Chapter 299 Fractured Trust
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At another hospital, Zacharias had been admitted late at night by Jackie. His injuries hurt, but they weren’t serious.
After getting treated and receiving fluids, Zacharias was ready to leave once the morning sobered him up.
Just then, Selina walked in with Melody and Lenora.
“Zacharias, where exactly are you hurt? Who did this to you? Did you call the police?”
Melody stepped forward, lifting Zacharias‘ shirt while questioning Jackie.
Jackie shook his head. From the moment he’d received Zacharias‘ call yesterday until he had helped him, slumped and barely able to move, into the car by the roadside, Zacharias hadn’t said a single word.
Jackie didn’t know what had happened, and after thinking it over, he had decided to inform Melody.
Zacharias raised a hand to push Melody away, his brow deeply furrowed and his expression impatient.
“Call the police! Right now!”
Even as he blocked her, Melody saw the large bruises along his waist and abdomen. She shouted at Jackie.
“Stop! Don’t call the police!” Zacharias barked, furious.
Jonathan had been the one to hurt him. Reporting it wouldn’t accomplish anything—it would only make him the laughingstock, a man beaten by his wife’s current partner.
Melody gasped, clutching her chest in shock, while Lenora trembled. “Zach! Mom and I are just worried about you. How can you act like this?”
“Get out! All of you, out!” Zacharias ordered, his voice gloomy.
Seeing him like this, Melody and Lenora didn’t dare argue further. Selina quietly guided them out, but stayed behind herself.
She poured him a glass of water and crouched by the bedside.
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12:18 Thu, Sep 18
Chapter 299 Fractured Trust
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“Zacharias, did Anne have someone do this? She already humiliated us at the party–wasn’t that enough?”
Others might not have known, but Selina was fully aware that last night Zacharias had been publicly shamed by Anneliese. He had gotten drunk and gone after her.
Tears welled at the corners of her eyes–pain, humiliation, worry for Zacharias, and anger at Anneliese all mingled together.
Zacharias looked at Selina and tugged at his thin lips.
“She’s really married. Do you know who she married?”
For some reason, he almost looked forward to seeing Selina’s reaction.
The world had already turned upside down–why was he the only one hurt and suffering?
Selina’s breath caught. A bad premonition washed over her, and her lips trembled.
“That’s impossible. Anne loved you so much. She just got divorced. How could she have married someone else so quickly? What actually happened last night?”
Each question came faster than the last, her voice tightening with urgency.
Zacharias gritted his teeth, a deep gloom settling in his eyes.
The name Jonathan hovered on his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
He refused to admit that Anneliese had left him–and worse, married someone better. He had become a joke.
Seeing his pained expression, Selina felt a spark of satisfaction.
“Zacharias, could it be that Anne, just to satisfy her vanity or to get back at us, casually married some powerful, old, bald man–becoming a stepmother to someone else?”
Selina had previously confided in Zacharias about how Anneliese had imprisoned their entire family in a basement. Given Anneliese’s connections, calling the police wouldn’t help.
She suspected Anneliese had married a bureaucratic old man out of revenge.
Seeing Selina still thinking along those lines, Zacharias lowered his gaze, hiding the sharp irony and bitterness in his eyes.
If Anneliese had truly sunk so low as to marry some old man, Zacharias might have felt a little
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12:18 Thu, Sep 18
Chapter 299 Fractured Trust
better-and at least had a chance to win her back.
But the man was Jonathan.
Jonathan wasn’t some old, bald man with kids.
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Seeing the flicker of excitement beneath Selina’s worried expression, Zacharias felt an unfamiliar sensation.
He had always thought Anneliese was petty, insisting on driving Selina out of the White family, constantly making things difficult for her.
Selina, kind–hearted and always yielding, had gone from a pampered little princess to a cautious, trembling fake heiress. It had been pitiful.
Now, seeing Selina secretly pleased, Zacharias thought of the hardships Anneliese had endured in the White family, and doubt crept in.
At that moment, Jackie knocked and entered.
“Mr. Shaw, just got news–Mr. Golding from Crucible Group met privately with Mr. Sullivan from Everon Tech today.”
Everon Tech was the rival of Clauderias Tech.
Derek had been delaying the renewal with Clauderias Tech, and now a private meeting with David Sullivan didn’t bode well.
Zacharias‘ expression flickered. “Make the gift for the Goldings‘ 25th anniversary even more impressive.”
Jackie reminded him, “The Goldings don’t need gifts… Mrs. Golding prefers Ms. Claude…”
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