Chapter 8 Deleting ID
Anneliese’s eyes flew open. Her whole body froze. She couldn’t believe it.
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He had spent the night with another woman. Then, he came home and tried to sleep with her like none of it mattered.
Was Coral not enough for his appetite?
She stayed frozen for a second, stunned. Then, she felt his lips press against hers.
They were warm and soft. His breath was familiar. It should’ve meant something, but it didn’t. No heat. No pull. Just emptiness.
“Get off me! Let go!”
She thrashed under him, tried to shove him away. When he didn’t move, she sank her teeth into his lip with everything she had.
The metallic scent of blood lingered in the room as Zacharias finally lifted his head.
“Anneliese… are you pushing me away?”
His voice shook with anger and disbelief. He stared straight at her, eyes stormy and accusing, while his hand clenched tight on her shoulder.
Then his gaze dropped, and he seized her wrist. “Where’s your wedding ring?”
He had noticed.
Anneliese tried to pull her hand free. “I… I lost it by accident.”
“You lost it? Where?”
Zacharias didn’t believe her. Something felt off. He wondered if she’d found something out.
She had been distant for days, and that ring had never left her finger, not even in sleep, but now, her hand was bare, with only a faint pale band showing where the ring used to be.
Anneliese met his eyes and felt her stomach tighten. “I told you, I lost it. If I knew where, it wouldn’t be lost. You’re hurting me…”
Η
His fingers dug in. Her long hair spilled across the pillow like a tangled mess.
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Her eyes, already bright, began to blur as tears gathered. Her lashes clumped, her cheeks. flushed with pain and fear. And then the tears spilled over.
She looked up at him with wide, tear–filled eyes, fragile and frightened.
She looked like a flower beaten by rain–beautiful, helpless, and breaking.
Zacharias thought she was crying over the ring, which only made him want her more.
The heat in him surged, thick and unrelenting.
“Anne… Honey, let me take care of you. Just once, alright?”
His hair was messy, his lips swollen from her bite. His eyes, usually so calm, were full of hunger and need.
Even now, with that cut on his lip, he looked almost unreal. Too perfect. Too polished. The injury only made him more dangerous.
Anneliese saw the want in him, but all she felt was disgust. Fear crawled through her veins like
ice.
Her eyes drifted to his chest. In their struggle, his shirt had come undone, and his collar hung open.
There, against his skin, was a line of lipstick marks. They were faint but obvious.
Her breath caught.
Her stomach turned.
She wanted to scream, to spit the truth in his face. She wanted to run to the kitchen, grab a cleaver, and cut that pathetic junk of his off.
Then, she’d split it in half. Hand one piece to Coral and mail the other to Selina.
He was disgusting.
But she knew Zacharias too well. He was obsessive, relentless. If she confronted him now, he would dig in his heels. He wouldn’t let go of her.
So, instead, she let the pain pour out.
“You’re hurting me! My burn still stings! You heartless b*stard! My body’s not even healed, and you’re trying to get me pregnant just to lose it?”
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Her voice cracked and shook as the tears ran down.
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Anneliese had never been one to cry easily. She grew up in an orphanage. Her adoptive parents died young. She took care of her sick adoptive grandmother alone. She learned how to carry pain without letting it show.
Yes, not even to him.
Even with him, she almost never let her guard down.
Zacharias still remembered the day she was rushed into surgery when she was eighteen. He had sat by her bed, gripping her cold hand, eyes burning red.
When she woke up, she gave him that crooked smile.
“Zacharias, are you crying? Look, I’m okay. I can still laugh.”
Sometimes, he hated how strong she was. She never leaned on him the way he wanted. Never needed him the way he needed her.
He wanted to strip that strength away. He wanted her small, dependent, fragile–his.
But now, seeing her cry like this, something cracked in him.
He quickly climbed off her and sat at the edge of the bed. Guilt sank deep into his chest.
He reached over and wiped her cheeks, his hands gentle now.
Anne, don’t cry. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have hurt you. Hit me if it’ll help, alright?”
He took her hand and lifted it toward himself.
However, Anneliese pulled her hand back. “Don’t touch me. Get out. I don’t want to see you.”
Zacharias froze. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to hold her, to fix it.
But she looked broken. And the worst part–she didn’t even want to lash out at him.
That quiet rejection hit harder than anything else.
He let her go and slowly stood.
“Okay. Get some sleep. I’ll stay in the guest room tonight. I’ll find the ring. Don’t be upset.”
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Chapter 8 Deleting ID
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As Zacharias stepped out, he bent over and picked up the pajama pants that had been torn from Anneliese the night before.
He didn’t leave them behind. He took them with him.
He had always made his desire clear, but he wrapped it in tenderness, cloaking it as love.
Anneliese used to think it was sweet. It made her feel wanted. Safe.
Now it made her sick.
She got out of bed, wiped her face dry, and stumbled into the bathroom.
She grabbed her toothbrush and scrubbed until her gums stung and her mouth felt raw. The taste of toothpaste didn’t help. Nothing did.
When she finally came back to bed, she wrapped the blanket around her body like armor and lay there without moving.
By the
time she got up the next morning, Zacharias was gone.
Downstairs, Zoey greeted her with a warm smile and a bowl of black herbal tonic. “Good morning, madam. Here’s your
it after breakfast.”
medicine, I just finished boiling it. Let it cool a little, then drink
Anneliese looked at the bowl. Usually, she forced it down with her nose pinched shut. But today, just smelling it made her stomach churn. The bitterness seemed to rise from her gut, filling her throat and tightening her chest.
“Leave it there,” she said.
“Sir made breakfast himself today. He even left a note for you. He really cares about-”
“I need you to buy something for me, Anneliese interrupted, handing her some cash. She didn’t want to hear another word.
Just then, Jessica arrived. The food was already there. They might as well eat it. Throwing it felt like admitting defeat. So, Anneliese pulled Jessica to the table and shared breakfast with her. Afterward, she poured the entire bowl of medicine down the sink and walked out.
away
In the car, she slouched against the seat.
Jessica glanced at her. “Rough night?”
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Anneliese had barely slept. Every creak in the floorboards made her flinch. She kept imagining Zacharias bursting through the door. Her thoughts had twisted into a heavy fog, filled with memories she couldn’t shake off.
She shook her head. She didn’t want to talk.
Jessica respected that. “Get some rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
Anneliese leaned to one side, and within minutes, she was out.
They spent the morning at the Sinoria Postal Services, handling the paperwork to change her address.
Everything went smoothly.
When they walked out, it was official. She was no longer a resident of the White estate.
Her new address was the apartment her grandmother left her.
Jessica wrapped an arm around her and grinned. “You’re finally free. Let that pack of blind fools keep worshipping that fake b*tch. One day, they’ll all choke on that rotten cherry.”
She grinned wider. “Come on. Time to celebrate. Big meal. My treat.”
They had just gotten into the car when Anneliese’s phone buzzed.
She opened the text from an unknown number–it was a photo.
The image showed a dim car interior. A woman sat straddling a man’s lap, her tight skirt pulled halfway up her thighs.
His hand was shoved under the fabric. A dark stain bloomed across his pants.
And on his ring finger was a familiar gold band.
Then, another message came through–‘He’s amazing. Two fingers and I’m shaking.
Anneliese stared at the screen. Her stomach flipped.
That hand–the one buried between someone else’s legs–had made her breakfast this morning.
She shoved open the car door, covered her mouth, and rushed toward a trash bin.
Jessica chased after her, patting her back. “Annie? Are you okay?”
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Anneliese wiped her mouth and muttered, “Breakfast. Zacharias made it.”
Jessica paused. Her expression changed. Then, she clamped a hand over her mouth, bent over, and threw up beside her.
They didn’t speak for ten minutes. Once they made it back inside the car, Jessica slammed the door and sat back, fuming.
“Who is this trashy side chick? She thinks being the other woman is some kind of prize? Her
out the brain. How can someone be mom must’ve given birth to her in parts and forgot to p that proud of being cheap?”
Anneliese stayed quiet. But she was calm now. Focused.
She saved the photo and screenshot the message.
“The ones you helped me take before? They’re not enough in court, but this one is. I should be thanking her.”
She opened her messages and typed quickly.
“Wow. He’s so good, he made you lose bladder control and brain function at the same time. I know it’s you, Coral. Bluestar Cafe. One hour. If you don’t show up, I’ll send this to Zacharias myself.
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