I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 71

A light drizzle had started to fall by the time Zoe stepped out of Philip's house.

The scattered raindrops, accompanied by a biting wind, felt freezing against her skin.

Zoe felt as if she were walking on clouds, her steps weightless and unsure.

Philip had been vague about what happened five years ago, offering very little information.

It was as if he were avoiding a taboo subject.

She knew probing further would be useless.

She had gone to visit Grandmother Eleanor, only to find out she had passed away over three years ago.

Walking alone down the main road, Zoe moved like a soulless automaton, placing one foot mechanically in front of the other.

Colin drove slowly, trailing just a short distance behind Zoe with Hayden in the back seat.

The rain grew heavier, pouring down in sheets. Even with the wipers on full speed, it was hard to see the road ahead.

"Mr. Thorne, should I ask her to get in?"

She couldn't possibly endure being drenched like this.

Hayden leisurely flipped through the documents in his hands, occasionally jotting down a note.

He seemed to be in a great mood. His bandaged arm throbbed occasionally, but it didn't lessen the cynical amusement he felt while watching Zoe.

Did she really think she could go back to the Lynd family?

Receiving no response, Colin had no choice but to keep driving behind her.

Hayden followed Zoe the entire way.

Until Colin finally spoke up.

"Mr. Thorne, that looks like Mr. Keating's car."

Hayden finally looked up from his paperwork.

Up ahead, a sports car was speeding straight toward Zoe.

Philip lived quite a ways from downtown. It was awfully convenient for Hunter to run into Zoe here by sheer coincidence.

"Pull up and cut him off."

"Right away."

Colin stepped on the gas and abruptly intercepted Mr. Keating's car.

Zoe was entirely oblivious to the two vehicles that had suddenly appeared, along with the two men radiating hostility.

The torrential rain blurred her vision. A suffocating wave of despair crashed over her, leaving her feeling hollow and shattered.

Looking at Zoe lying so fragile and pale in the pouring rain, Hunter's chest tightened with unbearable ache.

She was the woman he had carefully cherished for three years, someone he had barely dared to touch, only for Hayden to completely ruin her.

He couldn't accept it, and he couldn't stand to see Zoe suffer.

Hayden pulled the drenched woman tightly into his arms and draped his suit jacket over her. Her thin clothes were soaked through, clinging seductively to her stunning curves.

Hayden refused to let anyone else witness his wife looking so tempting. She was his alone.

"Get her in the car."

He handed Zoe over to Colin and turned back to Hunter.

"If I catch you within ten feet of my wife again, you'll deeply regret it."

Hunter's gaze shifted to Hayden's bandaged arm, and he let out a bitter sneer.

"What are you going to do? Fight me one-handed?"

Hayden froze, pausing his motion to get back into the vehicle.

Hunter stared past Hayden into the backseat, where Zoe's head rested at an angle, rainwater sliding down her luminous, pale complexion.

Her lips were completely devoid of color, yet her face remained breathtakingly beautiful. Her helpless, vulnerable state radiated a heartbreaking fragility.