<b>Chapter </b>75
20
<b>76 </b>
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Connor followed the clues from his investigation and found the warehouse where Xylia was being held.
Before he even stepped inside, a sordid, chaotic odor hit him.
His face instantly drained of color.
“Xylia.” Muttering her name, he rushed into the warehouse.
The warehouse was empty, but a chaotic mess littered the floor.
Seeing those stains made Connor’s blood boil.
The bodyguard trailing behind him hesitated and then called out, “Mr. Ford.”
Connor’s voice was low and intense. “Go find Mrs. Ford!”
“Yes, Mr. Ford,” the bodyguard replied.
Connor’s eyes zed with fury.
He was dead set on finding out who had hurt Xylia. When he did, he’d make them pay, no matter what.
Early the next morning, Xylia woke with a start from a nightmare. Her forehead was slick with sweat, and she felt miserable.
She got up, washed her face, and as soon as she stepped out, she heard noisesing from the kitchen.
Joshua was in the kitchen making breakfast.
As soon as he saw Xylia, he shed her a smile and greeted her, “You’re up?”
For a second, Xylia felt like she and Joshua were one of those couples who’d been together forever.
She quickly shook her head, thinking, ‘Where did thate from?’
She automatically tried to help out in the kitchen, but Joshua waved her off.
‘Kitchen’s off–limits for you. Go sit and wait for your food,” he said.
Xylia sat at the dining table, watching Joshua busy in the kitchen, and an unexpected calm settled over her.
Back when they were living abroad, Joshua was usually the one cooking.
She’d let him handle whatever chores he wasfortable with, just to help him feel at home.
Honestly, Joshua handled almost all the cooking back then.
10:30 Fri, <b>Sep </b>12
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At that time, Xylia didn’t know the first thing about cooking. She only started picking it up little by little after marrying Connor.
She had worked really hard to go from knowing nothing about cooking to bing pretty good at it.
Too bad Connor and Sonny never gave a damn about all the effort she’d put <ol><li>in. </li></ol>
Joshua set breakfast on the table and called out to Xylia, telling her to dig in. Joshua asked, concern in his voice, “Did you sleep wellst night?”
Xylia nodded, forcing a small smile. “Yeah, it was fine.”
But honestly, it hadn’t been fine at all. She’d been haunted by nightmares the whole night.
Even now, her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
But she didn’t want Joshua to worry, so she lied.
Joshua frowned, “Did you even look in the mirror this morning? You’re as pale as a ghost, and you’re telling me you slept well?”
Xylia instinctively reached up to touch her face.
Joshua gave her a look that said he wasn’t buying it, and Xylia ducked her head, awkwardly taking a bite of her omelet.
‘He really doesn’t miss a thing,’ Xylia thought.
“Just a nightmare. Nothing serious,” she said.
Joshua just shook his head<i>, </i>a little helpless.
He handed her the phone. “Here, your phone. You seemed out of it yesterday, so I held onto it.”
Xylia took the phone and turned it on.
A flood of texts and calls popped up.
Before she could even start checking them, Connor’s name shed on the screen.
Xylia frowned and answered the call.
“Xylia?” Connor’s horse voice came through, tight with concern. He sounded utterly exhausted.
“It’s me. What’s up?” Xylia <b>said</b>.
“Where are you?” Connor asked urgently,
“Is something wrong?” Xylia replied.
<b>“</b><b>I </b>asked you. Where are you?” Commor pressed.
<b>10:30 </b><b>Fri</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>12 </b>
Connor suddenly exploded on the phone, his roar making Xylia jump in her seat.
Joshua shot her a frown, but before he could get a word out, Xylia had already hung up.
“He’s crazy.” Xylia switched her phone to silent and tossed it aside.
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She hadn’t gone backst night, and hadn’t bothered to let anyone in the Ford family know because she knew nobody there actually cared about her.
After breakfast, Joshua headed off to work, and Xylia suddenly remembered her promise to Josie.
“Shit!” she muttered.
She snatched up her phone, ignored all of Connor’s calls and texts, and called Josie straight away.
Josie picked up almost instantly, sounding super annoyed.
“Xylia, you stood me upst night,” Josie snapped.
“Sorry, Josie. I swear I didn’t mean to stand you up,” Xylia blurted out.
Once Xylia exined, Josie immediately sounded worried.
“You got kidnapped? Are you alright?” Josie eximed.
“I’m okay now. It’s over. But let’s hold off on dinner for a couple of days,” Xylia replied.
“It’s cool. Just get some rest,” Josie said.
After a few more words, Xylia finally hung up.
Connor hadn’t called again, and Xylia was more than happy to enjoy the peace.
But as she thought about what had happened yesterday, her expression darkened.
‘Sadie really dug her own grave this time, Xylia thought.
At the Zinn residence, Connor was still burning with anger after Xylia hung up on him, but from her voice, he could tell she was safe,
That thought eased his mind a little.
The Zinn residence was thick with tension.
Tessa came downstairs, frowning, with a ss of milk in hand.
<b>“</b><b>Sadie </b>still won’te out,” she said.
Tyson Zinn and Ruby Zinn were sitting on the couch, both looking grim.
<b>10:30 </b><b>Fri</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b>12
“Let her starve, that shameless brat! She’s made a total mess of our reputation,” Tyson growled.
Ruby red at Tessa, her anger boiling over.
“And you! I told you to keep an eye on her. What the hell were you doing?” Ruby snapped.
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“I… I was in the hospital a couple of days ago…” Tessa lowered her head, feeling wronged, and Connor immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her from Ruby’s anger.
“Mrs. Zinn, this isn’t Tessa’s fault, is it?” he said.
Ruby shot Connor a look full of contempt.
“Mr. Ford, this is our family business. You might be Tessa’s brother–inw, but that doesn’t give you the right to meddle,” she said, her tone icy.
Ever since Tessa married in and Qadir died not long after, Ruby had always held Tessa responsible, convinced she’d brought bad luck and caused his death.
She’d been nursing that grudge for eight long years.
Even though Tessa had never remarried and spent all those years mourning Qadir, it didn’t make Ruby any less bitter.
Connor sneered, “Tessa’s business isn’t my concern, but anything about my wife is definitely my business.”
His words could be taken the wrong way, and Tessa looked up at him, surprised.
She thought Connor was about to take a stand in front of Ruby, maybe even say he wanted to marry her.
But then Connor spoke up again, “Yesterday, Sadie disguised herself as a cab driver and abducted my wife. Xylia still hasn’te home. I’m not letting this go.”
Tyson snorted, “Investigate all you want. Sadie’s already disgraced our family. Frankly, we’d be better off if she were dead.”
Tyson was absolutely livid. With that, he stood up and walked out without a second nce.
Sadie was found at the Zinn residence’s front door that morning, barely clothed and utterly disheveled.
Tyson and Ruby thought she’d been attacked and were about to go off when suddenly a video from an unknown sender popped up on their phones.
The footage showed Sadie with several different men in hotels, clubs, and all sorts of ces.
In the videos, she was flirtatious and clearly reveling in it.
Tyson and Ruby just stood there,pletely stunned.
Then, Sadie’s school bullying and kicking ssmates out started trending everywhere.
<b>10:30 </b><b>Fri</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>12 </b>
All the dirtyundry about Tyson and Ruby covering for Sadie got dragged into the spotlight.
The Zinn Group’s reputation took a massive hit, and its stock prices tanked.
Tyson was so pissed that he nearly went after Sadie, but Ruby held him back.
Even now, there was still a massive hole in thepany that needed patching up.
So many business partners were scrambling to cut ties, and thepany was a total mess inside.
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Downstairs, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, but upstairs, Sadie was having an even worse time.
She was curled up in bed, her eyes burning with hatred.
Just wait, Xylia. I’ll get my revenge, no matter what,‘ she vowed to herself.
AD