- I will divorce her.

Piper was very happy with his remark, but Zora was still Misses Gannon, the title Piper had long coveted.

How she wished that night had not happened. If only that useless man had not appeared when she was about to leave for the airport to board the private jet, she would have been the one waking up in bed with Ezrah.

It pained her that it had to be the whore, Zora. “Ezrah, are you sure you will divorce her?”

Ezrah hated to be doubted. “You don’t believe me? I’m only with her because she’s carrying my child. As soon as he’s born, I will divorce her.”

Piper smiled with satisfaction, and since she had mentally stored Zora's number after answering the call, she sent the recording to her.

Remembering that the butler had called Ezrah informing him that Zora was sick, she asked after deleting the audio from her phone.

“Can you go shopping with me? I didn’t bring enough clothes.”

Even if Zora showed the audio to Ezrah, Piper would deny it as she had used a number Ezrah didn’t know to send it.

“I have another meeting in two hours, so you have an hour and a half to finish shopping,” Ezrah said softly.

Zora’s heart tightened in her chest when she played the audio. The butler who was driving the car felt helpless, equally disappointed in his boss. Zora asked from the back seat of the luxurious car she was seated in.

“Did he really tell you he was coming to the hospital?”

The butler’s throat went dry. He always succeeded in making up excuses for his boss, but this time, everything backfired. That audio destroyed everything.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I just didn’t want to see you sad.”

Zora’s heart twitched, a bitter smile curled the corner of her lips, feeling like a fool as tears welled up in her eyes. She was nothing to Ezrah. The little surprises sent to ignite her hope were merely prepared by the butler.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recover from the pain as she felt a force hit the car from the side, causing it to swerve off the road and somersault thrice.

The butler was instantly unconscious. Zora felt unbearable pain, blood sputtered from her mouth and nose, then in between her thighs.

No words could describe the agony as she watched the life draining out of her with intense pain settled in her abdomen.

She managed to pick up her phone, which had fallen to the side from the impact, dialing her husband’s number.

Unable to lift the phone to her ear, she activated the speaker. “Zora. I’m busy.”

That was what Ezrah said as soon as he answered the phone, not waiting to hear what she had to say. After all, nothing about Zora was ever urgent to him.

Before she lost consciousness, she heard the laughter of a woman with the words, “Ezrah, I want these shoes.”

“Try them on. If they fit, you can have them.”

‘So, shopping with a woman is what you call busy.’ That was what Zora thought before losing consciousness.

Zora woke up at the hospital after hours of surgery. Her face was as pale as a ghost, her countenance pitiful. Her butler, Rudolph, sat at her hospital bed, a smile on his face. He had sustained a few injuries, but they were not serious, and he was already discharged.

“Madam, you are awake. Thank God.”

Zora was glad to see that Rudolph was fine. There were just bruises on his face. He quickly rushed out to call a doctor.

“Mrs. Gannon, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked as he examined Zora, writing a few things on a writing pad he carried along. Zora was only concerned about one thing.

“How is my baby?” Zora asked.

The doctor’s eyes dulled. “I’m very sorry, but your baby couldn’t survive the impact.”

Tears brimmed in the back of Zora’s eyes, but she fought them back. She lost everything. She left her father’s company to work for her husband, nurturing his business and enduring all the taunts of his arrogant family.

At twenty-three, she had nothing to show for the man she had secretly loved for five good years. “It’s alright. She would have just suffered anyway.” Her heart had turned cold due to the loss of the child.

“Excuse me?” The doctor was shocked. He expected her to cry like any woman in her situation would, but Zora bottled it in. She could endure all of Ezrah’s indifference towards her, but she would never forgive him for the loss of her child.

That woman appeared, and Zora suddenly got involved in an accident. The case had to be investigated, but as for Ezrah, he no longer had a place in her heart.

“Sorry, that was not directed at you.” There was no warmth in Zora’s apologetic voice. The doctor forced a smile, finished his examination, and left. Zora stared at the butler at the doorway. He stood there since the doctor arrived. Zora was about to tear down but couldn’t do so.

She had been weak for too long, leading to the death of her child. If she had left the first time Ezrah asked her for a divorce, this would not have happened.

Back then, she had begged him before finding out that she was pregnant for him. When she discovered she was pregnant, she decided to consent to the divorce and leave. At least, she would have his child to remind her of the relationship they once shared.

Unfortunately, the test result fell from her handbag, Ezrah saw it. Even when he decided for them to wait until after she gave birth, his treatment of her was no better.

“Where is Ezrah?” Zora asked. Butler Rudolph was scared. He could feel the cold in Zora’s voice, and even with the distance, he could feel the chills.

“Madam, the man who hit us was drunk, and he died on the spot. The police are not able to contact his family either,” Rudolph reported, trying to avoid answering her question. He was a middle-aged man. Zora did not believe the report but kept it to herself.

The moment she discovered that the man she respected so much was lying to her, her trust in him dwindled. She will find ways to investigate the matter by herself.

“That isn’t my question.”

“Boss left here a few minutes ago,” Rudolph answered. Zora was enraged this time. Not only Ezrah but Rudolph, the butler Ezrah assigned to her, was equally taking her for a fool.

“Don’t lie to my face again.” Her voice was stern and full of contempt. Rudolph pursed his lips, his head lowered.

“Boss said, and I quote. ‘It’s rather unfortunate. Let the doctors take care of her. I’m very busy at the moment.”

Zora knew what he was busy with. It was the woman whose voice she heard in the audio. She thought she was strong enough to take it, but a tear fell from her eyes before she could stop it. Ashamed of showing her weak side in front of Rudolph, she discharged him.

“Thank you, and please excuse me.”

Rudolph was never supposed to leave Zora's side, so he was reluctant. “Ma…”

“I said, excuse me, Rudolph,” Zora’s voice raised, Rudolph decided to wait in front of the door.

“Okay.”

As soon as he left the ward, Zora dialed a number. “Soph…”

“Dad, I’m sorry. I made a mistake, and now, I lost everything.” Zora didn’t hold back her tears as she spoke to her father on the phone. He was against the marriage the moment he realized that Ezrah did not feel the same way Zora felt about him, but she was optimistic, insisting that Ezrah would change.

Expecting her father to scold her an, ‘I told you so’ lecture, his voice was rather soft as he asked her.

“What happened, Zora?”

“I had an accident and lost the baby. I’m coming home.”

The silence at the end of the line was deafening. She knew her father was saddened about the loss of his grandchild. When she was about to end the call, he suddenly said,

“Oh Zora. I’m coming to get you. Just send me your location.”

Zora refused. She couldn’t leave until she was legally separated from Ezrah. “No dad, I have a few things to do first.”

“What is that? Let me help you with it?” Her father eagerly said, but she was in no mood to burden the middle-aged man. The loss had caused Zora to mature so fast as the reality of life hit her.

No more would she depend on anyone. It was time to do something worthwhile with her life, but first of all, she will still have to face Ezrah for the last time. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing I can’t handle.

“Okay. We shall prepare your welcome party. I will inform your mom.”

Zora smiled and didn’t refuse her father’s kindness. Three days later, she was discharged from the hospital. As she waited for Ezrah’s return, she got the divorce papers ready.

It was three days later in the dead of the night when Ezrah returned, tired-looking but his attractive features remained untouched by his fatigue. Zora had lost sleep, waiting for Ezrah during most of the days.

As soon as she heard the sound of the car, she quickly rushed downstairs but paused on top of the stairs when Ezrah walked through the door of the living room.

Arriving home, Ezrah no longer met the woman who always met him with a smile. She stood on top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression,

“Good news Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us, so let’s get a divorce.”

The man who was always cold to her instantly panicked. He stood momentarily frozen.

– Just sign the damn papers

Ezrah was baffled by the news. Twice, he had asked her for a divorce and saw how gloomy she turned at the subject.

This was what he wanted but he couldn’t help the unease filling his heart. Was it because Zora was the one asking? Was she trying to mess up his reputation with the loss of the child? Ezrah was confused.

Zora descended the stairs, walking to the dining table. Ezrah did not utter an acceptance or rejection of her request for a divorce and went up the stairs, returning after ten minutes in loungewear.

Seemed he wasn’t going out or was it the shock from the news? Seeing the dinner table hosting different delicacies, excitement filled his heart as he took a seat. If she really wanted a divorce, then she wouldn’t have cooked for him.

At this moment, Piper was momentarily forgotten. Ezrah avoided Zora’s gaze as this was the first time she was so cold to him. Without alerting her of his arrival, she still ensured that his supper was ready.

As he uncovered one of the dishes, his eyes darkened as he glared at her. It was not the food he was expecting but rather, the cold divorce papers, with a pen beside them, waiting to be signed.

“What is this?” Ezrah was furious, being famished from not having time to eat. In times past, Zora would have been worried and tried to appease him but that Zora was gone with the miscarriage.

After crying her eyes out for days, she waited to serve Ezrah these cold documents, she had no more tears to shed but her eyes were dangerously red.

“Do I need to get you a pair of glasses?” Her voice was taunting, as she saw the shocked expression on his face. He must have taken her request as a joke the first time but the documents exposed the reality. “Why? Were you expecting me to cook when I had no idea when you will be home?”

Ezrah’s expression was blank. She could have made the maids do it. It burned Zora that she could not read his emotions but she didn’t care anymore. “Please sign the papers. In case the prints are too tiny, I got you a magnifying glass,” she dropped the item in front of him.

Ezrah was not irrational. When he asked for a divorce, he ensured that there would be nothing for the media to feed on but now that they just lost a child? What will people think? His parents liked Zora, except his two elder brothers who always saw her as a threat.

The miscarriage has complicated the situation. Ezrah never thought she would stand on it to ask for a divorce because of how she always claimed to love him, not caring if he was just cold to her. He needed time to think.

“We shall talk about it later,” he finally said and was about to stand up when Zora played an audio from her phone. With her mind made up, she wanted the divorce here and now.

The woman in front of Ezrah was different from the one he always came home to. She always wore attractive clothes with a little makeup to seduce him which sometimes worked but after his release, Ezrah would return to being cold.

Today, Zora did not have on any makeup. Her hair was not even combed. All she wore was pajamas, her long dark hair looking lifeless, in contrast to Ezrah who was looking so attractive.

He had the looks and physique Zora used to die for but not anymore. All she felt for him now was resentment. She suddenly matured past looks or smartness in a man. What was there in being as hot as hell and a genius in business when there is no conscience or empathy?

Zora was just seeing that the man she has always been obsessed with was a selfish monster, caring only about his own image, money, and passion. Whatever blinded her eyes before was removed the moment she woke up on that hospital bed.

The voice from the audio was as clear as daylight. A female and a male but the male voice was indeed that of Ezrah.

Female: I’m sorry. I thought it was urgent.

Male: Nothing about Zora is ever urgent.

Female: Ezrah, are you sure you will divorce her?

Male: You don’t believe me? I’m only with her because she’s carrying my child. As soon as he’s born, I will divorce her.

Zora caught an expression of guilt on his face but there was no remorse. His voice was hard. “Where did you get that?” He demanded. Piper could not have done this, right? She had no contact with Zora.

But it was just the two of them in the room. Were there secret cameras? Though confused, his expression returned to being blank. “You have to destroy that audio before I sign this paper,” he threatened her.

Zora could not tell how she managed to pretend that she was fine. Up until now, he didn’t even care to apologize for sharing their private information with whatever name he calls the woman in his life.

What on earth could have made her fall in love with such a man? He was different from that man from a long time ago who saved her from the pool when she was bullied by some jealous friends.

Ezrah did not remember that day but that was when Zora fell in love with him. She calmly showed him another caption on her phone. ‘Mr. Ezra Gannon admits to reigniting his love for his old flame, Miss Piper Henshaw.’

This time, Ezrah paled but his eyes were dark and he picked up his phone instantly. He couldn’t find the person who took those pictures and how they went viral but had to get someone to take them down. The hacker would also be able to find out who sent that information to the press.

Zora had grown thorns after listening over and over to the audio and reading that news on her phone. Ezrah had already told her the same thing so this shouldn’t hurt.

“It doesn’t matter. The hindrance has already been removed and you already have a woman waiting for you. Just sign the damn papers.”