Chapter 7

Aiden looked at Zoe's reddened eyes and the despair written across her face.

A faint sense of discomfort stirred in his chest, but he quickly brushed it aside.

He softened his tone, speaking with the patience of someone trying to reason with an unreasonable person.

"Zoe, Preston's a jerk, I'll give you that. But attempted rape? That's highly unlikely. Everything was chaotic, and you were probably so frightened that you misunderstood what was happening.

"I had you detained for a few days to teach you a lesson and let things settle down. It's not like I abandoned you. I spoke to the people inside and made sure you'd be treated well."

He'd spoken to someone?

Zoe almost laughed.

But her tears fell first.

Had he ever considered that his precious Mia might have spoken to someone too?

That Mia had arranged for Zoe to be tormented until she wished she were dead?

Zoe bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood.

Over the next few days, Aiden seemed concerned that she'd become difficult to manage.

He made an unusually elaborate effort to make things up to her.

He took her to an exclusive private auction and purchased one outrageously expensive item after another.

Diamond necklaces, antique earrings, priceless paintings.

Every purchase was registered in her name.

But as Zoe looked at the glittering diamonds, she felt nothing.

Her heart had gone numb.

After the auction, she went out onto the deck alone to get some fresh air.

Before long, familiar footsteps sounded behind her.

Mia had appeared again.

"Zoe Lincoln, are you happy with all the expensive things Aiden bought you?" Mia asked as she approached.

Her voice was gentle, but her eyes were venomous.

"Of course, no matter how much he spends, it doesn't change the fact that you're just a tool.

"He married you to force his parents to give in. And now that he's so close to getting what he wants, how much longer do you honestly think he'll keep you around?

"Don't worry. When Aiden and I get married, I'll be sure to send you an invitation."

Zoe didn't want to listen.

She turned to leave.

But Mia grabbed her wrist.

"Leaving already? Did I hurt your feelings? I told you the truth last time. Aiden has only ever loved me. You're nothing but a..."

"Let go!"

Zoe yanked her arm.

The two women struggled beside the railing at the stern of the yacht.

The vessel rocked slightly.

Mia's high heel slipped, and she cried out as she stumbled backward.

But once again, she clung tightly to Zoe, dragging her along.

"Ahhh!"

Both women lost their balance and toppled over the railing, plunging straight into the dark, freezing water below.

The icy seawater swallowed Zoe instantly.

The impact knocked the breath from her lungs, and the freezing cold left her struggling to breathe.

She couldn't swim.

She thrashed helplessly as salty water poured into her mouth and down her throat.

Through her fading vision, she saw someone dive into the water and swim toward them.

It was Aiden.

Without a moment's hesitation, he headed straight for Mia, who was flailing and screaming for help.

He caught her from behind, supported her above the water, and quickly swam toward a rescue boat.

He went straight to Mia. As far as Zoe could tell, he never looked back.

Yet the freezing seawater was nothing compared to the coldness spreading through her heart.

Just as Zoe was beginning to lose consciousness, another small boat passing nearby spotted her.

Several people hurriedly pulled her out of the water.

She collapsed onto the deck, coughing violently and spitting out the seawater she'd swallowed.

Her clothes were soaked, and her entire body trembled uncontrollably from the cold.

Aiden had already helped Mia aboard the rescue boat.

He wrapped a blanket around her and bent close, speaking to her softly.

Only then did he seem to remember something.

He raised his head and looked toward Zoe.

At first, it was merely a casual glance.

But the next second, his gaze froze.

"Your face..."

He frowned deeply.

Zoe's heart tightened.

She instinctively lowered her head and reached up to touch her face.

The seawater had washed away patches of her heavy makeup, revealing the skin underneath.

Her soaked bangs clung to her forehead, and her thick black-framed glasses were long gone.

"Aiden... My head hurts... I'm so cold..."

Just then, Mia let out a weak moan and leaned into Aiden's arms, interrupting his scrutiny.

He immediately looked away from Zoe.

"Hang in there. I'll get you to a doctor right away."

Once Aiden and Mia were back aboard the cruise ship, he scooped her into his arms and hurried inside.

From the other boat, Zoe watched him go, clutching her soaked clothes with icy fingers.

In the end, she said nothing.

With the help of the people who'd rescued her, she returned to the yacht and found an empty room where she could recover.

She stared into the mirror.

Without the ugly makeup, an extraordinarily beautiful face stared back at her.

It was the face she'd inherited from her mother.

The face she'd treated as a curse and concealed for more than a decade.

After changing into dry clothes, Zoe was disembarking when her phone rang.

It was Mrs. Carter.

"Zoe Lincoln."

There was undisguised relief and satisfaction in her voice.

"The divorce is finalized. From this moment on, you have nothing to do with Aiden or the Carter family.

"We'll give your father some financial compensation. Just stay away from us from now on."

Zoe stood on the dock, holding her phone.

The sea breeze lifted her half-dried hair, revealing her smooth forehead and clear, cold eyes, no longer hidden behind thick glasses.

It was finally over.

She hailed a cab.

But instead of going home, she headed straight to the cemetery outside the city.

The woman in the photograph was beautiful and gentle, though her eyes held a sadness that never seemed to fade.

"Mom," Zoe whispered, her voice drifting away on the wind.

"You were right. Maybe being too beautiful really does make it easier for men to deceive you.

"But I made myself ugly, and I was still deceived. Completely.

"Hiding who I am didn't keep me safe. It only made the people who hurt me even bolder.

"So from now on, I'm done hiding.

"Even if the road ahead is difficult, I want to face it as my real self."

She knelt beside her mother's grave and bowed her head in silence.

Then she stood and walked away without hesitation.

When Zoe returned to the Carter estate, she made sure no one noticed her arrival.

She went straight upstairs to the bedroom and did three things.

First, she packed all her belongings.

Second, she washed away every trace of makeup.

As the steam gradually cleared from the bathroom mirror, a breathtakingly beautiful face came into focus.

Third, she took out her phone and booked a ticket on the earliest available flight.

She took a cab to the airport, checked in, collected her boarding pass, passed through security, waited at the gate, and finally boarded the plane.

Throughout the entire process, she kept her head slightly lowered.

But even without makeup, her stunning beauty attracted countless looks of admiration and curiosity.

Some people even secretly took photographs of her.

Zoe either didn't notice or simply didn't care anymore.

As the plane climbed into the clouds, it left the city of heartbreak and deception far behind.

What Zoe didn't know was that shortly after she boarded, the photographs strangers had secretly taken of her at the airport began spreading across social media at an astonishing speed.

Within minutes, they were dominating local trending topics.

#StunningBarefacedBeautySpottedAtAirport

#CanSomeoneReallyBeThisBeautiful

#FindThisGorgeousWomanImmediately

#EvenMiaMitchellWouldLookPlainStandingNextToHer

The photographs spread like wildfire.

People across the internet were desperate to discover the identity of the breathtaking woman.

And before long, they began uncovering who she really was...