Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Chapter 40 Scolding His Stupid Nephew
Zack went away on a business trip for a few days. He called Lucille daily to ask how she was doing and tell her how much he missed her.
Zack had never dated anyone before this. Even though he and Michaela were engaged for a few years, they were busy with their studies and hardly ever met privately. Therefore, they never had any intense romantic relationship.
However, Zack finally experienced the wonders of romance after he got together with Lucille.
People had said absence makes the heart grow fonder. These words held some truth.
As it was the weekend the next day, Zack booked flight tickets and applied for a half-day off work to give his girlfriend a surprise. However, he received news that someone had beaten Lucille when he got off the plane. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Zack rushed home from the airport and found Lucille with a bandage over the wound on her forehead. She looked pale and was rather shaken from the incident.
Seeing Zack, Lucille immediately flung herself into his embrace and apologized tearfully.
Initially, Zack was confused. After asking her, Zack finally understood that Lucille went to meet with Michaela for his sake.
After what happened previously, Lucille did not want Zack to suffer due to her, so she went to meet with Michaela and sought her forgiveness.
However, she did not expect Michaela to hit her.
Furthermore, she did not know why those reporters suddenly appeared. She also did not expect Jonathan to show up. Therefore, she felt guilty and worried that she had caused a misunderstanding between Zack and Jonathan.
Lucille cried profusely and did not mention a word about her injury. Instead, she kept worrying about how the incident would affect Zack.
Zack was passionately in love with Lucille. Seeing that she still worried about him despite her injuries made him furious and heartbroken.
He was angry with himself for going on a business trip and leaving Lucille to face the cruel consequence alone. At the same time, he hated Michaela for being spiteful.
Therefore, he felt an urge to rush out of the door to settle the score with Michaela. However, Lucille tried to stop him with all her might, saying that Michaela was now with Jonathan. She feared Zack would get scolded again.
Hearing this made Zack even more furious. After dinner, he coaxed Lucille to sleep before sneaking out of the house.
However, Zack did not know the supposedly asleep Lucille opened her eyes the instant Zack closed the door. She stood behind the curtain and grinned as she watched Zack’s car drive away.
At this moment, Zack sat in the foyer of Shappiray Mansion with a gloomy expression. Anger burned in his chest as he recalled Lucille crying in his arms pitifully.
Hearing footsteps coming his way, Zack stood up. He saw it was Jonathan and shouted immediately, “Is Michaela here? I want to see her!”
“Don’t you know who you are speaking to? Where are your manners?” Jonathan scolded.
Zack stiffened at Jonathan’s stern tone. He struggled to force down his fury but managed to sound polite as he said, “Uncle Jonathan, I would like to talk to Michaela!”
“Why?” Jonathan glanced at him. He spoke briefly as usual and without a hint of emotion in his tone.
Seeing that Jonathan did not deny what he said but asked for a reason, Zack became more confident that Michaela was there. Zack’s eyes glowed with fury. “Uncle Jonathan, I know you are protecting Michaela because she is Old Mr. Simmons’ granddaughter. But I am your nephew!”
“I admit I was wrong previously. However, Michaela is too vicious. Lucille went to her to apologize, but she hit Lucille. I must see her today!” Zack added.
“What makes you think you can walk into the inner courtyard without my permission?” Jonathan spoke in an unbothered tone as he looked at Zack indifferently. Then, he accepted a teacup offered by the housekeeper.
“Uncle Jonathan!” Jonathan’s expression twisted with fury. The anger burning in his chest gave him the courage to meet Jonathan’s gaze.
What he saw was a glare colder than the dead of winter, causing Zack to shiver.
Before Zack could speak, Jonathan placed his teacup heavily on the rosewood table and said fiercely, “How dare you come here to cause trouble over a shameless woman? Zack, it seems you have forgotten your place!”
“Uncle Jonathan, Lucille is a good woman. She is kind and honest. Furthermore, she loves me. If I had never met Lucille, I would never have understood how it feels to love someone. On the other hand, Michaela had never cared about me in the years we were engaged. There was no chance of intimacy like a romantic couple. Otherwise, I would never have–” Zack said.
“Otherwise, you would never have cheated on her with her sister?”
There was a sudden crashing noise. Jonathan had swept the teacup on the table toward Zack. A wrathful aura overflowed from Jonathan as he said, “Zack, it seems you are good at finding excuses for your mistake! Is this the reason for you to hurt Michaela?”
Jonathan paused before continuing, “You could have told us that you don’t like her and canceled the engagement to pursue your true love. That would not have been an issue. However, instead of doing that, you insisted on dragging the Xander family down into such a shameful situation. What right do you have to talk to me about love?”
The teacup shattered into tiny pieces on the floor, spilling tea onto Zack’s shirt and leaving a brownish stain. However, Zack did not dare to move a finger.
Walter saw what happened and pitied Zack.
Are you still going to be obsessed with that woman and believe everything she said? When are you going to learn? How dare you seek to harm the lady Mr. Xander cares about tremendously? You are really looking for trouble!
Actually, Zack knew that Jonathan was right while he was wrong. He became less arrogant after Jonathan threw the teacup at him. Thus, he gritted his teeth and said, “Uncle Jonathan, I know my mistake brought humiliation to the Xander family and broke Grandpa’s heart. After everything is over, I will bring Lucille to seek Grandpa’s forgiveness. Still, Michaela has no right to beat Lucille!”
“If it was up to me, Lucille shall no longer have any place in Quakersville!” Jonathan did not speak loudly, but his tone was heavy with warning.
After saying that, Jonathan suddenly stood up and glanced at Zack. “What a brainless fool!”
“Uncle Jonathan…” Zack was confused. Before he could demand to talk to Michaela again, Jonathan had turned around and left. Zack wanted to follow him, but Walter suddenly stood before him and said, “Mr. Zack, allow me to walk you out.”
“But-” Zack was unwilling to give up. However, Walter interrupted him and said, “Mr. Zack, Mr. Jonathan instructed me to give this to you!”
“What is this?” Zack was confused as he saw a black object the size of a fingernail on Walter’s hand.
“We found this in your bridal chambers the day before the wedding,” Walter said.
He looked at Zack’s frown and continued, “Allow me to say something in defense of Mr. Jonathan. Mr. Zack, I believe you know how Mr. Jonathan has treated you all these years. When you graduated from university and wanted to intern in the company, Mr. Jonathan found the best person to guide you.”
Walter paused before continuing, “When you wanted a marital home, Mr. Jonathan found the most renowned architect in the country for you. Even after you committed mistakes, Mr. Jonathan still found ways to resolve the mess. Furthermore, Old Mr. Xander still does not know about the matter between you and Ms. Lingard. Who do you think has been helping you, Mr. Zack? Therefore, your behavior today has hurt Mr. Jonathan!”
Walter continued to nag Zack. Once he had finished speaking, Zack raised the pinhole camera in his hand and asked, “So, what does this have to do with anything?”
“Here is the fingerprint identification report. Mr. Zack, you will understand after reading it,” Walter answered.