I Refuse to Divorce!
Chapter 123

Zoe went downstairs and got into the car. The chauffeur noticed shewas in a foul mood. So, he spoke ever so softly, “Shall we head homenow, Ms. Zoe?"

She sat there quietly and looked out the car window. Neon lights wereflickering in the city.

All of a sudden, she said softly, “I'm going to take a stroll. Go on backhome, Luke!”

Luke, the old chauffeur, frowned and said, “That's not happening, Ms.Zoe. I can’t leave you alone in the dead of night. Mr. Mason's going tobe worried sick if he replaces out!”

Smiling faintly in response, she asked, “Do you really think he'd care?”Luke immediately stopped talking. Lately, his master hadn't beenspending the nights in his own manor and the servants were gossipingbehind his back. It'd be a bald-faced lie if he claimed he hadn't heardany of it.

With that said, he was worried about Zoe. So, the car crept along theroad, following Zoe as she took a stroll on the streets.

She had no idea how long she had been walking. It was about twoo'clock in the morning when she came upon a wall full of graffiti. Allsorts of naive confessions strewn across its surface.

Crouching, she brushed her fingers longingly across a spot at thebottom left corner.

"Zoe loves Mason forever.”

Staring at the scrawl, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Thelove she had for Mason when she was young was such a preciousthing. However, years came and went and no one cherished it. Her lovehad no place to go.

There was an eerie silence in the dead of night. Luke was concernedthat she might catch a cold. So, he tried to convince her to go backhome. She nodded and got into the car. It was warm in there, but it didnothing to chase away the chill she felt in her heart.

Checking her phone after she reached home, she found that she hadreceived a text from Mason. The content was something along the linesof how sorry he was for not being able to keep her company because ofhis work.

The next morning, a top jeweler came by the manor, bearing a set ofruby jewelry. Judging by its quality and size, it was worth at least fiftymillion dollars.

Zoe took the gift and sent a text to Mason. She thanked him for givingher an anniversary gift, despite his extremely busy schedule. After that,she tossed it aside.

The fact that he didn’t reply to her probably meant that he was terriblyworried about Lilith's condition. However, none of it mattered to heranymore. She had her own business to attend to.

It was already Saturday by the time they met each other again. Hecame back around half past four in the afternoon. One of the attentiveservants saw the black Bentley as it pulled into the manor and darted tothe third floor to tell Zoe. She spoke cheerfully, “Mr. Mason's back, Ms.Zoe!”

Zoe was in the middle of her violin practice. She stopped when sheheard what the servant said. Mason probably came back to change forthe party. It was Aiden’s private party which he needed to attend withLilith.

How ironic, she thought to herself. In any case, she put down her violinand went downstairs to welcome him home.

She ran into him on the second floor. There was an awkward silence asthey locked gazes with each other. It had been a few days since theylast saw each other. He looked paler now. It inferred that Lilith'scondition had gotten worse and he had exhausted every bit of hisenergy, staying by her side.

After a brief pause, she spoke softly, “Welcome home!”

His eyes grew darker. They were both mature adults now. He couldn'tafford to keep treating her like a fool. After a brief contemplation, hedecided to explain himself, “Things aren't looking too good for her.That's why I have to keep her company. There's nothing going onbetween us, Zoe.”

She stared at him wordlessly for a while before putting on a faint smile.She chose to avoid the topic.

“You're home early. Is it because you found the time to meet my friend?I thought you said you couldn't do it, Mason.”

If he could just apologize to her and come clean that he still couldn't doit because he needed to keep Lilith company, she might've beenimpressed by his honesty. For that matter, she would've been willing tolet him explain himself.

However, that wasn't what he did.

Standing by the window, he took out a cigarette from his front pocketand started smoking. About halfway through the cigarette, he turnedaround and said lightly, “Get me a set of formal attire. I need to go backto the company in a while.”

Lowering her gaze, she tried to hide her disappointment.

Then, she put on a considerate smile and said, “Work takesprecedence, I guess. One set of formal attire, coming right up. Also, areyou going to have dinner at home? If you are, I'll ask Layla to..."