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Chapter 14
Cecilia looked at the man standing before her and sighed ey
“Now that you’re divorced from Hannah, and Xnner’s back from over
oversee
gut and
“Mom, Zachary quickly interrupted Cecilia Trever grand deca puan –
Waj
Cecilia’s eyes widened in disbelief se she pulled a divorce cattura tu te geve
“But you’ve already got your divorce carificants Didnt was all you
Seeing the flicker of confusion in his eyes, Caellis was even restounded she had assumed Hannah pist hadn’t mentioned her plans to move abroad, not that she hadn’t even sold Zachary about the three
How did they sign the divorce agreement then?
Zachary stared at the divorce certificate, his eyes darkening, anger simmering in his chest which then reached the eyes. He had thought Hannah merely signed the divorce papers, not that she had chained the certificates
If he recalled correctly, there was a mandatory cooling off period of a month before the divorce was official Which meant Hannah had been planning this for over a month!
As Cecilia looked at him with a puzzled expression, he casually brushed off the topic, and then asked why the was trying to set him up with Anna.
Cecilia chuckled. “You were head over heels for Anna back then. Now that she’s back, and Hannah’s supposedly out of the picture, I just thought…”
Back in the day, everyone said Zachary and Anna weren’t compatible. But now, with both of them divorced, people were claiming they were a perfect match.
A discomfort spread from his chest. “But I never agreed to divorce Hannah.”
For some reason, the mention of divorcing Hannah made him anxious. After five years of marriage, he’d grown accustomed to Hannah’s care. He couldn’t imagine how shattered life he’d have without her. Besides, he was sure Hannah loved him dearly; the divorce must have been a whim.
As for Anna, he did have feelings for her – she was his teenage crush, the one he’d longed for over the years. But giving up on Hannah? That seemed impossible.
Seeing the conflict in Zachary’s eyes, Cecilia pulled out another document from the drawer.
When Zachary saw the word “Agreement” and Hannah’s signature at the bottom, his eyes widened. “Mom, what is this?”
Cecilia didn’t want to hide it from her own son any longer.
“When Anna got married and left, you turned from the elite everyone adores into someone utterly dispirited. So, I thought bringing someone in to help you move on would be a good idea.”
Hannah had been looking to repay the kindness, so they discussed it and promptly struck a deal. If Hannah stayed with Zachary for five years and helped him get over his heartbreak, her debt would be considered paid.
To be honest, Hannah did an outstanding job over those five years. But she never let Cecilia forget the agreement, always addressing her as “Mrs. Cole.”
Cecilia had initially thought that if Anna never returned, she’d treat Hannah as her true daughter–in–law. But just as the five–year agreement ended, Anna came back, and Zachary even got into a car accident trying to see her. Cecilia was still contemplating how to broach the subject when Hannah approached her first, asking for a
divorce.
After Cecilia’s explanation, Zachary heard nothing. He clutched the gratitude agreement tightly, hands
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trembling non–stop, his mind blank. What had he heard?
So, all of Hannah’s care over the past five years was out of obligation? Hannah never loved him? Did Anna’s return spur her eagerness to leave him?
But the love in her eyes couldn’t have been a lie. If she truly didn’t care, why did she jump into the ocean for him? Why did she stay by his side for five years?
His gaze, tinged with mixed emotion, fell on the agreement, which explicitly outlined Hannah’s responsibilities over the years. The more he read, the darker his expression grew.
From major responsibilities like safeguarding his life to minor ones like tending to all household matters, everything she did was dictated by the agreement, not a single act was out of genuine affection.
