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Posted by ADMINHRADMIN, ? Views, Released on September 11, 2025

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Chapter 158 Shattered Illusions

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To Zacharias, that demned dog was proof enough–Meatloaf had been planted at Anneliese’s side by Jonathan from the very start. This man was dark and twisted, and he had coveted Anneliese, his wife, all along.

It went back to the second month after Anneliese’s adoptive parents passed away.

Anneliese was living with her grieving grandmother, and the entire Claude family was drowned in sorrow.

One afternoon, Zacharias came home from school and spotted a spotless luxury car parked near their old neighborhood. A chauffeur respectfully opened the door, and out stepped a clean–cut, aristocratic–looking boy, holding in his arms a half–grown golden retriever–dirty, injured in the hind leg.

The boy and the luxury car looked painfully out of place in the shabby alleyway. Zacharias couldn’t help watching, right up until the boy entered their neighborhood. He saw him crouch in a corner, pull out a worn schoolbag, and let the dog sniff it over and over.

Zacharias recognized that bag. It was Anneliese’s old one. Frederick had bought her a new schoolbag shortly before he died, so how had her discarded bag ended up in the hands of this stranger?

The boy let the golden retriever smell the bag for a long while, then shooed the dog into the neighborhood street and hid himself. Soon after, Anneliese’s small figure came out of the old building. She spotted the wounded puppy, and with her pocket money, she bought it a slice of meatloaf.

From then on, the dog wouldn’t leave her side. When she finally scooped it up, stroking its wet fur, her eyes curved in a smile. It was the first time Zacharias had seen her smile since the Claude couple’s death.

She brought the golden retriever home, named it Meatloaf, and asked around the neighborhood for its owner.

But Zacharias couldn’t bear for her to discover that the dog had come from that noble–looking boy. He worried that her search would lead her back to him—a person from an entirely different world.

So, Zacharias lied, saying he had bought the puppy for her himself. Anneliese was delighted, and from then on, she clung to him even more.

For a long time, Zacharias had feared Jonathan would return and expose his lie. But the boy

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Chapter 158 Shattered Illusions

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never appeared again–until now, when Jonathan stood at Anneliese’s side once more, stronger

than ever.

So, the sight of the two of them with that dog pierced Zacharias like a blade. It was unbearable, so painful that he hid his panic behind jealousy and rage.

“Zacharias, if you’ve gone nuts, go to a psychiatric ward. Don’t go around biting people like a mad dog,” Anneliese snapped, instinctively moving in front of Jonathan. Even Meatloaf crouched low, barking sharp warnings at Zacharias.

The scene made Zacharias‘ blood boil. Blinded by fury, he reached out to grab Anneliese–but his hand was caught midair in a crushing grip. He couldn’t move another inch.

“Jonathan Fullbuster,” he spat, “you’d better stay out of a married couple’s affair. Or does the great Fullbuster heir, the CEO of AeroAir, really want to stoop to being a homewrecker?” His words were sharp, his eyes icy as he glared at the man now standing squarely between him and Anneliese.

Jonathan slid one hand in his pocket, standing tall, unyielding. “Married couple? Not for much longer, surely. She doesn’t want you near her. That means you won’t take another step closer.”

Zacharias‘ chest heaved as he fixed his gaze on Anneliese. “Anne, come here.”

Jonathan turned slightly, his voice calm but serious. “Do you want to talk to him?”

He asked as though he would honor her choice–if she nodded, he would let go of Zacharias. But if she shook her head, then Zacharias would never cross that line.

For the first time, Anneliese felt completely at ease. She shook her head lightly. There was nothing left to say. She had told Zacharias everything already. He just refused to believe she would really leave him and kept clinging, trying to win her back. But she was exhausted, and her patience long gone.

She thought, once the divorce papers were signed, Zacharias would finally realize it was truly over, and maybe then he would stop harassing her.

Seeing her firm shake of the head, Jonathan’s fist–hidden in his pocket–quietly loosened. His lips curved faintly. “All right. You take Meatloaf upstairs first.”

“Okay,” Anneliese answered obediently, turned, and led Meatloaf away.

Zacharias stood frozen, watching Jonathan shield her with the steady stance of a protector, watching the way the two of them seemed in sync, watching how naturally Anneliese trusted him. She even walked away at his word.