Chapter 575: Don’t Test My Limits
Upon hearing Christian’s voice, Zen lifted her head and looked into Christian’s eyes.
Suddenly, Zen’s heart was pumping exceptionally fast.
Christian seemed to be able to read her mind.
Her eyes flickered. She did not dare to look at Christian anymore.
At this point, if she was unable to produce any feasible reason to follow Christian back to his house, she would be exposed for sure.
Well, it was time to put up a good show.
Zen turned around to take a good look at the house.
Then, she went back to Christian with satisfaction, "Thank you, Mr. Lucas. I like it very much. Of course, I hope that you really mean it and you are not kidding me."
Zen added the last sentence on purpose.
It was because she seemed to be unhappy with her first reaction.
Therefore, Christian might find something fishy about her.
As she added the last sentence, it explained her unhappiness in the first place.
It was because she thought that Christian was joking with her instead.
Then, Zen continued to say, "I never expect that Mr. Lucas will treat me so well. I thought I was going to live with you again this time.
I did not expect to live in such a big house and even have a maid to serve me.
However, you have to pay for the maid’s salary as I am broke."
Christian frowned deeper after he heard what Zen said.
"Are you so eager to leave me?" Christian did not understand why he would pop up with such a question.
It was actually his idea to let Zen stay in this house.
"Don’t tell me that you are regretting now, Mr. Lucas?" Zen pretended to feel shocked. "You are the one who said that I am staying here."
"Zen, didn’t you love me wholeheartedly in the past?" Christian stepped forth as he asked her in a cold tone, "Why are you so eager to leave me now?"
Upon looking at Christian’s eyes, Zen could no longer feel calm.
"Are you insane, Christian?" Zen sneered. "Up to this point, I think it’s time for me to tell you the reason why I am so eager to leave you.
I have been loving you for six years. Six years!
I am okay if you don’t love me. I never expected any love from you at all.
However, why did you get me pregnant with your flesh and blood? And yet, you treated me in such a cruel manner?
Over the years, I have been living in fear. I try to strive for success in my career, hoping that you would pay more attention to me.
After that, I betrayed my best friend because of you. I even lost my dignity in life.
I had experienced life and death once. I even lost my precious baby.
Yet, you are asking me why I am so eager to leave you?
Are you insane, or are you trying to humiliate me by asking me that question?"
Zen’s eyes welled up as she said those words.
Before she could finish her words, she had already burst into tears.
Christian’s eyes darkened, but he remained silent. He hid his hands under his sleeves as he clenched his fingers into fists.
Zen knew that Christian believed what she said by looking at this expression.
Of course, she was stating the truth as well.
Just that, Christian did not know Zen was helping Wendy secretly now.
Zen lowered her head. Suddenly, she regained the smile on her face and said, "Do you have any pen and paper in this house? Never mind, let me search for it. Wait here for me."
After she finished her words, she started to look for pen and paper all over the house.
It was the first time Zen stepped into this house. Therefore, she was not familiar with the layout of the house yet. Then, she went into the study and took out a pen and some paper.
...
Christian wondered what Zen was up to when he saw her emerging with a piece of paper and a pen, which she set on the table. She then looked at Christian with anticipation and said, "I hope that you can write down what you said earlier and sign on it. Only then will I believe that you are willing to let me live here. Please don’t change your mind on a whim a few days later and force me to go back."
"What are you saying?" Christian could not believe what he just heard. "Who gave you the guts to ask that of me?" Christian was obviously furious. He once again reached out for Zen’s neck.
Having experienced that once, Zen did not even try to resist this time.
"Y-you were the one... the one... who said..." Zen uttered with much difficulty.
Christian let go of her when he saw her face growing red. He pushed her away forcefully. Zen lost her balance and fell to the floor. Zen was in pain but she could not care less.
"Zen, if you want to live, don’t test my limits," Christian said viciously.
Zen did not get up. She smiled sarcastically and said, "Christian, I did not ask you to save me. Wouldn’t it be great if you had let me continue lying on my sickbed? Why did you insist on waking me up and torturing me?"
"Torture you?" Christian scoffed coldly.
He did not bring Zen home with him but had let her stay in this tiny little estate. This was already him being extremely merciful towards her. If he had wanted to torture her, he would have locked her up in his home. Since she wanted to leave him, he would make sure that she will never be able to leave.
"Zen, I hope you understand that you don’t have any rights here. You are just a dog and I am your master. You have to do everything that I tell you to!"
Christian’s words were vicious. He did not care about how Zen would feel. "There has never been a dog who would ask his master to do something. I let you stay in this house, so you can stay here. If I don’t let you stay here, you won’t be able to stay here for even a day!"
A dog? His words were like thorns that pierced Zen’s heart. She thought she was already numb, that she had already given up. But she had never thought that Christian would always know what would hurt her the most.
Zen looked at Christian coldly. Then, she laughed softly and got up. It was as if nothing had happened. Zen said nothing as she walked to the couch silently and sat down. She stared in front of her, her eyes had an empty and distant glaze. It was as if she was the only person in the room at that moment.
The atmosphere grew tense. Christian said nothing. He scoffed and turned around to leave.
Zen had failed. She had wanted to antagonize Christian and make him feel that she was happy to leave him. Then, he would not let her have her way and would take her back with him. She did not expect her plan to fail. Christian had left by himself.
Perhaps Christian had realized that he had gone overboard, that was why he was giving Zen some space and time. Of course, this was rather impossible. He was Christian Lucas. How could he be considerate towards others?
Zen did not manage to achieve her goal. She had to carefully think about how she can return to Christian’s home from now on. The safe was waiting for her.
...
"Got it," Michael replied indifferently before hanging up. Wendy was comforting Zen’s parents. They had left together after Zen left the hospital with Christian.
However, Wendy did not send them home. She took them to one of the houses that Michael owned.
Wendy said, "Mr. and Mrs. Tanner, you may put up at this house for the time being.
We will arrange for a helper to come and take care of the both of you. You can also give us a call if you need anything. We will inform you straightaway if we have any news of Zen."
"That won’t do, Wendy," Mrs. Tanner said. "You visited us at the hospital every day and brought us food. You’ve even footed Zen’s hospitalization bill. We can’t stay at your house. We could just rent a place outside."
"Zen and I are friends, Mrs. Tanner. It’s nothing." Wendy held Mrs. Tanner’s hand and led her into the house. She smiled and said, "See if you like this house. If you don’t, we can go somewhere else. We don’t have much, but we do have quite a few houses."
"Wendy, really..."
Before Mrs. Tanner could finish her sentence, Wendy interrupted her and said, "Mrs.
Tanner, you really don’t have to think too much about this. The house is empty anyway. Now that you are staying here, it will at least feel a little more lively. Take a look at it first before we talk about anything else, alright?"
Mrs. Tanner was led into the house by Wendy and she looked around. She was very satisfied with the house. But she was staying in Lake City because she wanted to be closer to Zen. She could go to Zen immediately if necessary.
It did not matter to her where she stayed and whether the house was nice. Besides, Wendy had already done a lot for them. Mrs. Tanner was too embarrassed to accept any more help from her.
"Wendy, Zen told us about what happened between you and her. Zen was the one who had let you down. We are too embarrassed to continue accepting any more help from you." Mr. Tanner sighed and continued, "You don’t have to take care of us. We just want to be closer to Zen. We can stay anywhere as long as we are in Lake City."
"That’s all in the past. You don’t have to worry and you can just stay here," Wendy said as she tried to comfort them. "What happened between Zen and me is rather complicated. You don’t have to worry about what happened in the past."
"But.."
Mr. Tanner wanted to say something but Wendy interrupted him, saying, "Mr.
Tanner, I’m going to be upset if you continue refusing my help."
Mr. Tanner saw that Wendy did look a little angry. He turned around to look at Mrs.
Tanner as if asking for her opinion.
"How about we stay here for the time being. We won’t be able to find somewhere to stay within such a short time anyway," Mrs. Tanner said. "But Wendy, you’ll have to accept rent from us. And we don’t need a helper."
"We don’t have to hire a helper. The both of you can take care of each other and it would be awkward with a stranger around anyway. But forget the rent. I’ll feel uneasy taking the money," Wendy said with a smile.
Zen was helping them steal from the safe. She was working for them. Wendy did not lack money anyway. She would feel bad taking rent from them.
Wendy saw that Mr. and Mrs. Tanner were about to refuse, so she stuffed the keys into Mrs. Tanner’s hands and hurriedly said, "We have things to do, so we shall take our leave. See you!"
