I Refuse to Divorce!

Mason looked at his phone and smiled.

Nothing could escape from him.

If he wanted Zoe, then she would be his!

Zoe hung up the phone and exited the kitchen. Mia read her expression and asked, “Are you and Mason fighting again?”

She shook her head and told her stepmother the truth. “We had a rough patch a few days ago, but he came home last night and acted completely different. I can’t read him, Mia.”

Upon hearing that, Mia went back to her bedroom and came out with a ticket. Touching Zoe affectionately, she flashed her a faint smile.

“This is an exhibition that displays your late mother’s artworks. Give it a visit to clear your head, Zoe. Come back for dinner. I'll save some pizza for you.”

An exhibition of her late mother’s artworks?

Zoe took the ticket and fiddled with it. Her mother was a Kirk. Her talents shook Jovopolis when she was young. However, just as she hit her prime, she passed away. Hundreds of her artworks were distributed on the market, each of them valued between four million to eight million dollars.

Mia could tell she wanted to go. So, she gave her a push.

“Go on, go. It'll help clear up your mind.”

“Okay,” Zoe responded. Mia was right. She was feeling confused and she missed her mom.

The exhibition was held in Brookesville’s most famous art gallery. If any of the customers liked one of the artworks, they just had to talk to the curator to purchase it.

Zoe took in each of her late mother’s artworks. One of them, “Crabapple in the Rain,” was her favorite. There was no way she could afford it.

She might have gotten some money from selling the family villa, but she was saving it for her dad and Mia. Mason gave her an allowance, but she'd rather leave it alone. It'd have to wait until she got the dividend at the end of the year.

She loved the painting so much she stood there for a long time. Then, she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

“Do you like it? I'll buy it and give it to you!”

Startled, she turned her head around slowly.

It was Gregory!

It had been such a long time since she last saw him. She thought he had given up on her. It was clear now that he hadn't.

Gregory noticed her silence and sneered, “Are you too good to take my offer now? That sounds about right! Now that you've scurried back to Mason, you don't have to worry about making a living anymore. You own two percent of the company shares.

“Of course, a few million dollars would be pocket change to you now! Still, how does it feel to share your husband with the other women? Or are you going to tell me you no longer care about it?"

She wanted nothing more to do with him. “Like I said, it's none of your business!”

She turned and was about to leave when he grabbed her slender wrist. It just so happened that the spot he grabbed was where she had injured herself.

Zoe pulled back her hand and the scar caught his attention. Lowering his head, he looked at the marks for a long time before asking her softly, “How am I not better than him, Zoe?"

She had no answer for that.

In any case, it didn’t seem like he cared for an answer because he gritted his teeth and kept going, “I can give up everything for you! Can he do the same? Spoiler alert, he can't. He can't even let go of Lilith. On top of that...”

He stopped abruptly.

They had grown up in the same circle. There were some things about Mason that Zoe didn’t know, but both he and Leslie were aware of them.

She shook him off gently, looked at him, and spoke softly, “Don’t fall in love with me, Gregory! Don't give everything up for me, either. Waiting for someone who'll never love you is the most painful thing in the world.”

She continued, “I appreciate that you love me, but I have to turn you down.”

With that, she turned around and left.

Gregory stood where he was. Her slender back remained upright and eventually got lost in the crowd as she left.

He couldn't even tell if Zoe still had feelings for Mason.