Chapter 2

The call had barely ended when the morgue door swung open.

Yale stood in the doorway, wearing a rare look of guilt. Even his voice was gentle as he said, "Zoe, I'm sorry for your loss. There's nothing anyone can do to bring back the dead. Natalie hasn't had much of an appetite lately. Go make her some chicken soup."

Zoe looked up sharply, only to meet the coldness in his eyes. For the first time, she saw just how deeply selfish and unyielding he really was.

He lowered himself into a crouch beside her, as though he were doing her a favor, and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Zoe, Eleanor was lucky to have lived another three years. It was her time."

Now she finally understood why everyone called him the devil. Beneath that name lay a cruelty steeped in blood and utterly devoid of compassion.

She shoved his hand away, her eyes blazing with fury.

"It was you! You killed my mother! You destroyed my family! This is all your fault!"

A food container clattered to the floor near the morgue entrance.

Natalie stood there, her face pale and her voice choked with tears. "Yale, you promised me you'd leave that life behind!"

Yale's expression changed instantly. A flicker of panic crossed his face as he hurried over to reassure her, almost pleading.

"She's distraught over her mother's death. Why would I lie to you? Have I ever failed to keep a promise I made to you?"

Zoe watched them fuss over each other as though she weren't even there. The chill of the morgue seemed to intensify, surrounding her until she felt as though she'd been plunged into an icy abyss.

Once Yale had calmed Natalie down, he returned to Zoe and leaned toward her, his voice turning icy.

"It was an accident. She didn't receive treatment in time. Stop making trouble, and don't deny Eleanor the chance to rest in peace."

Before Zoe could respond, Natalie approached her timidly.

"Professor Carter, I'm so sorry for your loss. Let me help arrange the funeral. Consider it my apology on Yale's behalf."

The smile on Natalie's face was one of someone who knew she could get away with anything. Zoe felt a wrenching pain deep in her chest, so intense that even her breathing trembled.

Yale was watching her with a clear warning in his eyes. Grief and anger surged through her, but for Eleanor's sake, she forced herself to nod. She couldn't bring herself to say a word.

After making the chicken soup, Zoe retrieved the divorce agreement Yale had written when they married, supposedly as proof of his sincerity. She took it to the courthouse, where their divorce was quickly finalized. She left with the divorce papers and half of Yale's assets.

Still in a daze, Zoe returned to the villa. The moment she stepped inside, she found Yale waiting for her, his face twisted with rage. Her heart gave a violent jolt.

"I never knew you could be so calculating. That bowl of chicken soup nearly made Natalie miscarry."

Zoe stared at him in disbelief. Before she could even process the accusation, a sharp cramp tore through her lower abdomen.

She gritted her teeth against the pain and met his furious gaze.

"I, Zoe Carter, come from generations of scholars. I would never stoop to something so despicable."

Yale seized her chin, gripping it so hard she thought he might crush her jaw.

"Who else could it have been?" he sneered. "You made the soup yourself. You were the one who sent someone to take it to the hospital. What are you going to tell me next? That Natalie deliberately tried to kill her own unborn child?"

As Zoe stared at the vicious expression on his face, she suddenly remembered something that had happened three years ago.

She'd been kidnapped by one of Yale's enemies. When he came to rescue her, he'd faced ten men alone, his eyes burning with murderous fury. Even after being stabbed several times, he'd refused to back down. All he'd cared about was getting her out alive.

Now that same ferocity filled his eyes, only this time it was for another woman, and all his cruelty was directed at Zoe.

She couldn't understand why tears still welled up in her eyes when hatred was all she had left for him.

Something twisted painfully in Yale's chest when he saw her tear-filled eyes. He was just about to soften his tone when hurried footsteps sounded outside.

His assistant, Evan Brooks, rushed into the room, visibly panicked.

"Mr. Tanner, Miss Rhodes has a rare Rh-negative blood type, and the hospital doesn't have enough blood in stock..."

Before he could finish, Yale grabbed Zoe's wrist.

"Perfect. You can use your blood to make up for what you've done!"

She struggled desperately against his grip, her voice breaking. "I can't! I'm severely anemic. If they take my blood, I could go into shock..."

Yale frowned, his voice as cold as ice.

"Her life is at stake! Stop being so childish. I'm sure Eleanor wouldn't have wanted you to stand by and let someone die."

In the transfusion room, Yale stood beside Zoe, watching coldly as blood continued to flow from her arm into the collection bag.

"Keep going," he ordered the nurse. "Take as much as she needs."

As the bag gradually filled, cold sweat broke out across Zoe's forehead. A sudden, agonizing cramp seized her lower abdomen, and her vision blurred.

Through the haze, she heard that Natalie had regained consciousness. Then she saw Yale rush into the elevator without so much as a backward glance.

Left alone, Zoe could no longer hold herself upright. She collapsed heavily onto the cold floor, curling into a ball as pain wracked her body.

When she opened her eyes again, she was lying in a hospital bed.

A doctor stood beside her, holding a medical report. He sighed softly before delivering the news in a grave voice.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Tanner. You were six weeks pregnant, but because too much blood was taken for the transfusion, we couldn't save the baby."

Yale, who was standing beside her, reached out and took hold of her wrist. His expression remained condescending, though his voice had softened again.

"It was an accident, Zoe. I'll make it up to you. You can have whatever jewelry or handbags you want. Anything you like. We can always have another baby."

There was no guilt in his eyes, no apology on his lips. He acted as though his offer was some extraordinary gift, never once stopping to ask whether any of it was what she wanted.

Zoe suddenly began to laugh, even as tears spilled down her cheeks.

She parted her lips, but in the end, she said nothing.

It didn't matter.

In five days, she would disappear from Yale Tanner's world forever.