Female Novel
Chapter 401
“Are you okay, Shirley?”
Shirley ignored those concerned voices. Instead, she looked up to Zeke, who was slumped on thecouch and clutching his head in distress.
“Z-Zeke! Why did you get mad and pushed me off?” she blurted out, pouting.
Zeke froze briefly, then narrowed his eyes and frowned at Shirley. “You drugged me and then tookadvantage of that to sleep with me?” he questioned.
He was sure that he had an intimate encounter with a woman, but he wasn't sure who it was. His mindwent blank, and all he could remember was that it was someone he was familiar with.
Other than Shirley, he couldn't think of any other woman who would possibly do that.
Da*n it! This woman...
Zeke's face fell, and he coldly said, “I've already accepted the dinner invitation, which shows that I haverelented and am prepared to marry you. Why do you have to resort to such a disgusting ploy?”
Ashen-faced, Shirley quickly tried to explain, “No, no, it wasn't me! I did not drug you! You were alreadyin delirium when I came in, and when I went to check on you, you... you...”
She threw herself into Waverly's arms and started sobbing. “Mrs. Shurmer, I did not do that! I really didnot drug Zeke! Please believe me!” she whined.
Waverly patted Shirley on her back to console her as she turned around to reprimand Zeke. “Rascal!How dare you accuse Shirley when it was you who lost control of yourself and took advantage of her?She was with me all the time until she came looking for you and found you in a confused state of mind.How is it possible she's the one who drugged you?” she chided.
Zeke frowned and looked toward the coffee table.
His wine glass had disappeared, and there was nothing on the table.
His expression darkened as he realized someone had already removed all evidence of their sneakyact.
He was positive Shirley was the one who set him up.
Alas, he had fallen into her trap, and there was no turning back time to undo his mistake.
It was a fact that he had slept with her, so their fates were entwined, and he could not disassociatefrom her anymore.
Sternly, Waverly told Zeke, “Many of our family and friends are outside, and they all know there is somehanky-panky going on between you and Shirley. Both of you can't back out of your marriagearrangement now. Go wash up and then get back to the hall to entertain the guests.”
With that, she helped Shirley up and said, “Let's go to the restroom to freshen up, Shirley. I'm sorry youhad to go through this nonsense, my poor girl. Rest assured the Shurmer family will make amends toyou for this.”
Putting on a pathetic act, she shakily walked off with Waverly while softly crying, “I really didn't drughim, Mrs. Shurmer... I didn't.”
“Of course, my dear. I know you didn't do that. Ignore what that rascal said. He knew he did wrong andwas merely trying to find an excuse. I will not let him malign you in this manner!” Waverly reassuredher.
Veins were popping on his temple as a distressed Zeke watched the two ladies leave.
He tried hard to recall what had happened but drew a blank in his mind. His foggy and heavy braincould only remember vaguely that it was a very familiar face. Begrudgingly, he was convinced andaccepted it was Shirley whom he shared that intimate time with.
“Fu*k...”
He couldn't help but let out a string of swear words as he bemoaned his bad luck.
...
In the hall at an unknown mansion, Holden was seated leisurely on a couch, and a man in black wasstanding in front of him.
“What did you find out?” Holden asked.
“They are staying in a resort in the suburb. As it was a highly secured base of the Hoffman family, Icould not get closer to find out more,” the man in black replied.
Holden stopped swirling the glass of wine in his hand, looked up, and casually asked, “Where did theyconfine the young fella?”
“At the same location, but he has more people guarding him. If you wish to have more detailedinformation about him, I can try to sneak in during the night to find out,” the man offered.
Holden waved him off, saying, “Let me think about it. Don't do anything rash and blow your cover.”
“Noted.”
After the man in black left, Holden dug into his pocket and fished out a photo. novelbin
It was a photo of Sebastian.
In the photo, a young Sebastian was seated on a tree, holding on tightly to one of the branches. Hewas peeping out from behind the branch, and there was an innocent and bright smile on his youthfulface.
With a solemn look in his eyes, Holden gently caressed the face in the photo with his slender finger.
The more he looked at Sebastian, the more he noticed the resemblance between Sebastian andhimself, and he was pleased.
Some bonds would never be broken, and blood would always be thicker than water.
...
Meanwhile, in the study at the main house of the Hoffman family's resort, Raymond was standing infront of the desk, admiring a masterpiece painting.
A middle-aged man walked in and reported, “Mr. Raymond, our guys found something.”
“Tell me what it is,” Raymond nonchalantly replied.
“Lionel had been secretly looking for Holden, who is the vice president of Tarragon,” the man said.
Bang! Raymond looked up in shock, and dropped the magnifying glass he was holding onto the table.
“What are you trying to say?” he demanded.
The man shared his view. “I suspect the bodyguard who led Ms. Wendy to turn against the family manyyears back is Holden. He assumed the fake identity of Claude in order to get close to Ms. Wendy. Hismain motive was to get confidential information from her so he could get control of Zaewora.”
A look of fury flashed by in Raymond's eyes.
Claude robbed the innocence of Wendy, who was the heir of the Hoffman family. He also stoleconfidential information from her, which resulted in the Hoffman family losing their territory in Zaewora.He had been the arch-enemy of their family since then.
If Holden was indeed Claude, Raymond reckoned he might be able to make use of Sebastian toblackmail Holden into returning him what he deemed should rightfully belong to the Hoffman family.