I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 21

Early that morning, Zoe Lynd helped Lily freshen up, planning to drop her off at preschool after breakfast before heading to the office.

Hayden Thorne came downstairs. Just as Zoe was about to leave, his car pulled up right beside the mother and daughter.

Through the half-rolled window, Hayden's aristocratic, unsmiling face came into view.

"Get in."

Zoe frowned at the commanding tone. Did he always have to speak like this?

Lily gripped Zoe's shirt tightly with her small hands, timidly calling out for her mom.

She didn't want to ride in her dad's car.

"No thank you. Riding with Mr. Vance is perfectly fine."

Hayden's dark eyes instantly turned somber. "Mr. Vance?"

Colin Zachs immediately clarified, "Old Vance, the butler."

A sharp glare shot over to Colin, and he instantly snapped his mouth shut.

"It's on the way. We don't have much time."

His tone carried an undeniable authority, as if giving them a ride was some grand favor.

Zoe had no desire to share a car with him, and she could feel the little girl's extreme anxiety. But the man acted like an emperor who despised anyone defying his will.

Considering her uncle's company was still in his grasp, she bent down to coax Lily.

"You can sit right next to Mommy, where he won't see you, okay?"

Lily finally nodded, her tiny body trembling continuously. As Zoe picked her up, she noticed the little girl clutching her clothes desperately, as if terrified of the man inside the vehicle.

Zoe couldn't help but knit her brows. Couldn't Hayden stop wearing that stony expression every single day? Look at how he was scaring his own daughter.

Only after the mother and daughter were securely seated did Hayden speak. "Drive."

Sensing her daughter's lingering unease, Zoe lifted a foot and kicked Colin's seat.

"..."

Now, five consecutive 'T's populated his screen. His usually calm and brilliant mind felt as if it had short-circuited; no, it had instantly gone completely blank.

What the hell was playing in his car?

Hayden lifted his gaze from the laptop just as the red light ahead—along with Hayden's face—turned green.

"Colin—Zachs."

Hayden practically ground the name out through his teeth.

[The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep...]

The joyous laughter of the mother and daughter echoed in his ears.

Hayden's fingers curled slightly into fists, his complexion livid.

Riding in Hayden's car made Zoe realize that the preschool wasn't far at all; they arrived in the time it took to play three nursery rhymes.

Zoe hopped out and lifted Lily down from the vehicle.