Zach returned home.

When he saw that Yvonne was still sleeping, he leaned over to kiss her. But right as he drew closer, she sneezed violently and consecutively because of the pungent scent of perfume on him.

Yvonne covered her nose and gasped for air.

Zach scowled and hurriedly got up to open the window.

“Sorry. I forgot that you were allergic. I’ll take a shower.”

By the time he came out, Yvonne had already gone to the living room.

The sight of the empty dining table puzzled Zach. “You didn’t cook breakfast today?”

Yvonne looked down with an expressionless face. “Haven’t you eaten already?”

Zach stared at her in shock.

With extraordinary calmness, she said, “You posted on Instagram and even changed your profile pic.”

Scowling, he took his phone out to take a look.

Bella was the one who had used his phone to post on his Instagram.

She even made their profile pics match.

An awkward expression appeared on Zach’s face as he put his phone back in his pocket and smiled. “My secretary’s son was in the company yesterday. He might have changed my profile pic for fun.”

Yvonne’s heart sank, and she felt a chill run down her spine. Nevertheless, she stood unmoving.

This was the second time Zach had lied to her.

While her mind wandered, he returned downstairs with a luggage bag in hand.

“Honey, I’m going on a business trip to a branch company for a few days. Your birthday’s around the corner, so wait for me. I’ll give you a surprise once I’m back!”

Yvonne did not answer and just hung her head. When her eyes landed on the luggage bag, there was only mockery in them.

Zach’s heart clenched when he saw this. But before he could say anything, his phone vibrated.

When he saw the caller ID, he cast Yvonne a subconscious glance. Once he realized that she was not looking at him, he returned to the room to answer his phone.

The sound of the door’s lock clicking shut made Yvonne bend down to open the luggage bag.

Soon, she found two boxes of unopened condoms in one of the bag’s layers.

With stiff movements, she put the luggage bag back in its place as she broke into a self-deprecating smile.

In the previous cycle, Zach started going on frequent business trips after the gathering.

At that time, she was worried that he would overwork himself. So, she would make various nourishing soups for him. By the looks of it, she had been a fool!

After Zach left, Yvonne left as well.

She wanted to send all of the things in her studio to her mother’s place before she left the country.

By the time she was done, the sun had already set. She dragged her exhausted body back. After she locked the door, the police called.

The moment Yvonne arrived at the place, she saw Zach swinging his fist at a man. A woman was hugging him tightly to stop him. She was crying so much that her makeup was ruined.

“Don’t, Zach!”

Zach’s eyes were bloodshot with rage. He was like an enraged lion who wanted to rip the man apart.

“Heh. I was wondering why you’ve become so bold. So, it’s because you’ve gotten yourself attached to someone rich,” the man said haughtily while he hid behind the police.

“Mr. Frank, you’re making things hard for us.”

However, Zach refused to listen to anyone and just wanted to punch the man.

The scene stunned Yvonne.

She had seen Zach being this wild and violent before.

At that time, he had wanted to build a company through his own efforts, so he spent all his time at the company.

Yvonne had pitied him back then. She could not bear the thought of him having take-out and instant noodles all the time. As such, she would always cook for him and deliver the food to him.

One day, it poured, and two drunkards dragged Yvonne to a back alley. Fortunately, a passerby saved her. Zach learned of this later and located the drunkards’ houses.

When Yvonne arrived, she was shocked. Blood was flowing down Zach’s hands nonstop while those two people lay twitching on the ground.

The bloodshot look in his eyes was the same as the one he had in the present.

Cracks filled Yvonne’s heart, and her legs felt like they were made of lead with each step she took.

As she stared at the enraged man, she called out to him, “Zach.”

Once Zach heard Yvonne’s voice, he was stunned. But before he could turn around, Bella suddenly cradled her chest.

“Zach, it hurts.”

She collapsed in front of him, and panic filled his face.

“Bella! Bella!”

Yvonne soon arrived before Zach, but he just picked Bella up and shoved her away.

Before he left, he said, “Take care of the rest.”

Yvonne was forced to stay at the police station with the lawyer to handle the mess Zach had left behind.

It lasted until nighttime, and Yvonne did not eat a single thing. Her face was turning increasingly pale.

Once the lawyer finished taking care of everything, he saw Yvonne’s eyes roll back, and she fainted.

She lay in a hospital bed as her head spun. She wanted to open her eyes, but she could not find the strength to do so.

In her daze, she felt as if she could see herself after Zach “died.”

She turned gray overnight as she sat listlessly in their room. She refused to eat or drink and just let herself waste away until her friends found her unconscious at home. They sent her to the hospital.

When the doctor told her she was pregnant, Yvonne felt like she finally had the will to live. Sadly, when she was six months along, she got into an accident. This led to her losing the last thing that connected her to Zach.

She would never forget the driver who crashed into her. That woman shared the exact same face as Bella’s.

After Yvonne woke up, she found only Jacob York, the lawyer, beside her.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Frank, I can’t get into contact with Mr. Frank. I bought you some soup, though. Have it while it’s warm.”

Yvonne forced herself up through great effort. As she recalled how Zach had left with Bella, she sneered. “Thanks for the trouble, Mr. York. Please go home.”

Once Jacob left, Yvonne pulled the IV needle out and wanted to leave. However, the nurse who came in to change her IV drip saw this and stopped her.

“Why did you pull out the needle? Where’s your family?”

Yvonne looked down. “I have no family.”

The nurse’s words died in her throat. After a sigh, she put the IV needle back in the back of Yvonne’s hand again.

The door opened once more, and another nurse came in to register Yvonne under the hospital. While she wrote, she lamented, “Seriously, people’s lives are so different from each other. Look at Mrs. Frank. She just got a scare, and Mr. Frank got all the specialists to check on her. It’s already midnight, and he still got them back to the hospital. His wife sure is the luckiest woman alive!”

Yvonne wanted to laugh when she heard this, but her eyes shone with tears.

After Zach received confirmation from a few specialists that Bella was fine, he finally felt relieved.

Slowly, rationality returned to him, and he suddenly remembered Yvonne.

Scowling, he gave her a call. He dialed her number more than ten times, but no one picked up.

Casting a glance at Bella and finding her resting, he quietly grabbed his jacket and left.

Yvonne had gotten herself an agent to be in charge of selling her studio.

“Miss Sunderland, these things look expensive. Why are you burning them?”

The agent was shocked to find Yvonne throwing her belongings into the brazier.

With a stony face, Yvonne picked up an unassuming diary from the side and threw it into the brazier without hesitation.

The fire shot up and burned her hand. This led the agent to step forward and pull her back.

“What’re you doing?!”

Zach pulled Yvonne to his side with a glare, but she broke free from his grasp.

The sight of his tense face made the agent say, “You’ve misunderstood, sir. I’m a real estate agent.”

Zach frowned and looked at Yvonne. “You’re selling the house?”

She said nothing in reply. Instead, she asked the agent to leave and said she would contact him later if anything came up.

The sight of Yvonne ignoring him made Zach grab her hand in displeasure.

“Which house are you selling, honey?”

“You’ve misunderstood. I just think this place isn’t big enough and want a larger studio,” Yvonne said coolly.

He immediately felt relieved but thought of Bella. So, he looked at Yvonne and decided to test the waters. “Aren’t you going to ask about that day?”

When she gave no reply, Zach said in a seemingly relaxed fashion, “That woman is Robin’s sister. He’s on a business trip, so he called me. You know that I’m good friends with him, so I can’t just ignore it when his sister’s in trouble. I—”

Yvonne simply grabbed her handbag. “I have some business to take care of. Let’s talk tonight.”

She did not continue listening and left.

Zach found himself a little out of sorts.

Yvonne trusted him fully, and this was the result he wanted. Yet, the whole thing just made him uneasy, even though he could not quite describe it.

Zach stopped talking about going on business trips. After Bella was discharged, she returned to the house she shared with him.

When she saw that Zach was going to leave, she immediately ran to his side and hugged him.

“Behave, Bella. I already told you that I can’t stay outside overnight.”

However, she refused to listen. Instead, she held Zach’s hand and placed it over her undergarments.

With delight in her eyes, she stood on her tiptoes and breathed into his ear.

“Zach, I bought new drugs. Do you want to try them?”

His pupils dilated. He could not reject Bella when she was this seductive.

Both of them started frantically leaving traces of their love in their place. It felt like every spot was covered in their sweat.

Satisfied, Bella watched as Zach moved above her.

While he was asleep, she recorded videos and sent them all to Yvonne.

After Zach woke up, he realized that he had stayed over overnight.

He grabbed his hair in frustration and thought of a few excuses. Then, he picked the most reasonable one before he called Yvonne.

However, after he gave his excuse, this was all Yvonne said, “Got it.”

A second ago, Zach could imagine her disappointed expression. He even thought of a lot of things to say to get her back into a good mood. But to think that Yvonne would be so calm!

With a dark expression, he picked up his phone and typed a message.

When Yvonne was done with her shower, she saw Zach’s long message.

She just deleted it after a glance.

She no longer had any interest in Zach’s carefully crafted lies.

On Yvonne’s birthday, Zach imported plenty of Ecuador roses and filled up the venue for her birthday party.

Their mutual friends asked her about it.

“Yvonne, Zach’s so good to you. Look at the decorations and the color of the tablecloth. They were all picked based on your preferences!”

“Naturally. Yvonne has a firm hold over Zach’s heart. In the past, whenever someone flirted with her, Zach would stew in jealousy for a week.”

“Yes! I remember an upperclassman asking Yvonne for her contact number once, and Zach saw it. He threw a basketball at that guy so hard that it gave him a concussion. He only recovered after being on bedrest for a week!”

To that, all Yvonne did was smile.