Chapter 6

Sylvia Bennett POV

Zachary rushed up from downstairs.

“Yvonne!”

Yvonne lay at the foot of the stairs, her hands and feet scraped.

She lifted her tearful face, her voice weak and considerate.

“Zach, I’m fine… I came on my own to try to persuade Ms. Bennett not to be angry with you anymore. It’s all my fault. Don’t blame Ms. Bennett.”

Zachary raised his head and looked at me with an icy gaze.

“Sylvia Bennett, how can you be so vicious?” he blurted out.

“I really regret saving you back then!”

Those words were heavier than every slap and insult combined.

Zachary had saved me twice.

When I was eight, I fell into the artificial lake in the courtyard.

Zachary was the one who pulled me out.

From that day on, he became the most important person in my life.

When I was fifteen, I was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder.

By then, the Bennett family was already far less wealthy than before. Other than crying, my parents were helpless.

It was Zachary who begged his family to bring in a team of specialists from overseas.

After I recovered, it felt only natural that I ended up with him.

I thought he was the salvation fate had given me.

For him, I was willing to put away all my temper and learn to be a gentle, domestic woman.

Without a single complaint.

But now, he said he regretted saving me.

If I could go back to that day by the lake, to that hospital bed, I would want to say too:

I would rather he had never saved me.

Zachary carried Yvonne out the front door.

I stood on the stairs, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

It hurt, but it was no longer as piercing as it had been the past few days.

My heart seemed to be slowly turning cold.

Back in my room, I pulled up the hallway surveillance footage.

In the video, Yvonne personally admitted she had seduced Zachary and wanted to take my place.

“If I can take your bracelet today, I can take your place as Mrs. Foster tomorrow.”

I saved the video.

My phone rang. It was my best friend, Nina Scott.

“Sylvia, what’s going on over there? I saw everything online. Is that bastard Zachary Foster insane?”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t be sad, Sylvia. He’s just a man. He’s not worth it! Men are tools. If they work, use them. If they don’t, throw them away. Don’t ever take them too seriously!”

“I’m not sad anymore.”

I said calmly, “I don’t want him anymore. He’s dirty.”

Nina fell silent for a moment, then suddenly got excited.

“Sylvia, you finally came to your senses! I’m telling you, ever since you got engaged to Zachary Foster, you’ve been living like a nun. Day after day, all bland and boring. Even I felt suffocated for you!”

She suggested excitedly, “Want to come out tonight? Wash off all that bad luck!”

“Come out for what?”

“Music, alcohol, male models—everything you could want. The wildest place in all of Los Angeles. Are you coming or not?”

I looked at my pale, haggard face in the mirror and suddenly smiled.

If Zachary could play around with actresses, why couldn’t I go to a nightclub?

“Send me the address.”

That night, I changed into a red deep-V spaghetti-strap dress.

It was the kind of outfit Zachary would never allow me to wear out.

I put on full makeup, stepped into four-inch heels, and drove to the address Nina sent me.

Nina had booked the largest VIP private room.

The moment the private room door opened, deafening music mixed with the smell of alcohol rushed at me.

“Take your pick!” Nina winked at me.

With a wave of her hand, more than a dozen tall young men with different looks lined up.

“They’re all clean. Abs, pretty faces, everything. My treat, babe! If you like one, take him straight home!”

I looked around, and my gaze stopped on the quietest boy in the corner.

He had a clean, innocent face and sat there obediently, like a college student.

“Him.”

Taking him home was unnecessary. I only wanted someone to drink and dance with me.

The boy immediately came over, skillfully picked up the bottle, and poured me a glass.

“Hi, baby. I’m Star.”

After a few drinks, the music picked up.

I pulled Star to the dance floor.

Twelve years.

I had forgotten that I had once been a young heiress who could let loose on a dance floor too.

With Star leading me, I danced close against him.

Star was very considerate and played along perfectly.

When we were tired, we returned to the booth.

Star obediently picked up the fruit platter, speared a piece of watermelon with a fork, and held it to my lips.

“Baby, is it sweet?”

“Sweet.”

I reached over, took off the diamond bracelet on my wrist, and casually tossed it into Star’s lap.

“A reward. Sell it for cash.”

Nina leaned over to take a look and dramatically covered her mouth.

“Little brother, you’d better know what that is. This thing is worth seven figures!”

Star looked at the bracelet in surprise, then at me.

I lifted my glass and took a sip.

“It’s just trash. Not worth anything.”

It was the gift Zachary had given me when we got engaged.

Globally limited, extremely valuable.

Star’s eyes shone. He hurriedly stuffed the bracelet into his pocket.

“Thank you, baby!”

He fed me strawberries with even more enthusiasm.

I was just about to bite into a strawberry.

The private room door was kicked open.

Zachary stood in the doorway.

He radiated cold fury, his eyes so vicious he looked ready to kill.

When he saw the male model’s arm around my waist and my low-cut spaghetti-strap dress, his face instantly darkened to the extreme.

He strode over and shoved Star away from me.

Star staggered back two steps and muttered unhappily.

“Whoa, where did this old man come from? Who are you? Why so aggressive?”

Zachary ignored him. With an ashen face, he stared at me, his gaze falling on my empty wrist.

“How dare you give it away?”

I crossed my legs and leaned against the sofa, tilting my head up to meet his gaze without backing down.

“Why can’t I?”

“I didn’t say anything when Mr. Foster gave his little mistress a gift. Since when does Mr. Foster get to make demands of me?”

Zachary’s breath hitched. He was too choked to speak.

That limited-edition bracelet Yvonne had was originally bought for me.

But last night, he hadn’t been able to vent with me, and thanks to Yvonne’s diligent efforts, he had gotten his release.

Afterward, Yvonne had clung to him and asked for that bracelet. In the heat of the moment, he had casually agreed.

A flash of embarrassment crossed his face, but it was quickly swallowed by even stronger anger.

“Hand over the bracelet.”

He ordered Star.

Star clutched his pocket tightly. Not only did he refuse to hand it over, he went full sharp-tongued mode.

“Oh, so this is the brother-in-law.”

He deliberately drew out his words.

“This was a reward from baby. What does it have to do with you?”

“It’s just a little trinket, and you actually have the nerve to ask for it back. Baby must have suffered a lot following you, huh?”

Not only did Star talk back, he even leaned closer to me and deliberately rested against my shoulder.

“Besides, baby likes clean men now.”

He blinked his innocent big eyes at Zachary.

“Sorry, brother-in-law. I’m not like you. I’m still a virgin.”

Nina laughed so hard beside us that she slapped her thigh.

Zachary’s face went completely black.

The veins at his temple throbbed as he forced himself to hold back his rage.

“Get lost!”

“I’m not getting lost.”

Star had nothing to fear.

“Baby hasn’t told me to leave. What right do you have to chase me away? Don’t you know? Out with the old, in with the new. Brother-in-law, you’re old now, and your body probably can’t keep up anymore. Of course baby wants someone young and strong.”

“You’re asking for death!”

Zachary’s rationality completely snapped. He raised his fist and was about to smash it into Star’s face.

I stepped in front of Star.

“Zachary Foster, are you insane?”

“He’s just an immature boy. He’s only twenty! You scared him just now, so he talked back. Why do you have to take it so seriously?”