I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 644

"Zoe and I need to get back to the kids. Lily finishes school soon, and we promised to pick her up together," Hayden continued smoothly, his tone dripping with lethal politeness. "As you just heard, Mr. Keating, my wife is nursing. I'm afraid she won't be able to enjoy your high-end coffee."

Hunter's face flushed with a volatile mix of humiliation and pure rage.

"Aren't you two divorced, Hayden?"

Hayden shot him a dark, predatory smirk, his jaw ticking. "Glad you remember we're family. Is that why you're so comfortable coveting my wife?"

Hunter's polite facade shattered entirely. A few patrons at nearby tables were already pretending to chat while blatantly staring at the unfolding drama.

Hayden stood up, forcefully pulling Zoe to her feet with him. His grip on her hand was ironclad.

"Mr. Keating, I am more than capable of providing for my own wife. Save your efforts."

Zoe didn't fight him this time, letting him pull her toward the exit. Rejecting Hunter was turning into a drawn-out ordeal, and having Hayden crash the meeting provided a chaotic but effective out. If Hunter misconstrued the situation and thought she was back with Hayden, he would finally stop pursuing her. She was exhausted and had no desire to entertain either of them.

Furious, Hunter swept a hand across the table, knocking the coffee over. He slammed a credit card onto the wet surface. "I'll pay for this!"

But by the time he stormed out of the cafe, Hayden and Zoe had completely vanished.

Zoe's phone pinged with a notification. Ripping her hand out of Hayden's grasp, she glared at him with glacial indifference. "Are you done putting on a show, Mr. Thorne? Can I leave now?"

Yara stepped out of the cafe right behind them. Seeing Hayden, she didn't intervene physically. A sleek black car pulled up to the curb directly in front of Zoe. Her job was to protect Zoe, and Zoe was her boss.

"What, use me and toss me aside?" Hayden mocked, his eyes narrowing. "Is that how you treat your savior, Ms. Lynd?"

Zoe rubbed her throbbing temples. Savior? She had spotted a couple of reporters lurking inside the cafe; one had even subtly aimed a phone camera at their table. That was the only reason she hadn't caused a scene and let him drag her out. Did he honestly think his little stunt meant she had accepted him back?

"No one used you. If you hadn't shown up, I would have handled Hunter myself. Move."

"Nadia?"

"Zoe, you are wild!" Nadia practically screamed through the speaker. "You got back together with Hunter?"

"???"

Zoe frowned. Nadia wasn't the type to obsessively track her movements or hire private investigators. The lunch with Hunter had happened barely twenty minutes ago. How did she know?

"I'm not hallucinating, right? Look at the news! The headlines are going crazy over your 'century reunion' with Hunter. And get this—the tabloids even leaked your official divorce papers with that scumbag Hayden!"

"..."

If Nadia hadn't been the one telling her, Zoe would have thought it was a complete joke. The situation had just spiraled horribly out of control.