I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 277

Back then, Terrence had fallen to his knees, slapping his own face in front of Clara, claiming he had suffered a momentary lapse in judgment.

Clara had convicted Zoe on the spot without listening to a single word of her defense.

Zoe scrubbed the dried blood off her skin with a towel and threw her ruined clothes into the laundry basket.

Once she was clean, she called Nadia Fox.

"I killed someone."

Those words nearly sent Nadia's soul leaving her body.

"You killed Hayden?!" It was the only logical conclusion Nadia could jump to.

"No."

Zoe's eyes darkened. Hayden wasn't worth throwing her life away for. But Terrence Winters? She had spent years dreaming of hacking him to pieces, even if it cost her everything.

"It was Terrence Winters."

Nadia gasped, tears instantly springing to her eyes.

"Zoe, destroy all the evidence right now. Don't worry, I won't let you go to prison."

Nadia knew the history with that predator. She knew the trauma Zoe had endured. Had she been in Zoe's shoes, she would have wanted him dead, too.

"Are you sure he's dead?"

Nadia just felt it wasn't worth Zoe ruining her own life by doing the dirty work herself.

"I—"

Zoe wasn't actually sure. Once she saw Clara approaching, she had fled in a hurry. She had no idea if the bastard had bled out.

"There was a lot of blood. I don't know."

Zoe recounted the events with an eerie calm, staring blankly ahead, her eyes hollow.

"Clara and Sienna won't let this go. Nadia, if I get arrested, can you take care of Grandmother Eleanor and Lily for me?"

They were the only two people she couldn't let go of.

Nadia began to cry. "Stop talking crazy! He might not even be dead. Besides, what do you think having a lawyer best friend is for? If you actually go to prison, it'll ruin my perfect record."

Crying and reassuring her simultaneously, Nadia made a fierce promise.

"Until I get there, you don't say a single word to anyone. You hear me? Zoe, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

The call ended. Zoe sat numbly for a moment before slipping into the bathtub.

She had killed a man.

A life for a life. Her only regret was that if she died, Grandmother Eleanor and Lily would be left unprotected.

But she didn't regret the act itself. Terrence deserved to die.

When she was sixteen, he had nearly succeeded. The trauma had cast a suffocating shadow over her entire life. It was the reason she could never cross physical boundaries, even back when she had been deeply in love with Hunter Keating.

Zoe sank into the water, washing the stench of blood from her skin, and slowly closed her eyes.

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