Chapter 111
Maeve sent the photos directly to him, her text laced with biting sarcasm.
“Don’t try to tell me these two aren’t you and Zoe p>
Frederick picked up his phone and tapped on the screen. He zoomed in on the two images, and when he clearly made out the silhouettes embracing in the dark, his mind went completely blank.
He had taken every precaution before doing any of this, terrified that Maeve would find out and cause a scene.
How did this still happen?
Maeve watched his expression crumble, her voice turning ice-cold.
“Go ahead and make an excuse. Why aren’t you talking p>
She curled her lips into a smile, but her eyes were entirely devoid of warmth.
“Is the evidence so undeniable that you finally have no room left to lie p>
Hearing her chilling tone, Frederick looked into her eyes and realized he couldn’t find a single trace of the love that used to reside there.
Sebastian Cole’s warnings echoed in his ears, playing on a loop like a broken record.
Panic clawed at his chest, completely paralyzing his ability to form a response. Out of pure instinct, he reached out to pull Maeve into his arms, desperate to grasp a sliver of reassurance.
But Maeve recoiled as if his touch burned. She stumbled back several steps, the disgust glaringly obvious in her clear, expressive eyes.
“If you have nothing to say, then save it. Doing something and refusing to own up to it only makes you look pathetic p>
Throwing those words at him, Maeve turned on her heel and marched upstairs.
Frederick’s gaze stayed glued to her retreating back. Even as her slender figure vanished from sight, she never once looked back at him.
An indescribable surge of agitation welled up inside him. He finally pulled his eyes away, dropping his head to unbutton his collar, desperate for air.
But the suffocating tightness in his chest didn’t lessen. It only intensified, mutating into a blazing anger that burned his insides.
He stood rigidly in place for a solid ten minutes before pulling out his phone to call Samuel Vance.
“Pick me up p>
Perhaps because his tone was so unexpectedly vicious, Samuel hesitated for a second before cautiously replying.
“Boss, it’s late. Where are you heading p>
Frederick’s eyes narrowed into a predatory, dangerous glare.
“Do I need to report my whereabouts to you p>
Samuel didn’t dare say another word.
“Understood, Boss. I’m on my way p>
Ten minutes later, Samuel pulled up to Wisteria Cove.
Frederick yanked the door open and slid into the back seat.
“Take me to Havencrest Apartments. We’re finding Zoe p>
“Yes, sir p>
As Samuel replied, he shot a surprised glance through the rearview mirror.
Catching a glimpse of Frederick’s dark, thunderous expression, he quickly shrank back and kept his eyes on the road.
It was hard not to be shocked. This was the first time he had ever heard Frederick use such a freezing tone when talking about Zoe.
He had even called her by her first name instead of his usual affectionate tone.
He couldn’t fathom what kind of colossal disaster she had caused to make the boss this furious.
Inside the guest bedroom.
Maeve’s mouth throbbed with pain. Clutching the ointment she had asked Martha for, she walked into the bathroom. She pulled her lower lip down in front of the mirror revealing a series of small, broken cuts a testament to how punishing Frederick’s kiss had been:
No, she couldn’t even call that a kiss.
Frederick had simply used her to vent his anger, tearing at her lips without an ounce of tenderness.
If it had been Zoe, would he have ever dared to treat her like that?
The answer was obvious. He never even raised his voice at Zoe, so he would certainly never subject her to such brute force.
Maeve let out a self-deprecating laugh. She never thought there would come a day when she’d be so painfully lucid, masochistically analyzing how the man she loved with all her heart now poured his affection onto someone else.
With a bitter shake of her head, she opened the ointment, dabbed it onto a cotton swab, and carefully applied it to her wounds.
It stung sharply at first, but once the initial wave passed, a dull numbness took over.
It was exactly like her feelings for Frederick. After five years of deep devotion, all those beautiful, intimate moments had been etched into her hones ovef time. She couldn’t just erase them on command.
For someone as deeply emotional and sensitive as her, memories were a cruel, agonizing weapon.
Every time she witnessed Frederick treating Zoe so gently, her mind involuntarily flashed back to the days when she and Frederick had been deeply in love.