Chapter 13

It took Zoey some effort to get the contract signed. By the time everything was settled, Mr. Lewis was already drunk. He staggered alongside Zoey as she walked him out.

“Miss Jenner, I like you. I can recommend you to other projects too, you know.”

Mr. Lewis swayed drunkenly as he stared lustily at the beautiful woman before him. He grabbed her and tried to kiss her.

“You’re so pretty, Miss Jenner.”

The smell of alcohol mixed with smoke made Zoey nauseous. She pushed him away. Mr. Lewis took that as a sign of interest. He sidled up to her again and grabbed her hand.

“It can’t be easy trying to work your way up all alone in this big city. I can help you, you know.”

After that, he tried to kiss her again. Zoey turned away and stomped on his foot. The pain made Mr. Lewis angry.

“Who do you think you are?”

Zoey snorted coldly.

“I’ll call the police, Mr. Lewis.”

The man’s breath reeked of alcohol.

“I’m not scared of you,” he said dismissively.

He attempted to grab her again. Their fight attracted a lot of attention. Even while drunk, Mr. Lewis was still stronger than her. Zoey stomped hard on his foot again before the restaurant staff could pull him away.

As they did, the staff kept apologizing, “Sorry, Mr. Lewis.”

Zoey stood to a side and tidied her clothes. When she looked up again, she saw a pair of familiar eyes watching her. Laurence was standing at the end of the corridor, just watching her silently with a mocking expression. Zoey’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know why he was there. Subconsciously, she averted her gaze. Laurence lit his cigarette with his lighter.

“Come here.”

Slowly, Zoey did as she was told. Seeing her lowered head and silent demeanor, he snorted.

“What kind of business are you dealing with here?”

Zoey felt her throat constrict. She couldn’t say a word. Laurence sounded upset. When they got married, their contract was clear: she wasn’t allowed to take any other job. Her soft denial sounded weak.

“It’s nothing.”

Laurence grabbed her chin and forced her to look up. His eyes bored into her.

“What’s nothing?”

Zoey couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she needed more money. When the hotel’s manager heard that Laurence was there, he came over just to greet him. He also came to apologize, stating that he didn’t know Zoey was his wife.

“Mr. Zimmer is here too.”

“Okay.”

This hotel was owned by Jeremy Zimmer. Technically, he was Laurence’s uncle. Laurence respected him. When Jeremy heard about this, he wasn’t happy. This incident wasn’t good for his business’s reputation. He had only met Laurence’s wife once, so he didn’t know much about her.

“How did it happen?” he asked.

Holding Zoey’s hand, Laurence answered with a smile, “She’s still young, Uncle Jeremy. It’s just a dumb mistake.”

Seeing that he was protecting Zoey, Jeremy didn’t bother to say anything more.

“Do you need me to send you home?”

“No thanks,” Laurence replied. “I drove here.”

His grip on her hand was so tight Zoey felt as if her fingers would break. She tried to free herself, but he only tightened his grip. Laurence did not say anything when they got back to his car. However, the air around him was sizzling with anger. It weighed on Zoey like a huge rock.

When they arrived home, Laurence said coldly, “Get out.”

Zoey paused for a moment before doing as she was told. There were still lights in the living room, but the housekeepers were already gone. No one dared to risk attracting Laurence’s anger. Outside, a snowstorm began. Laurence’s expression was dark. There was no more amusement in his eyes. He stared coldly at Zoey.

“Are you so desperate for money, Miss Jenner?”

Zoey wanted to nod. She was desperate for money. In truth, Laurence paid her a lot every month. Combined with her usual salary, she had a healthy income. However, she didn’t want to use the money that she earned through “prostituting” herself to pay for her mother’s hospital bills.

It was the only thing that kept her dignity intact. She intended to pay him back all the money she got from him in the future. Laurence knew that her mother was hospitalized, but he never bothered to do a background check on her, simply because he didn’t care. If he had just done a little bit of research, he would’ve found out about her relationship with Sarah. After all, it wasn’t a secret. Zoey looked at him with reddened eyes.

“You know better than anyone else whether I’m desperate for money or not.”

Laurence fell silent for a moment. Then he grabbed her chin again and glared at her.

“Am I not paying you enough?”

Her back was pressed against the window pane. The glass was freezing, and the cold made her tremble and tear up. Laurence seemed unaffected by her tears. But when he recalled the way she had allowed Gordon Lewis to hug her earlier, he became livid.

Laurence loosened his grip on her and said coldly, “Or is it because you just want to be a whore?”