Chapter 3

The next day, Zoe returned home and threw her expensive bag at my face, furious.

"Why did you fire Xavier?"

My cheek stung, but I didn't move, just rubbed it gently.

Yesterday, I had asked William to fire the college student, and he had acted quickly.

Zoe grew anxious, "He's just an intern, doesn't earn much. How is he supposed to survive now that you've fired him?"

Every word she spoke betrayed her fondness and concern for Xavier.

[Do you care about him that much?] I typed.

Seeing my words, Zoe hesitated for a moment before speaking again, "No, I just... I just feel sorry for him. His family is struggling financially."

I didn't say anything more. Seeing my unhappy expression, Zoe tried to speak more patiently.

"The wedding is just a few days away. Let's not fight, okay? You've always listened to me, haven't you?"

Fight? I hadn't even said a harsh word. This was just her venting one-sidedly.

I did listen to her, to the point where I let myself be cheated on.

[I looked at his resume. His major doesn't fit our company's needs. He's not suitable.]

Zoe exploded, her shrill voice echoing through the room.

"I own 34% of the company shares. I have the final say. And you, a mute, what right do you have to judge him!"

You, a mute.

Her words stabbed at my heart.

Did I want to become mute? Did I choose to lose my voice?

Over the past years, countless times of ridicule and disdain, and I had always turned a blind eye.

Zoe's hurtful words were as harsh and cutting as ever. Why had it taken me until now to see clearly?

She called HR, insisting on keeping Xavier's job, only to be regretfully informed that it was William's order.

I showed her the share transfer agreement with William, and she immediately understood everything.

"Why did you transfer your shares to him! I've been talking to you about the shares for so long, and you never agreed to give them to me." Her voice took on a crying tone.

I just looked at her coldly.

[Zoe, if you despise me for being mute, we don't have to get married. I'm not forcing you.]

Zoe saw what I had typed, snatched my phone, and smashed it on the ground.

"How am I supposed to explain if we don't get married! Ryan Sullivan, you never truly loved me."

I did love her, but did she love me?

She had already completely disregarded my feelings and self-esteem, brazenly using the word "explain" to humiliate me.

As Zoe was crying, she received a call from Xavier.

Over the phone, I heard Xavier's pitiful voice, "Sis, my stomach hurts so bad."

It seemed Xavier had been drinking at a bar, forced to down several bottles.

Zoe was extremely worried about him, no longer caring about me. She hurriedly left.

This made me feel even more like a clown.

In the past, I always put Zoe first, prioritizing her above everything else. In school, when she was bullied, I stood up for her and got my leg broken in the fight.

The very next day, she was laughing and chatting with the guy who had bullied her. I advised her to stay away from such a bad guy.

But she stubbornly refused, blaming me for bruising the face of the guy she had a crush on during the fight.

I still can't forget Zoe's cold face, her moist eyes glaring at me fiercely as she scolded me for meddling.

Thinking of my foolish past self, I find it utterly laughable. I was truly able to endure, following her despite being humiliated in countless ways.

Was my brain kicked by a donkey in the past?

Putting aside those memories, I calmly entrusted the high-priced house I had bought to a real estate agent to sell at a low price.

I never want to set foot in that house again. It was the home I had bought with high hopes for our marriage, choosing the best location, personally overseeing the renovation. Every piece of furniture, even the pots and pans, every flower and plant in that house, I had personally bought and brought in.

But now, none of that matters anymore.

I want to sell it, along with all the dirty memories it holds, and expel them from my life.

Three days before the wedding, Zoe came to find me.

"I won't hold the share transfer against you. After we're married, you can get them back from William."

Before I could say anything, she affectionately took my arm and blinked her eyes. "The wedding venue is all set up. Shall we go take a look?"

I did want to see how the wedding venue I had destroyed had been restored in such a short time.

Stepping into the familiar wedding venue again, everything seemed unfamiliar.

Zoe was very satisfied and brought a man with her.

"Ryan, our wedding venue was personally decorated by Xavier. Look at his hands."

I lowered my gaze to see his fingers covered in blood stains.

"For this sea of flowers, his hands were pricked and torn by thorns."

Xavier ruffled his hair, smiling brightly like an eager-to-please puppy. "As long as sis and brother Ryan are happy, it doesn't matter what happens to me."

Zoe looked at Xavier's hands with concern, unable to resist gently holding them.

I thought of my own hands. During the wedding preparations, Zoe had never come even once, so naturally, she couldn't see my hands covered in wounds, cut by wooden boards, pricked by thorns, healing only to be injured again, leaving my hands in a sorry state.

Yet when I held Zoe's hand, she was disgusted. She looked at my scarred hands with disdain, complaining that they were too rough for her delicate skin.

Xavier was young, sunny, and knew how to act cute. Seeing Zoe's concern for him, he pouted and whined, calling her "sis" in a sticky voice.

Zoe told me to sit and rest while she went to go over the wedding procedure with the planner. She probably thought that since I was mute, there was no need for me to go along.

As I watched Xavier and Zoe enter the same floor of the hotel one after another, I couldn't help but smirk coldly.

In the corridor, urgent gasps could be heard.

Before they even entered the room, their tongues were already eagerly intertwined.

Zoe was pressed against the wall by Xavier, kissed until her eyes were misty. I heard Xavier say, "Sis, you marrying him really breaks my heart."

"Decorating the wedding venue for you was like killing me. Sis, do you want me dead?"

Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck and chuckled softly, "I only want to kill you in bed."

They entered the room, and ambiguous sounds continuously leaked out.

After going downstairs, I called the police to report prostitution at the hotel.