Chapter 2

I turned and walked away under Zachary's furious gaze.

Just then, I nearly collided with Tracy, who came hurrying in.

As we brushed past each other, she uttered triumphantly, "Yvonne, no matter how tightly you cling to it, you'll still have to let go of what isn't yours!"

With that, she threw herself into Zachary's arms. He caught her without faltering, then looked up at me and kissed the woman in his embrace passionately.

I thought back to the past. Zachary had disregarded my feelings and brought Tracy along to parties with our friends. Despite being furious at his fickleness, I followed along.

At one gathering, he lost a game and was told to kiss one of the girls. Under everyone's eyes, he walked up and stopped beside me.

But just as my heart began to pound, he mocked me coldly, "Yvonne, you didn't think I was going to kiss you, did you?"

That day, he held Tracy as he kissed her with exaggerated fervor, just as he was doing now.

Seeing it again now, I realized I no longer felt a ripple inside. Soon, I left the York residence and spent the night at a hotel.

The next morning, Zachary woke me up with a call. He barked an order, telling me to bring them breakfast and birth control pills.

I hung up on him at once.

That afternoon, I returned to the York residence to pack my things.

Zachary was eating in a robe at the dining table. His chest was bare, marked all over with scratches. I didn't need to guess how their night had gone.

Without a word, I walked toward the stairs.

Suddenly, a glass shattered at my feet.

Zachary's breath grew heavy as he sneered. "Where are your manners? Don't you think you should greet someone when you see them?"

"Someone with manners wouldn't be hurling glasses for no reason," I shot back in a calm tone. "If you have nothing else to say, I'll be going. I need to pack, and I don't want to waste time."

"Pack? Where are you going?" Zachary shot to his feet, and something dark flickered across his face. "Yvonne, will you never grow up? Are you trying to threaten me by running away from home? Well, too bad! I'm not falling for it!

"I let your little stunt with the drug slide for my parents' sake. All you have to do is go tell them you want the engagement annulled."

Zachary's temper often swung to extremes, and his judgments followed.

In my previous life, I had feared he wouldn't be able to take it if he learned it was his parents who had set him up. So, when he misunderstood me, I stayed silent.

But this time, I would not.

"I don't need you to let it slide. I never drugged you in the first place."

Right then, a scream rang out from upstairs.

Tracy stood in the hallway, wrapped in a towel and holding a bundle of cloth with wide, innocent eyes. "Zach, what should I do? I've ruined Yve's dress."

My gaze fell on the fabric. Recognition struck, and fury consumed me. It was the only dress my mother had left me.

I rushed up and snatched it. "Taking what isn't yours is stealing, Tracy. Do you like being a thief so much?"

Zachary's face darkened, and he shoved me aside. "Yvonne, must you be so mean with your words? It's just an old dress. So what if she wore it? Who said you could throw a tantrum at Trace?"

I barely caught myself on the railing.

As I looked down at the shredded dress in my hands, my eyes ached with unshed tears.

This was no accident. Tracy had ruined the dress on purpose.

"It's not just an old dress… My mom—"

Zachary narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "Again with your mother? Yvonne, your mother is dead. Do you think she'd want to be dragged into your mess from the grave?

"You drugged me because you wanted me to do it with you and because you're jealous of Trace. I'll buy you ten identical dresses. Now, apologize to her."

Tracy's eyes reddened, her voice soft and pitiful. "Don't be mad, Yve. Zach tore my dress last night, so I just grabbed one at random just now."

Zachary held her close and snorted. "You don't have to apologize to someone like her!"

I looked at him, so righteous in his cruelty, and sorrow surged through me.

I met him at a banquet when I was eight.

There, another child snatched away the candy I had treasured, and it was Zachary who appeared out of nowhere and got it back for me. He then called me foolish and taught me that if someone took something from me, I should snatch it back.

Later, when he saw me crying so pitifully, he patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry. From now on, as long as I'm here, no one will dare take your things."

From eight to 18, Zachary had kept that promise.

Now, however, he had become the thief himself, the one who bullied me.

I said nothing more. I folded the ruined dress with steady hands.

Zachary still stood tall and unyielding before me.

I looked him in the eye and uttered calmly, "Tell your parents to come back soon. It's time we talked about ending our engagement."