Female Novel
Chapter 1036
By the time she arrived at the office, she was already late. She took a moment to freshen up and adjust
her mindset.
Upon entering the office, Maja was already there, noticing her pale complexion.
"Zoey, you look terrible. Are you running a fever?"
Zoey quickly touched her own face; it was somewhat warm.
"I think I might have caught a cold last night, Mr. Pennyfeather. I'll be fine after taking some
medication."
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this yesterday. Ian has been investigating the kidnappers, and we are
aware of who sent them. I assure you this won't happen again."
"Mr. Pennyfeather, there's no need to apologize. I'm not bothered by it."
Her vision started to blur. After a few more conversations, she returned to her desk and immediately
took a fever reducer.
She was tired, but her body was aching. Each ache would jolt her back to alertness, and the torment
was unbearable.
She languished at her desk until the evening, just managing to wrap up her day's tasks. After
requesting leave from Maja, she headed straight home by taxi.
The fever reducer didn't seem to help. She lay on her bed in her cramped room, her thoughts drifting
back to past events.
In the year following her parents' divorce, her mother had remarried. Her stepfather was always making
inappropriate advances.
Not until she started having private tutoring did her stepfather back off.
Her tutor was the man she had planned to marry, Murray.
With Murray often around, her stepfather had no opportunity to harass her. She saw Murray as her
savior, keeping her safe from her stepfather's advances.
They were together for seven years and on the verge of marriage when Murray became entangled with
a wealthy heiress.
Zoey felt her life was a failure, never having received love from her parents, and the only man she
wanted to hold on to had abandoned her.
As she delved into her memories, she suddenly recalled that her biological father did love her. Her
mother had left him because he was poor and content with his meager salary. He wasn't ambitious and
didn't indulge in kickbacks, which was intolerable for her mother.
Her stepfather had some wealth, but his character was abhorrent.
In a daze, Zoey pulled out her phone and dialed her father's number.novelbin
After confessing to her mother about her broken engagement, her mother felt disgraced and stopped
communicating with her.
Simultaneously, her mother seemed to realize her stepfather's intentions toward Zoey. Disgusted with
her own daughter vying for her man, she was in a rush to marry Zoey off. But now that Zoey wasn't
marrying, her mother felt threatened, fearing her man would fall for her own daughter.
This thought was perverse.
Zoey had sensed it, too, which is why she was calling her father.
As the call connected, she let out in a hoarse voice, "Dad, I miss you so much."
And then, she began to cry.
The man on the other end was about to hang up, but hearing her cry, he furrowed his brows.
Her suppressed cries eventually gave way to a complete breakdown.
The man listened for a minute before asking, "Are you done crying? Have you forgotten what I told you
last night?"
Zoey's crying halted as she glanced at her phone screen in a daze. She had dialed the wrong number.
She had called that man instead.
Her mind cleared up a bit, and she quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry."
The man lit a cigarette, his tone as cold as ice.
"Spare me the theatrics, and you know my stance on women."
In his eyes, she was nothing more than a woman who was good for nothing but warming his bed.
Any coincidence, in his perspective, was manipulative and repulsive.
She didn't argue; she simply hung up the call.