Chapter 258
Zoe checked her notifications. It was Liam. He sent over a document and asked her to print it. Putting her phone aside, she raised her eyes and wanted to continue her conversation with Mason.
However, he was already on his way upstairs. He said nonchalantly,” We’ll continue this after I come back.”
It was warm in spring, but she felt cold all over.
He was her husband and yet he was acting so aloof towards her. She said softly, “You kept saying that I don’t treat you the way a husband deserves, Mason. Well. Have you been treating me with the respect a wife deserves?
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“You can say that you’re getting together with Gabriela and the other ladies because you wanted to rile me up. However, I think you know very well what Lilith’s role is in our marriage. Now, you’re going to take a flight to be with her and I can’t even have a minute to say something to you.”
He stopped in his tracks. After a brief moment, he leaned over and looked at her quietly, “What did you want to tell me?”
She was about to say it when his phone rang. He answered the call without any hesitation.
It was probably a call from overseas because he merely glanced at her before continuing upstairs.
Zoe sat alone in the dining hall.
Layla said warmly, “Have some breakfast, Ms. Zoe!”
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However, she had lost her appetite. Then, it came to her that Liam had sent a document to her. So, she rose and said lightly, “I’ll take my breakfast when I’m downstairs later!”
That got Layla worried.
Climbing upstairs, she went straight to the study and printed the document. She reached out to take the printed document when she accidentally pressed the button on the record player. ‘Méditation’ started playing in the study.
Zoe was stunned immediately.
Why did this song sound so familiar?
Taking up the vinyl, she took a good look at it. She was sure this was the same vinyl she had made in memory of her mother. However, it seemingly vanished into thin air. Why would Mason have it here?
Then, she heard his cold voice from the door. “What are you looking/ at?!”
Walking over slowly, he stopped when they were less than a few feet from each other.
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A suffocating silence hung over the study.
Lifting the vinyl, she was so freaked out that her voice was trembling,” How did you come to have this, Mason?”
His eyes grew colder.
That vinyl contained the song Lilith played for him and woke him up. It was also one of the rare moments when he felt moved. Every time he had insomnia, he’d listen to it to fall asleep.
Perhaps he wasn’t just feeling guilty and trying to make it up to Lilith. After all, he did fall for her in the past. He still vividly remembered the stirring he felt in his heart when he woke up,
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All men harbored some secrets in their hearts and he had no intention of letting his wife find out about it, much less touching it.
Gesturing with his hand, he said harshly, “Put it down and get out of here!” At that moment, a picture fell from his work desk and landed on the ground next to her feet.
Bending down to pick it up, she saw it was a picture of Lilith, who was wearing a white dress and playing the violin.
It was taken when they were in Lockwood Hospital’s presidential suite.
Ironically, this meant that this picture was taken when Zoe and Mason made up in the snowstorm that night.
Her fingers started to shake.
What a joke!
How outrageous!
At first, she thought it was ridiculous to get married to Mason, but it seems that the reason she lost her musical dream was even more unbelievable.
Lilith had impersonated her by stealing her vinyl. Just like that, she deserved to enjoy Mason’s care and attention. She could also taunt Zoe, who was his rightful wife. She earned the right to pester and hurt Zoe as well. She was also the primary reason why Zoe’s musical dreams were shattered.
On the other hand, Mason was largely unaffected. He’d still send her for treatments and follow up on her condition. At the same time, he’d take care of her family. He did all this while he couldn’t even make time for Zoe to tell him that she was pregnant with his baby.
How dare he say he loved her?!
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How did he find the guts to tell her that he was miserable and that he loved and hated her at the same time?!
This was outrageous!
Lifting the vinyl in her hands, she said with a trembling voice, “This is mine, Mason! It was never Lilith’s!”
He frowned and said, “That’s quite enough, Zoe! I know you don’t want me to go overseas, but you can’t just weave a lie like that! Lilith’s father gave it to me in person!”
Underneath the crystal chandelier, her face turned pale.
He actually thought she made it up.
Lowering her gaze, she started to think about how ridiculous it all was. Here she was, thinking about fixing their relationship after finding out that she was pregnant. She even entertained the thought, of becoming an amicable parent with him!
It turned out, however, that she was the only one who wanted it. Everything that he had told her was worth nothing before this vinyl.
She was done.
Her lips were trembling uncontrollably. Her lost dreams and dignity fueled her rage and gave her the newfound energy to stand up to him.
She’d never argue with him again, nor would she harbor any hopes for him. Mason had let her down in ways she didn’t think was possible.
Slipping the vinyl into the paper shredder, she fired it up. The shredding noise was ear-piercing as the vinyl was split into two
halves. Nothing could ever restore it to its original state, much like their marriage.
“You’re out of your mind!”
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At the next moment, he slapped her so hard the sound reverberated in the study.
Her ears were ringing. In her daze, she thought she could hear her own iteration of the ‘Méditation’ or ‘A Pair of Butterflies.”
After a long time, she came to her senses. The slap mark was very conspicuous on her fair cheeks.
Mason had slapped her.
They had been married for several years. After that, they reconciled and parted ways back and forth a few times. In all that time, he might’ve been rough to her, but he had never slapped her. This was a first for Zoe. What was worse, he did it for Lilith’s sake.
Standing quietly, she fought back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.
On the other hand, Mason was also stunned. He had never thought that he’d ever slap her. He tried to touch her face with his trembling fingers, but she got out of the way and said, “Don’t touch me! Keep your hands off me, Mason!”
After a brief moment, she brushed her hair and raised her eyes to look at him. Then, she smiled faintly and left with the documents. She walked lightly, but each step produced a deafening sound in his ears.
Out of instinct, he called out to her, “Zoe!”
However, she didn’t turn back. She couldn’t be bothered to talk to him, the same way he never bothered to communicate with her earlier.
From here on out, Mason had no business in her heart! He didn’t deserve to be a husband and he certainly didn’t deserve to be a father!
She’d leave him to wrongly assume that Lilith was the one who played the song for him. He could keep looking after her and lose
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sleep over her for all she cared.
Zoe even toyed around the idea that if Lilith survived and he asked for a divorce, she’d gladly step away.
If they loved each other so much, then maybe they deserved each other!
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