Chapter 22
Before Yves reached the airport, he received a call from Wendy. He stared at her name on the screen and irritably answered, saying, “What’s wrong?”
“Yves, I know where Zoey is! But… can you come over first? I’m afraid I can’t explain it clearly over the phone.” As Yves tightened the grip on his phone, he turned around and grabbed his car keys. “I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
The lights at the Silvain residence burned brightly against the night.
The moment Yves stepped onto the porch, Wendy threw herself into his arms. The strong
scent of her perfume made him instinctively frown.
“You said you know where Zoey is. What exactly do you mean?” he asked as he subtly pushed
her away.
“Don’t be so impatient. Actually, I had a friend look into it for me. She’s in Lormont, and she’s gotten pretty close to a man.”
After hearing that, Yves‘ heart raced.
Lormont was exactly the location the private investigator had identified. However, who was the man Wendy mentioned? Was he a friend of Zoey’s? Or was he someone she just befriended?
Endless questions swirled in Yves‘ mind.
He then seized Wendy’s wrist hard enough to make her cry out in pain. “What’s the exact address? Do you have it?” he demanded.
“What the hell are you doing, Yves? You’re hurting me!” Tears welled up in Wendy’s eyes before cascading down her cheeks. “I only did this because I care about you…”
“Give me the address!” Yves roared.
“Why are you so desperate to find her?” she snapped.
“Are you fucking with me?” Yves‘ voice was as cold as ice.
On the other hand, Wendy’s voice was choked with emotions as she inquired, “You’re being so mean to me… Is it because you don’t love me anymore?”
Wendy sniffled and inched closer to him. “Yves, I dare you to say you don’t have any feelings for Zoey!”
When he didn’t say a word, she shoved him away and snapped, “Well? Say something! Or are
Chapter 22
you too scared to admit it?”
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Wendy’s shrieks came to an abrupt halt when her phone slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.
Instinctively, Yves bent down to pick it up, and as the screen lit up, the open chat box stopped
him cold.
Dozens of messages were laid out in full view, each one filled with venom directed at Zoey.
Yves broke out in a cold sweat, his hand shaking as he held the phone. It took him several minutes to compose himself and muster up the courage to open the conversation fully.
The majority of the chat box consisted of photos of himself and Wendy, as well as some pictures from their outings. He couldn’t bring himself to read those dense messages. He was
afraid of what else he’d find.
“Yves only has eyes for me. It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“You might be his wife, but his heart has always been with me! Do you really not want to get a
divorce?”
“You’ve tried to end your life how many times now? Yet, he never cared about you. Unlike me, he freaks out over the smallest things. That proves how little you matter to him!”
For over half a month, Wendy had sent Zoey nothing but taunts.
A slow–burning rage bubbled up inside Yves.
He then noticed a message about a large money transfer, and the other party replied that everything had been taken care of. Coincidentally, the date on the message matched the day the thugs had kidnapped them.
At that moment, realization dawned on Yves–it had all been a setup. Those kidnappers were Wendy’s paid actors.
Chapter 23
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Chapter 23