A Life Debt Repaid novel (John and Cordy) novel Chapter 1023

Zoe began, "Bob and I—"

"I don't mind," Jay said determinedly.

Zoe raised her brow. "Why are you interrupting me if you don't?"

Did men lie despite appearances too?

Jay pursed his lips. "I just don't want you to say his name."

"How is that not minding?!" Zoe exposed him mercilessly right then.

"I can pretend I don't know."

"You're just lying to yourself." Zoe pouted.

Jay, however, was fine with that—he was already perfectly content that Zoe would return to his side.

Nothing mattered in comparison.

"I'm still going to tell you," Zoe suddenly said.

Jay flashed a feeble smile at her. "Because you knew I can't do anything to you, huh?"

"Since when is that so?" Zoe snorted grumpily. "My life is in your hands, isn't it?"

"Are you sure it's not the other way round?"

"Why can't you ever be honest, Jay? Who's the one who kept rejecting me so hard like it would kill him to accept me, only to end up marrying me because of Yelena?! Don't you have a conscience, constantly lying like that?!"

"I didn't marry you because of Yelena," Jay corrected her.

Zoe refused to listen to a word—she did not care, since Jay was the one who always had the reins of their relationship, and she did not get to say no.

"See? I was just going to talk about Bob and I, but you're digressing." Zoe huffed as she remembered that just then.

Talk about deserving his own just deserts. If he knew that he would fall for her years down the road…

Hold on, Jay loved her, right?

She seemed to feel that much now.

Nonetheless, she composed herself and continued. "Bob gave me a lot of money and a house, so I agreed to the deal. I mean, it wasn't a wealthy or glamorous life, but I could at least live without worrying about food or shelter. It was also only after I was with Bob that I realized how much he was into me, and I felt for a time that I could live the rest of my life with him."

Jay took a deep breath, telling himself that it was the past, and he was open-minded enough to not take exception to that at all.

"So, I was happy with Bob for a while, especially since he cleared all the poor opinions I had of love," Zoe said, not forgetting to add, "And you were the one who gave me said poor opinions, of course."

Jay closed his eyes with a wry smile, feeling like she just stabbed a hole in his heart.

And yet, she was completely oblivious, even doubling down on it—as she spoke more, she seemed even more excited. "But Bob was different. He was really nice, cooking for me, surprising me, and really respecting me. I tried to get it on with him several times, but he rejected me, even though I clearly felt how eager he was…"