I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 368

But the way little Lily looked at him—like he was a complete stranger—made a deep, suffocating wave of discomfort wash over him.

And then there was Arthur. In the past, while the old man hadn't exactly been warm, he certainly hadn't despised him.

Today, however, Arthur's eyes had practically burned with pure hostility.

Seeing Zoe standing so close to Garrett, Mrs. Winters' face twisted into a deep scowl.

"Zoe, you are merely an employee of Sterling Group. Don't you care about the rumors you'll start, traveling privately with your boss? I am your mother. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is for me to see you shamelessly parading around with Mr. Kendall?"

Garrett hadn't known much about Mrs. Winters before this, only that her relationship with Zoe was strained.

It was entirely common for a remarried woman to neglect the child from her previous marriage in favor of her new family.

But to watch a mother actively hurl vile accusations at her own flesh and blood in public? That was a first for Garrett.

He fixed Mrs. Winters with a look of absolute disdain. "Mrs. Winters, Zoe is like a sister to me. We are traveling with my grandfather and Professor Layne. What exactly do you mean by 'shamelessly parading around' and embarrassing you?"

Furious that Garrett was defending Zoe, Mrs. Winters lashed out.

"Mr. Kendall, you're a grown man. I'm only warning you because I respect you as a younger peer. My daughter's reputation is entirely rotten. Associating with her will only bring you bad luck. I am saying this for the good of the Kendall family."

Garrett laughed darkly, his gaze drifting lazily over Hayden and Sienna before his voice dropped into an icy drawl.

"Mrs. Winters, the Kendall family does not require your guidance on how to conduct ourselves. You, on the other hand, seem perfectly fine watching your own daughter shamelessly parade around with another woman's husband, without intervening or feeling an ounce of humiliation.

"I am an unmarried man. Being seen with me won't damage any woman's reputation. Zoe is recognized by the Kendall family as one of our own. She is family. As for you? We don't know you."

Garrett's brutal shutdown felt like a physical blow to Mrs. Winters' chest. Her face turned an ugly shade of gray.

"Mr. Kendall, I am trying to help you, and you're treating my kindness like garbage! I gave birth to her! Don't you think I know exactly what kind of person she is?

"I absolutely forbid the two of you from being together! A woman like her will only infect the Kendall family's pristine reputation. You'll become the laughingstock of the city's elite!

"Why are you being so blindly stubborn? Are your parents here? I need to have a serious talk with them. They would never allow you to make such a reckless mistake."

Zoe stood on the sidelines, listening to Mrs. Winters' vicious words, but surprisingly felt nothing.

She had been disappointed far too many times. Any lingering affection she held for her biological mother had long since evaporated.

Sienna and the rest of the Winters family stood quietly to the side. Sienna wore a faint, mocking smirk, while Hayden remained dead silent, not offering a single word in Zoe's defense.

Garrett's eyes hardened into a predatory glare. When he looked at Mrs. Winters, she physically recoiled in fear.

"Mrs. Winters, based on our family's standing, the Winters family doesn't have the qualifications to demand an audience with my parents. I have matters to attend to. Excuse me."

Garrett turned and walked away with Zoe.

Mrs. Winters clutched her chest, a suffocating wave of outrage washing over her.

"Do you see how ungrateful that man is? I tried to save him, but he insisted on throwing himself into the fire..."

Mrs. Winters complained bitterly, wallowing in her own perceived misery.

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