The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 428

Chapter 209-3

+25 Points

Finally, heavy footsteps descend the stairs, unhurried and steady. Locke appears back in the doorway, his broad frame filling the entrance, his sidearm smoothly back in its leather holster.

“Clear,” he calls out. “Come in.”

Willow and I cross the threshold into the grand entryway.

The pristine, sterile showroom house I was forced to maintain for four years is completely gone. In its place is a war zone of domestic decay.

The marble floor of the foyer is dirty, tracked through with mud and dark boot prints. Discarded designer clothing, empty shoe boxes, and crumpled wrapping paper litter the hallway.

The double doors leading into the main living room stand wide open, revealing couch cushions thrown onto the floor, decorative vases smashed in the corners, and open cardboard boxes sitting half-packed on the rug.

“God,” I whisper, stepping around a pair of discarded high heels. “What happened here?”

“Looks like Becca packed in a panic,” Locke says. He kneels down, picking up an empty jewelry box lined with velvet. “She took everything light and valuable. Gold, watches, cash, high-end clothes. Left the rest.”

“She ran,” Willow says, her voice quiet as her eyes dart around the empty art frames hanging crookedly on the walls. “She knew Knox was dead, and she knew she had no right to be here.”

I walk toward the large floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the ocean terrace. The glass is smudged and filthy, but the natural light pouring through is undeniable. Memory after memory comes rushing back, crashing over me like cold salt water.

“I spent four years in this room,” I say. “I used to sit right here on the edge of the sofa, and count the tiles on the floor just to keep from crying. I was so terrified of making a mistake. Of doing something that would set him off. When he was here, I mean, not out cheating on me or doing something criminal.”

“He was a monster, Zara,” Locke says. His massive hands rest gently on my shoulders, his warmth cutting right through the lingering chill of the room. “You’re free of him. He can’t touch you here.”

I turn away from the windows, walk down the central hallway toward Knox’s private study.

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Chapter 209-3

The door is slightly ajar. I push it open with my foot.

+25 Points

Unlike the living room, the study has been completely ransacked. Filing cabinet drawers are pulled wide open, paper files dumped onto the rug in wild heaps. Becca clearly searched for cash or off-book ledgers before fleeing.

The heavy mahogany desk in the center of the room is covered in dust. I walk over to it, my fingers lightly brushing the polished wood. Near the back of the central desk drawer, which has been forced open and left hanging, something catches the dim light.

I reach in and pull it out.

It’s a sleek, black leather presentation case. I open the brass latch. Resting inside on black velvet is a heavy, handcrafted fountain pen set with brushed silver trim.

My throat tightens instantly.

“What’s that?” Willow asks from the doorway.

“I bought this for him,” I say. “For our first wedding anniversary. I took money from my office job savings. I had his initials engraved on the barrel.”

I tilt the pen toward the dim light. Engraved in delicate block lettering is K.M.

“I remember giving it to him,” I say. “We were sitting at the kitchen table. He opened the box, took the pen out, tested it on a piece of paper, and tossed it back into the case. He told me it was a pretentious, useless gift. He never used it once.”

I stare down at the pen set. He mocked me, and he made me feel like an idiot for spending my hard-earned savings to give him something meaningful.

But he didn’t throw it away. He kept it tucked deep inside the velvet lining of his desk drawer for years.

“Why did he keep it?” Willow asks.

“Because Knox was a coward,” Locke says from the hallway. “He wanted to control everything, but he didn’t know how to value anything until it was gone.”

I stand there for a long moment, holding the leather case, before placing it back down on top of the desk blotter.

We turn to leave the study, but as we step back out into the central hallway, Willow suddenly stops dead in her tracks.

She turns slowly toward the master bedroom suite at the far end of the corridor. Her face

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Chapter 209 3

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goes completely pale, her eyes wide and fixed on the open doorway leading into the master bathroom.

“Willow?” I say, taking a step toward her. “What’s wrong?”

Willow doesn’t answer. She takes a slow, hesitant step toward the bedroom, her hands trembling violently as she points toward the dark bathroom.

“Zara…” Willow whispers, her voice trembling. “Something… something died in there.”

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