“This was a gift from Ashley. Back then, I was dirt poor. She’d been with me since she was eighteen. She told me as long as this little ‘good luck’ pendant stayed with me, I’d become a rich man someday.”
A faint, bitter smile crossed his face.
“Shame the day came, but she’s not here to see it.”
“Tell me, Zoey—just how cruel do you think a woman has to be, to believe I wouldn’t live long and still have the heart to get rid of the baby… and leave me?”
Zoey kept her head down for a long moment before replying softly,
“Have you ever considered that maybe… she died, sir?”
“Impossible!”
Fletcher’s voice sharpened. “Don’t you dare curse her! That cold-blooded woman, she’s been hiding from me for five years, probably living lavishly God-knows-where. How could she possibly be dead?”“Then pretend I said that.” Zoey gave a faint smile. Then she held out the paper in her hand. “Here’s my resignation letter, sir. Miss June asked me to give it to you. She doesn’t want me around.”
That night, the power went out in the villa.
Outside, a heavy storm raged, thunder and lightning cracking the sky.
Zoey opened her wardrobe and pulled out the pajamas she used to wear. Then she went straight to June, putting on an act as if she were a ghost.
That scared the life out of June. A second later came her bloodcurdling scream.
“No! Stay away from me! I didn’t kill you, Ashley—you died because of your own cursed fate!” She was so terrified she looked half out of her mind, stumbling like she was running for her life—only to slam into someone’s chest.
Another ear-splitting scream tore out of her.
“June, it’s me!”
The next second, the lights snapped back on. Fletcher stood there, face cold.
“Cut the act, Zoey!” he snapped. “From the start, I knew you came into this house with your own hidden agenda. Now—care to tell me what you’ve really been plotting?”
At his words, Zoey let out a cold laugh and peeled off the ghost mask.
“Didn’t think you’d catch on this early,” she said casually. “You really want to know why I went through all this trouble to get into your house, Fletcher?”
She was nothing like the quiet housemaid from before. Now she stood there, eyes icy, pointing straight at June.
“I came here for one reason—to expose this woman’s true, vicious nature.”
A flicker of guilt flashed across June’s pale, disheveled face.
“Don’t listen to her, Fletcher. She wants to drive a wedge between us. Get her out now!” She clutched Fletcher’s arm tightly, panicked.
But the man who usually spoiled her didn’t move a muscle.
“Calm down. Let’s just hear what she has to say.” He patted her back gently, then turned to Zoey.
“Speak,” he commanded.
Zoey’s lips curled into a sneer, her gaze chilling as it locked on the woman in his arms.
“June, why don’t you tell Fletcher where Ashley is—whether she’s alive or dead? And while you’re at it… who was the one who donated bone marrow to him back then?”
