The Plane Tickets He Hoarded The Wife He Hid novel Chapter 236

236 Chapter 236 The People Were

Gone

Zain’s POVO

Kaden hit the floor hard after my kick, his face twisting in pain.

The terror in his eyes was obvious when he caught sight of my rage.

He stayed silent, just staring at me with those desperate, begging eyes.

I didn’t give him an answer. I grabbed my coat off the couch and walked out of the study without a word.

Kaden pulled himself off the floor, stumbling after me. “Zain, you’re my only hope now,” he pleaded, his voice thick with desperation.

I kept walking, heading downstairs without looking back.

At the villa’s entrance, I got into my car. After getting Blanche’s hospital location from Desmond, I drove off

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immediately.

Heavy thoughts weighed on my mind as I drove.

Every time I remembered Blanche fainting and how frail she looked waking up in that hospital bed, guilt

ate at me.

She’d been so vulnerable, yet that night she got beaten for absolutely nothing.

That evening, Blanche had fought with me first, then Ashlee struck her.

The memory made my chest tight.

Guilt was tearing me apart right then.

I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘If I hadn’t walked out of the hospital that day… If I’d just stayed by her side, maybe this whole mess wouldn’t have happened. The regret was crushing.

I tried not to think about it–because dwelling on it only made that suffocating guilt worse.

My phone buzzed halfway there. At the red light, I checked the screen–Desmond was calling.

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I picked up, and his urgent voice came through. “Mr. Jacob, we just lost development rights to a construction site. You need to get to the office.”

I frowned, torn between priorities. After hesitating, I finally said, “Fine, I’m on my way.”

After hanging up, I looked at my GPS. Blanche’s hospital was just a short drive away, but the office would take much longer.

Still, I turned the car around and forced myself to head back to the company.

When I reached the office, several senior executives

were waiting.

Desmond approached me. “Mr. Jacob, I looked into it. Kingsley Jim snatched those development rights.”

I frowned, confused. “Isn’t he in restaurants? How’d he

break into construction?”

Desmond shrugged. “No clue.”

I thought it over, then just brushed it off. “Whatever, let him have it. No big deal–we’ll handle the

handover.”

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Desmond nodded. “That’s what we figured. But there’s a ton of paperwork that needs your approval, Mr.

Jacob.”

I knew I wasn’t getting out anytime soon, so I gave in. “Alright, fine.”

So I worked overtime straight through until morning, never leaving the office.

I didn’t get any sleep, my eyes burning red from exhaustion.

Only when the sun rose was I finally close to finishing.

Desmond brought breakfast over, and after a quick bite, I wrapped up the last bits of work.

By the time I finished, it was late morning.

With Blanche still weighing on my mind, I headed straight for the hospital.

When I finally reached the hospital, I discovered Blanche had been discharged that morning.

The nurse told me, “She left not too long ago—maybe a while back.”

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After leaving the hospital, I got behind the wheel.

Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone and called Blanche’s number.

The call connected instantly, and I said right away, “Where are you?”

My voice came out hoarse and rough from the all–nighter, with frustration bleeding through.

But instead of Blanche, some smug guy answered, “She’s sleeping.”

I furrowed my brow, confused. “Vincent?”

Vincent laughed carelessly. “Yeah, that’s me.”

I cut straight to the point. “Where did you take her?”

Vincent couldn’t have cared less. He smirked in his voice as he shot back, “How is that any of your

business?”

He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before hanging up.

Listening to the dial tone, I felt something bitter lodge in my throat.

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236 Cheney 336 The temper one Septe

We were already going through divorce proceedings, right in the middle of the cooling–off period, but somehow I just couldn’t shake this gnawing

discomfort.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even figure out what was causing this feeling

My mind was churning with restless thoughts when

my phone rang again.

I half–expected Blanche to be calling me back, but

when I looked at the screen, it was Joanna instead.

I waited a moment before answering, my voice tired.

“Joanna.”

My voice was hoarse, and I could tell Joanna figured I must’ve pulled an all–nighter at work.

After a pause, she asked, “Professor Reese’s hosting a dinner party tonight. Would you come with me?”

I didn’t hesitate before answering, “Sure.”

We chatted a bit longer, mostly Joanna asking about how Carry was doing.

After our conversation, I told her I’d hang up.

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I’d thought about asking Desmond to track down where Blanche was, but after considering it, I decided it was better to just go home and get some rest.

Only if I got proper sleep now could I be in decent shape to accompany Joanna to Professor Reese’s dinner party tonight.

Since Oswald was staying at Blissfield Villa, I figured I’d return to Alexander Villa to catch up on sleep.

When I arrived at Alexander Villa, Cherry was eating a simple lunch—just some steamed vegetables.

Cherry heard footsteps and glanced up out of habit.

Seeing it was me, her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Mr. Jacob, I didn’t expect you’d come back!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Am I really that surprising?”

Cherry nodded. “You and Mrs. Jacob haven’t been back

in forever.”

Her words hit me with a wave of sadness.

I remembered how Blanche used to take care of everything for me whenever I returned to Alexander

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Villa.

But now, she wasn’t here anymore.

Thinking about it, I murmured quietly, “Yeah, it’s been

a while since I was last here.”

I lifted my head and looked around. Everything seemed exactly the same as before.

But deep down, I knew things had changed completely. The place remained unchanged, but the people—and everything they represented–were gone.

Cherry looked at me with a gentle sigh and said, “Mrs. Jacob used to come back all the time too, but lately…

well…”

Not wanting to dwell on the topic, I simply said, “I’m going to get some sleep. Please wake me this afternoon.”

Cherry nodded softly. “Of course.”

Vincent sat on the living room sofa at Callum Mansion, having just finished his call with Zain, when Quinton walked in carrying grocery bags.

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Seeing him, Vincent quickly put his phone away and stood up to help. “Hey, let me take those for you.”

Quinton didn’t hand anything over. He just gave Vincent a cold look and said, “No, I’ve got it. You just

sit down.”

Quinton and Amber had rushed around to get Blanche discharged from the hospital.

Once everything was sorted, Amber smiled at Vincent, “Thanks for looking after Blanche. Want to have lunch at Callum Mansion with us?”

Lunch at Callum Mansion? Vincent was thrilled. He agreed immediately, not needing to think twice.

But while some welcomed his presence, others clearly

didn’t.

Quinton, for one, made it obvious he wasn’t pleased to have Vincent at Callum Mansion.

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237 Chapter 237 Zero Plans To Back Down