I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 9

Leaving the Easton Group tower, Zoe intended to head straight to the Lynd estate to see Grandmother Eleanor.

Halfway there, her phone buzzed.

It was her uncle, Philip Lynd, calling.

Seeing his name on the screen brought tears to her eyes.

The sheer absurdity of the past twenty-four hours was starting to overwhelm her, and she desperately needed family to vent to. Philip had always treated her like his own daughter, stepping in after her father passed away.

She answered immediately.

"Zoe, did you get into a fight with Hayden?"

Zoe blinked, entirely caught off guard.

A fight?

Her impression of Hayden was a man who treated words like expensive currency.

After spending the last two days with him, he had barely spoken five sentences to her. She couldn't imagine him arguing with anyone.

"If it's too hard, you don't have to stay in this marriage. Your happiness is what matters. As long as I have a roof over my head, I'll make sure you and Lily never go hungry."

Zoe was deeply touched, but Philip's tone was heavy with exhaustion.

He was usually an upbeat, resilient man. She had never heard him sound so defeated.

"Philip, did something happen?"

She had a terrible feeling.

A long, strained silence stretched across the line before her uncle finally forced the words out.

"All the firms that were finalizing contracts with us suddenly pulled out today. They all said they needed to 'reconsider'.

On top of that, our bank loans expire in a week, and the bank presidents personally called to say that extending our credit will be 'difficult'."

Philip didn't need to finish the sentence. Zoe wasn't an idiot.

"Hayden did this?"

She was stunned.

If she was legally married to Hayden Thorne, there had to be some digital footprint.

He was the undisputed king of New York's financial world.

He was practically a walking headline.

Anything remotely related to him dominated the news cycle.

Zoe typed 'Hayden Thorne Wedding' into the search engine.

However, the results were shockingly barren.

She tried pairing his name with hers. Nothing. The only articles that popped up were generic press releases about Hayden attending economic summits, but there was no concrete information.

There was absolutely zero mention of 'Mrs. Thorne' anywhere on the internet. A few trashy tabloids had speculated about a secret marriage, but clicking the links led to dead pages that had been scrubbed clean.

Zoe's mind finally put the pieces together.

She really was his hidden wife.

And considering Hayden's absolute power, he was undoubtedly the one who ordered the blackout.