Chapter 6

The terror that seized Zoe jolted her fully awake, but the pain from her injuries left her unable to move.

She was roughly dragged into a car and knocked unconscious. When she came to again, she found herself inside an abandoned factory.

Standing before her was Yohan Shaw, one of Yale's old enemies. Once as handsome as Yale, he now bore a hideous knife scar stretching from the corner of his eye to his mouth.

He approached her with the menacing air of a demon come to claim her life, then reached down and ripped the black tape from her mouth.

"Ms. Carter! Long time no see. How have you been?"

Zoe watched him warily, forcing herself to remain calm despite the pain.

"What will it take for you to let me go?"

Yohan lightly tapped her cheek with his dagger, moving the blade threateningly across her face.

"That depends on what Mr. Tanner decides to do. I've already laid the kindling. All you have to do is light the match."

He took her phone and made a call.

After what seemed like an eternity of unanswered calls, Yale finally picked up, his voice thick with irritation.

"Zoe Carter, you're completely unreasonable! You're so jealous that you're spreading intimate photos of yourself all over the internet. Do you have any idea how much you've humiliated the Tanner family? Stop calling me. It's Natalie's celebration party tonight, and I'm not coming home."

He hung up before Zoe could get a single word out.

Despair filled her eyes. Yohan watched her with an amused, mocking smile.

"Surprised, Ms. Carter? I certainly am. Three years ago, Mr. Tanner was so obsessed with you that he went to the trouble of bankrupting your family just to get you to marry him. Now he cares more about some little mistress than his own lawfully wedded wife!"

He looked down at her, clearly hoping to savor the sight of her consumed by rage and hatred.

Instead, Zoe's expression remained as still as stagnant water.

Yohan clicked his tongue in irritation, a vicious glint entering his eyes.

"Well, I admire your courage, Ms. Carter. Why don't you join me in watching tonight's little celebration?"

At the party, a reporter suddenly pushed forward and thrust a microphone toward Natalie's face.

"Miss Rhodes, the paper you've published closely aligns with your academic supervisor's core research. Can you respond to allegations that you plagiarized her work? And what do you have to say about the viral accusations that you knowingly became involved with a married man?"

Natalie's smile froze. All the color drained from her face, and she stammered helplessly, unable to form a coherent answer.

In the stunned silence, Yale calmly stepped in front of her, his gaze icy.

"Every one of those allegations is defamatory. Natalie completed and published her research independently."

He continued without hesitation.

"As for the false information circulating online, my wife, Zoe Carter, was so consumed by jealousy that she sold her body to obtain it."

Zoe stared at the screen in disbelief. She had never imagined Yale would go so far as to twist the truth just to protect Natalie.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she thought of the woman she'd been three years ago, kidnapped by Yohan and still doing everything she could to buy Yale more time.

Watching her despair, Yohan let out a satisfied chuckle before turning and leaving the room.

She had no idea how much time passed before Natalie was thrown onto the floor beside her, her wrists and ankles bound.

This time, however, Yale arrived at the abandoned factory in less than thirty minutes.

The moment he saw that Natalie was unharmed, his expression relaxed. When his gaze shifted to Zoe, though, it became unreadable.

"What do you want? Money? Shares? Power?" he demanded without bothering with pleasantries.

His arrogant attitude infuriated Yohan.

Grabbing both women by the backs of their necks, he dragged them toward a window and looked down with a malicious grin.

"Just look at that view. Beautiful, isn't it? I wonder what would happen if these two accidentally fell. Would they survive?"

The threat was unmistakable.

Yale slowly unclenched his fists, his voice hoarse.

"Let them go. I'll agree to whatever you want."

Yohan raised an eyebrow, studying his tense expression before bursting into laughter.

"Half the shares you own in Tanner Group in exchange for one life. Your new love or your old flame. You only get to save one."

His grin widened.

"And don't even think about trying anything. I've planted explosives throughout this building. One press of this remote, and every last one of us goes up in smoke."

Yale closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were bloodshot, and his voice came out painfully hoarse.

"I choose Natalie..."

Zoe had known what his answer would be.

The moment Yohan began threatening them, she'd already located the trees beneath the window, preparing for what she might have to do.

Even so, hearing Yale choose Natalie made her heart skip a beat.

She didn't look back.

Instead, she jumped straight out of the window.

Her body plummeted toward the ground. Just before she hit, a tangle of branches caught her fall. Sharp twigs pierced her flesh, and rough bark scraped painfully across her skin.

BOOM!

An explosion tore through the factory, the deafening blast sending tremors through the ground.

Zoe let out a breath of relief. For the first time in what felt like forever, gratitude at having survived showed on her face.

She made her way to the main road, flagged down a taxi, and headed straight for the airport.

As her plane took off, Zoe gazed down at Gerton, watching the city grow smaller and blur into the distance.

She finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

She was leaving Gerton behind and heading abroad.

As for Yale Tanner, she would never see him again.

Not in life, and not in death.