Chapter 9
It was already 11:00 pm by the time Zachary regained consciousness.
When Zachary saw the glass of water by his bedside, placed there by the housekeeper, he misunderstood and couldn’t hide the way he lit up with joy. Despite the discomfort he felt, he stepped out of the room, eager to find me.
But when he made it up the spiral staircase to the rooftop terrace with sweat clinging to his brow, he was greeted by the sight of Christopher and me locked in a passionate kiss.
His heart twisted in pain.
Zachary’s lips were pale as he charged forward to grab Christopher by the collar. “What are you doing to Keira?”
At this point, Zachary could no longer fool himself into thinking Christopher was just the boy next door.
“Who gave you the right to touch my wife?”
Christopher scoffed, amused.
“Your wife? Zachary, have you ever treated Keira like a wife you actually cared about?”
“You!”
Before Zachary could continue to lash out, the hot–tempered Christopher slammed a fist into Zachary’s left cheek.
“If Keira wasn’t so kind–hearted, I would’ve thrown you out like the trash you are and fed you to the wolves. Let me make this clear. Keira is my fiancee now. She won’t spare you a glance, no matter how much you keep harassing her.”
Hearing that, Zachary lowered his fist to stare at me in disbelief.
ww
“Is he telling the truth? Keira, it’s been less than a month since we separated, and you’ve already agreed to someone else’s marriage proposal?”
I never told Zachary that I’d already accepted Christopher’s heartfelt proposal the day I learned of Abigail’s pregnancy. It happened through a video call across the ocean. He had loved me since we were kids.
I leaned lazily against Christopher’s broad shoulder, gave Zachary a dry laugh, and hummed in response.
Zachary looked utterly stunned. His voice trembled as he spoke.
“Have you gone insane, Keira? You’re my wife. I never agreed to a divorce. And now you’re hooking up with another man. How could you do this to me?”
Why wouldn’t I?
ཇོ བན དེ ལ ཇ གཽང ནན རྫས བ ད
I tilted my head and blinked slowly.
“Is your consent supposed to mean something to me? You overestimate your importance, Zachary. Let me say this one last time. You mean absolutely nothing to me. We’re done. For real.”
With that, I ignored the shell–shocked Zachary. I turned around and continued our conversation under the moonlight with my fingers laced through Christopher’s.
No one knew when Zachary left the estate. No one cared.
Then, Zachary bought a high–rise building near the estate that overlooked the vineyard instead
to C
His daily routine, aside from remote video conferences with executives back in Crupeland, was to drive to the iron gates of the estate and wait for me to arrive. He always had a new bouquet of flowers or little gifts I’d once told him about, but never bothered to give me until now.
I never acknowledged his presence nor changed my schedule because of him.
Nine years of humbling myself in a one–sided marriage taught me one thing.
A woman should never change the course of her life to accommodate a man.
She worked when she had to and socialized when she needed to.
The world was vast. My only responsibility was to make myself happy.
As for Zachary, I figured that he was pestering me and refusing to let go because William was fond of me and was pressuring him to beg for my forgiveness.
So, I personally called William to tell him that I had a new fiance and a new life. I asked him not to force Zachary to remain in Nortzence Pointless acts just because he felt sorry for me.
And yet, a whole month after that call, Zachary continued to wait by the gates just to catch a glimpse of me through the car window.
