Chapter 5

Aiden quickly looked away from the direction Mia had gone and turned back to Zoe, his voice returning to its usual calm.

"Don't let what happened earlier bother you. All that matters is that I love you. I need to make a phone call."

With that, he hurried after Mia.

Zoe stood motionless, staring at the empty doorway.

She tried to smile bitterly, but couldn't even manage that.

She couldn't bear to stay at her own birthday party for another second.

She turned and left.

But just as she reached the driveway outside the hotel, someone stepped into her path.

It was Mia.

Her eyes were still slightly red, but she'd regained her composure. She regarded Zoe with an air of superiority.

"Leaving already, Mrs. Carter?" Mia asked sweetly, though every word dripped with malice. "It doesn't look very good for the guest of honor to leave her own birthday party early. Or are you upset because Aiden came running after me?"

Zoe had no desire to argue with her.

She stepped around Mia and tried to leave.

"Don't go yet."

Mia reached out to block her path.

"Let's have a little chat. About Aiden. About that ridiculous marriage of yours. There are a few things I think you deserve to know..."

"Move," Zoe said coldly.

"What? Feeling guilty because you know you're occupying a place that doesn't belong to you?"

Mia refused to back down.

She stepped forward and grabbed Zoe's wrist.

"Let me tell you something. Aiden doesn't even..."

"Let go!"

Zoe tried to wrench her arm free.

The two women struggled beside the driveway.

Mia, who was wearing high heels, appeared to lose her footing.

With a startled cry, she fell backward, instinctively clinging tightly to Zoe's arm.

Zoe lost her balance too.

"Ahhh!"

The piercing screech of brakes and the sound of a collision rang out almost simultaneously.

In the chaos, Zoe felt an enormous force strike her.

The world spun around her.

A searing pain shot through her forehead and cheek, and warm liquid immediately streamed down her face, blurring her vision.

Mia's screams rang in her ears.

Pain and dizziness overwhelmed her.

As her consciousness began to fade, Zoe vaguely sensed people gathering around them.

There were frantic voices.

The wail of an ambulance siren.

Through the haze, she thought she saw Aiden rushing toward them.

For the first time, unmistakable panic had replaced the usual cool composure on his handsome face.

Then she heard fragments of conversation, as though the voices were coming from somewhere far away.

The next thing Zoe dimly remembered was being wheeled down a hospital corridor.

"Mr. Carter, both women are seriously injured and need urgent surgery, but we only have one operating room available.

"Mrs. Carter has a deep facial wound. If we don't treat it immediately, she could be permanently disfigured.

"Ms. Mitchell injured her hand. Without prompt treatment, she may lose the ability to play the piano."

Then Aiden spoke.

"Treat Mia first. She needs her hand to play the piano."

"But what about Mrs. Carter?"

“Leave her. It's not like her looks matter anyway!”

Don't matter.

Those two words pierced straight through Zoe's heart.

Of course.

Because she was ugly, her appearance didn't matter.

Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness completely.

When Zoe finally woke up, she was lying in a hospital bed.

There was no one beside her.

She raised a hand to her face and felt thick layers of bandages.

Just then, the door opened.

Mia entered with a group of friends.

Her hand was bandaged too, but there was a smile on her face.

"Zoe Lincoln."

Mia approached the bed and looked her up and down.

"I heard you were pretty badly hurt. Apparently, your face was practically sliced open. I thought for sure you'd be disfigured this time.

"But I guess the doctors the Carters hired were better than I expected. They actually managed to fix you up."

She gave a mocking smile.

"Then again, even the best doctors can't do much about how ugly you were to begin with. Those thick bandages go perfectly with your awful bangs and glasses. They're all equally hideous."

The men and women behind her snickered.

Zoe closed her eyes, not even bothering to look at them.

"Get out."

Before Mia could respond, a young woman beside her exploded in anger.

She was dressed in a pink suit, with her hair styled in tight curls.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to?" she snapped. "Mia came here out of the kindness of her heart, and you have the nerve to tell her to get out? It's bad enough that you're ugly, but apparently you have no manners either! No wonder you don't belong in our social circle!"

Zoe opened her eyes and swept a cold gaze over the woman before looking back at Mia.

"Take your lapdog and get out. None of you are welcome here."

"Who are you calling a lapdog?"

The woman in pink flushed with rage.

She lunged toward Zoe, raising her hand to slap her across the face.

Still recovering from the crash, Zoe couldn't move out of the way in time.

The slap was about to land when...

"Hey, Yvonne, come on. You shouldn't hit someone who's already in the hospital."

A man in a floral shirt stepped forward and stopped her.

He looked to be in his late twenties, with a sleazy expression and an unpleasant smile.

His gaze traveled shamelessly over Zoe as she lay in bed.

"So you're Mrs. Carter, huh? You've certainly got an attitude."

His smile widened.

"But you know, I've got a way of dealing with stubborn women."

He took two steps closer to the bed.

His eyes roamed over her with undisguised lechery.

"I've met plenty of women like you. Not much to look at, but you've got a mouth on you. What you need is a man to put you in your place."

He leaned closer.

"Even the most stubborn woman learns to behave once a man gets her into bed."

As he spoke, he actually reached out and grabbed the edge of Zoe's blanket, trying to pull it off her.