Chapter 578: My Answer Will Always Be the Same
Christian quickly arrived at where Zen was staying. He opened the door and stepped into the apartment.
Zen was sitting on the couch watching the television. Christian saw that Zen was indifferent and grew even more furious.
"Mr. Lucas..." Lydia immediately went up to greet him when she saw Christian.
However, Christian said coldly, "Scram!"
Lydia was so frightened that she did not dare to say anything and she walked off to the side.
Zen had been smiling when she was watching the television. However, when she saw Christian, the smile on her face disappeared and was replaced with a look of fear.
"You want to leave me, don’t you?" Christian walked up to Zen and reached out to put his hands around her neck.
Zen had been sitting on the couch. She was now forced to stand because Christian had his hands around her neck.
The familiar sense of suffocation did not surprise Zen. She struggled, hitting Christian’s hands with hers, wanting to force him to let go. However, Christian did not show any sign of loosening up.
"You... You..." Zen wanted to speak but his hands were wrapped too tightly around her neck and she could not say anything.
Christian saw that Zen’s face was bright red and he had no choice but to let her go.
He threw Zen against the couch.
Zen gasped, gulping air. After she finally caught her breath, she yelled angrily, "Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!"
"Do you really want to leave me?" Christian demanded once more.
Zen tilted her head upwards at him, a stubborn look in her eyes, "Yes, you are the devil himself. Who wouldn’t want to leave you?"
"Don’t you love me?" Christian took a step toward Zen. He narrowed his eyes, looking very dangerous and cold.
"Loving you is my greatest regret!" Zen said hatefully. "If I could have another go at life, I would definitely not fall in love with a man like you!"
"Haha..." Christian laughed mockingly. It was unclear whether he was mocking himself or Zen.
"Where are your drawings?" Christian suddenly changed the topic.
"Drawings?" Zen pretended not to know what he was saying. "What drawings?"
Christian stretched out his hands instinctively, wanting to throttle her again.
However, when he saw Zen looking at him with eyes filled with hatred, Christian withdrew.
"Don’t play dumb with me!" Christian dragged Zen up from the couch and pushed her forcefully, "Get me the drawings!"
It was a command that could not be refused.
Zen fell onto the ground.
Christian shouted, "Bring them here!"
Zen got up and entered her room. Then, she took out the drawings and threw them at Christian. The drawings scattered onto the floor. Christian picked them up and looked through them one by one. They were the same drawings that Lydia had sent him.
As Christian saw the drawings physically in front of him, the emotions he felt were even stronger. He could see how greatly Zen desired to leave him from the drawings.
"This is the life you wish to lead?" Christian held up the drawings and looked at Zen, whose eyes were filled with stubbornness.
"I just drew them on a whim. I don’t have any inspiration right now and I can’t design anything. But I’ve got nothing else to do, so I just drew some random things to kill time." Zen looked at Christian and asked, "Can’t I even draw? Or are you so domineering that you can’t be reasonable?"
...
"You drew these to kill time?" Christian glared at Zen coldly. "Who is the man in your drawings?"
"I already said that I was just drawing to kill time," Zen seemed to be very annoyed.
"Tell me, why does the man not have a face?" Christian picked up a drawing and placed it in front of Zen, demanding an answer from her.
"Mr. Lucas, what exactly do you want?" Zen looked up at him, her eyes filled with anger and defiance. "I am just living my life. Why are you interested in my drawings?
If I can’t draw, just say so and I won’t draw again."
"I am going to ask you for the last time. Why did you draw something like this?"
Christian’s voice shook slightly. It was obvious that he was trying to control his temper.
Zen looked into Christian’s eyes and knew that he was already reaching breaking point. Whether she could succeed or not would depend on the next few minutes.
Zen looked away and her lips curled up. She laughed loudly.
"What are you laughing at?" Christian asked, confused when he saw how Zen was behaving.
"What am I laughing at?" Zen’s smile disappeared and she stared straight at Christian. She said coldly, "Don’t you want to know why I drew something like that?
Okay then, let me tell you. It’s because I want to leave you. I want to leave you forever and never see you again. Do you know what kind of life I want to lead? I don’t want power nor wealth. I just want to lead a life like the one I drew. I want a husband who loves me and my adorable child.
"We won’t need to have a lot of money, but we would love each other very much.
We would be considerate towards each other, care for each other, love and protect each other. Christian, I thought you left me here and didn’t show up for many days because you have forgotten about me. Or perhaps, I am not important to you at all.
"I know that you don’t love me. I don’t want to love you either. I only hope that you will let me go. Let me leave this place. Anyway, I am not of any use to you. Why would you bother keeping me around? It’s not just a waste of food, and you need to get someone to watch me. What exactly are you after? Let me go. I’m begging you, please."
Christian looked at the tears in Zen’s eyes. The hand that was holding onto the drawing tightened further.
His heart did not soften because of Zen’s tears. Instead, he asked once more, "Why doesn’t the man in the drawings have a face?"
"If you insist on getting all the answers, then I shall tell you." Zen sniffled and reached out to wipe her tears away. She continued, "Because I don’t know who I will be spending the rest of life with. It can be anyone but you."
Anyone but you.
Those words reverberated in Christian’s mind. Christian had already guessed the meaning behind Zen’s drawings when he first saw them. But he insisted on asking Zen about it. It seemed as if he could only be certain when he heard her saying it.
"Draw a face on him!" Christian slammed the drawing down on the table in front of Zen. Then, he yelled at Lydia, "Bring her pencils!"
Lydia was shocked by Christian and she stood rooted to her spot. She only recovered after some time. Then, she immediately went to fetch Zen’s pencils. Lydia handed the pencils to Christian with trembling hands.
"Why are you giving them to me?" Christian shouted. "Give them to her!"
Lydia shook and handed the pencils to Zen.
...
"Christian, are you sick?" Zen ignored Lydia and looked at him with a sneer. "What’s the point of drawing a face?"
"It doesn’t matter if there’s a point or not. Just do it!" Seeing that Zen didn’t take the brush, Christian brought it over himself. Then, he forced the paintbrush into Zen’s hand.
A split second later, Christian grabbed Zen’s hand and pulled her to the table, forcing her to sit. He commanded, "Draw."
"Ah..." Zen picked up the paintbrush, still feeling the burning pain from where he grabbed her hand forcefully.
She raised her head and smirked at Christian, "Do you want me to paint your face."
"Yes!" Christian answered.
"Fine." Zen didn’t continue to struggle. She picked up the brush and drew Christian’s face onto the faceless man in the paintings. Zen handed over the completed paintings and asked, "Are you satisfied now, Mr. Lucas?"
Christian’s brows furrowed as he looked at the face that Zen had created.
"This is a caricature. It’s an exaggerated drawing method, so it won’t look identical to the real person," Zen explained.
Indeed, only one’s distinct characteristics and not their specific appearance can be seen in the caricature.
Zen paid close attention to Christian’s facial expression, and said with a deliberate smile, "Mr Lucas, if you are satisfied, please leave. Your appearance has already disrupted my daily life."
"Disrupted your daily life?" Christian fixed his eyes on Zen, saying, "Don’t you forget, you’re still living at my place."
"I know. So if you’re not willing, Mr. Lucas, just let me leave." Zen smiled contemptuously.
"Do you really want to leave me that badly?" Christian had lost count of the number of times he had asked Zen this question.
Zen’s smile deepened when she heard this and she shook her head, "Christian, do you have amnesia? You’ve just asked this question not long ago. Well, I will answer you again, I really want to leave you.
"If it weren’t for you threatening me with my parents, I would rather leave you even if it means I have to die! You can control everything about me. You made me live in your place and found someone to watch me. You even control what kind of paintings I make. But you can’t control my thoughts! Even if you were to ask me this question a hundred times, my answer will always be the same!"
Looking at Zen’s bloodshot eyes, Christian subconsciously stretched out his hand. A split second later, Christian had Zen’s arm in a vice grip, his tone was extremely cold, "I don’t need to control your thoughts, but I can control all your actions! You want to leave me? Let me tell you, it’s impossible!"
Christian dragged Zen quickly out of the door.
Zen reached out and slapped Christian’s arm. She asked loudly, "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"What am I doing?" Christian sneered, "I had considered that you had just gotten discharged and would be in a bad mood if you were next to me, that’s why I let you live here. But you actually want to leave me. Let me tell you, Zen, without my permission, not just in this life, even in the next, it is impossible to leave me! "
"Let me go! I’ll definitely leave you, Christian. You think by controlling me this once, you can keep controlling me forever?" Zen used all the strength she had in her body to keep hitting him. But Christian felt nothing.
He continued dragging Zen as he got onto the lift and into his car.
