Chapter 16
From a young age, she always knew that Zachary had feelings for her, but she only ever saw him as a brother.
On the night she heard from a friend that Zachary was planning to confess his feelings, she was preparing to introduce her boyfriend to her parents. To avoid any awkwardness, she married Aiden and moved abroad.
Maybe the marriage was too rushed. At first, Aiden did love her, but as his work got busier and the subtle provocations from other women started, along with his late explanations, their marriage began to crack.
The posts she made on Facebook didn’t go unnoticed by Zachary, which was why those unexpected gifts started appearing at her door.
She knew Zachary was married as well and understood how much trouble these gestures could cause both their marriages.
That was why she tried to discreetly get rid of the gifts, but the day she threw them out, Aiden caught her in the act. All the pent–up issues exploded at that moment. Eventually, she secretly divorced and returned home.
Her parents were still abroad, unable to help her. Just as she was thinking about staying at her family’s hotel, Zachary somehow found out about her divorce and came looking for her.
She was naturally timid; the boldest thing she’d ever done was secretly divorce Aiden.
Facing Zachary’s continued affection, she firmly refused and insisted she had somewhere to stay. But he acted like he didn’t hear her, persistently bringing her back to the Cole family home.
When she assumed Hannah wouldn’t want her staying there, she felt relieved, thinking she could leave because of it. To her surprise, Hannah agreed.
Later, as soon as her own place was renovated, she moved out quietly while Zachary wasn’t home.
They were long–time friends, and she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. Yet every time she refused him, he seemed to interpret it differently.
This was frustrating, and when she heard that Hannah had divorced and left, guilt gnawed at her.
She shouldn’t have come back.
Aiden didn’t even glance at Zachary as he pulled Anna from behind him.
“Anna!”
Zachary instinctively moved to grab her back, but Aiden’s bodyguards blocked him.
“Anna, it was my fault earlier. I apologize for everything, and I promise those things won’t happen again. Now, will you come home with me? As for the divorce papers, I’ve retracted them.”
“I…” Anna was full of hesitation.
“Anna, don’t agree to him!”
Zachary’s anxiety was palpable – he knew the heartache Anna had endured because of Aiden. Going back to him would be a repetition of past mistakes.
Standing nearby, Yolanda nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Anna, my brother is the best choice.”
Anna looked at the hand Aiden was holding tightly and took a deep breath. She lifted her eyes to meet Zachary’s.
“Zack, thank you for taking care of me all this time.”
Her words shattered Zachary.
10-18
Chapter 16
“Anna,”
Anna bit her lip. “All my life, I’ve been too timid, unable to say no, and you’ve always helped me. I’m grateful for that. Now, I finally have the courage to refuse, but in my fear, my refusals often came with tears and were misunderstood by you. I’m sorry for any confusion I caused,
Hannah is a good person, and I owe her an apology too. Zachary, let’s not see each other anymore.” Somehow, the commotion ended. As the crowd dispersed, the villa was left with only Zachary,
Watching her son fall into despair again, Cecilia felt both anger and sorrow. Angry that he always let heartbreak reduce him to this state, Sorrowful knowing his health would suffer, and this time, there was no one like Hannah to pull him out of it.
The successive blows left Zachary a changed man. These rumors even reached across the ocean, spreading among the online chatter.
