coquettishly against Cyrus Ford, he stepped aside, dodging her without leaving a trace.
His dark eyes were deep, radiating a freezing aura. "Quiet."
Cyrus’s flat tone was a warning to Claire. However, she didn’t get the hint. She merely shut her mouth obediently, unable to stop herself from swooning over the aloof and untouchable Cyrus.
Seeing this, the butler immediately stepped forward. With a faint smile, he looked at the crowd and said, "Let’s not disturb Madam Ford’s treatment. Everyone, please speak less and mind your manners."
Cyrus stared at the decisive and swift figure through the window, slowly overlapping her with a person from his memory. That woman had been resolute and calm, her lips always curled into a confident half-smile, as if nothing could ever defeat her. She was like a flower on a cliff’s edge—dangerous, yet deeply covetable.
"Hey! Dude, where did you run off to? A whole group of people at the company is waiting for you to start the meeting!" A phone call from Sean Shelton snapped Cyrus back to reality.
"How is the paternity test going?" Cyrus asked.
Sean was on the verge of pulling his hair out. He could barely hold back the fury of the other shareholders, yet this guy was still here worrying about his son! But he still answered calmly, "Probably tomorrow morning."
"Mm." Cyrus gave a simple, dismissive reply and hung up the phone. Although the meeting time had passed by half an hour, with the boss running late, the others had no choice but to wait quietly.
Meanwhile, Zoe’s hands never stopped pressing on the acupuncture points. She inserted a needle into Madam Ford’s calming acupoint. Hearing Madam Ford let out a few violent coughs, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the old woman had finally regained consciousness. Zoe relayed the news to the butler. After returning to her room, she finally took off her sweat-soaked hat. Having worked continuously for three hours, she was finally free. This chapter is updated first at novelping dot com.
Zoe prepared to take a shower and relax. The guest rooms in the Ford Family home didn’t have en-suite bathrooms, so she had to step out into the hallway. As soon as she walked out the door, she found herself being glared at by a vicious gaze.
Claire narrowed her eyes, locking onto that swaying, graceful back. Even a simple white lab coat could look so alluring yet elegant on her. Aside from Zoe, Claire had never seen a second person in her life who could pull that off! Years ago, not long after Claire had confronted Zoe, she heard that Zoe had gone abroad. But as to which country, the secret was kept so well that no one knew. Thinking about it now, it was probably to protect Zoe from the fallout of the Shaw Family’s asset shifts.
Claire sneered. She followed behind Zoe until the latter stood in front of the mirror and took off her mask.
Zoe’s cold eyes were half-closed, her expression remote and transcendent, contrasting with her extremely mesmerizing face that now carried a mature charm. She splashed water onto her face. As the droplets slid down her clear, makeup-free skin, it only made her look even more alluring. It was a face that anyone would be jealous of.
It really was her! Claire loathed that beautiful face. Gritting her teeth, she marched right up to Zoe.
"Zoe Shaw, it really is you! Cyrus didn’t choose you back then, yet you actually have the nerve to come back? I truly underestimated your shamelessness!" Claire curled her lips.
"Oh? Are you saying Cyrus Ford dumped me?" Zoe asked, slightly startled inwardly as she hadn’t expected to be seen by Claire.
"Of course. Brother Ford dumped you so he could choose me. Everyone knows about this. Don’t tell me you’re still refusing to accept reality?" Claire held her head high and puffed out her chest. Her eyes shone brightly, and her brow was full of smugness. To her, Zoe was nothing more than a defeated opponent.
"I was the one who dumped him back then. Didn’t you know? Turns out you’re pretty out of the loop."
"I’m not here to talk to you about ancient history. I’m warning you, don’t even think about making a move on Brother Ford. We’re about to get engaged!" Claire yelled with bloodshot eyes, but to Zoe, this held absolutely no threat.
She even flashed a sweet smile and asked with mock concern, "You two still aren’t engaged? I remember you saying this exact same thing six years ago. Now you’re saying it again. Are you going to have to wait another six years?"
Zoe’s max-level mockery completely broke through Claire’s defenses. "Zoe Shaw! As a married woman, you’d best get out of here on your own and save face, lest you end up becoming a laughingstock!"
Married? Zoe froze. When did she get married? How come she didn’t even know about it?
"What’s wrong? Could it be that your marriage is unhappy, so you decided to come back and seduce Brother Ford?" Claire said coldly, thinking she had caught a vulnerability. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
"You’re this afraid of a married woman? You really don’t have much confidence in yourself, do you?" Zoe directly swiped open her phone and said mercilessly, "Mr. Butler, there’s a woman here who keeps harassing me. Could you please come over?"
With that said, Zoe completely ignored Claire’s further reactions. Five years ago, she had indeed been defeated by Claire’s words. She had even gone to Cyrus to verify it, but received zero response or reassurance from him. But now, whether Claire was Cyrus’s fiancée or his childhood sweetheart had absolutely nothing to do with her. All she needed to do now was to catch everyone off guard, snatch up that little rascal Jonathan Shaw, and make a run for it!
Meanwhile, Jonathan was currently rubbing his sleep-filled eyes while gripping Cyrus’s pant leg with his small hands, his little face scrunched up in misery.
"BOOHOO... Daddy, I’m scared! Can I sleep with you?"
Cyrus looked down at him. The boy’s delicate, doll-like face was flushed red, and his eyes were brimming with tears, looking exactly like a little crybaby. He thought it was ridiculous for a boy to be so melodramatic.
"Sleep on the floor," Cyrus said mercilessly. He then turned his face away and went back to his international conference call.
Hearing this, Jonathan’s aggrieved little face froze. Thanks to his excellent facial expression management, he managed not to give himself away. Of course he wasn’t really scared. His goal of pranking his scumbag dad hadn’t been achieved yet, so there was no way he’d obediently sleep on the floor!
Jonathan unceremoniously threw himself onto the massive agarwood bed. The faint scent of sandalwood drifted to his nose, and a wave of drowsiness washed over him, but he didn’t forget his objective. Fighting to keep his eyelids open, he naughtily peed all over the other side of the bed, unable to hold back a snickering chuckle.
When Cyrus returned from finishing his meeting, the first thing he saw was Jonathan’s peacefully sleeping face. The steady rhythm of the boy’s breathing inadvertently calmed him down significantly as well. He stared at the child in front of him and let out a faint sigh.
Pulling back the covers, Cyrus had just laid down when he felt a patch of dampness beneath him!
"Jonathan Shaw!"