I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra) novel Chapter 81

Steven?

I let out a dismissive laugh. “Good. Let him be angry. It’s decided, then.”

Jacob was transferred in, and he didn’t disappoint. He spent the entire afternoon chattering away, catching me up on all the latest trends.

It was a good first day. We worked well together. When it was time to leave, I packed up, but Jacob stayed behind to put in some extra hours.

I had to admit, Jacob was a handsome, devoted, and ambitious guy. Between him and Steven, Verna was a very lucky woman.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite remember what happened to Jacob. All I knew was that four and a half years into my marriage with Steven, he and Verna broke up. I remembered the timing so clearly because something major had happened between Steven and me around the same time.

I picked up my bag and left the office. Just as I reached the ground floor, my phone rang. I saw the caller ID, and my expression soured, but I answered anyway.

“What is it?”

A booming, highly displeased voice came through the line.

“Have you forgotten how to greet people? Where are your manners?”

From his tone alone, I could picture Martin’s red, angry face. I felt a surge of disgust.

The only reason Martin would be calling was for business—specifically, to get me to convince Steven to give him money.

Just as I expected, he continued in a gruff, commanding voice, “You and Mr. Lancaster will come home for dinner tonight. I have some business matters to discuss with him.”

His tone was not a request; it was an order.

A cold, mocking smile spread across my face.

In my past life, the same thing had happened. Back then, I didn’t refuse him. But I was always hesitant to ask Steven for so much money for my family, so I had timidly asked Steven if he would just come to dinner with me.

Steven had refused. I went home alone and was met with a torrent of verbal abuse from Martin. He called me useless, a waste of space who couldn’t even hold onto her own husband. He said raising a dog would have been a better investment.

Antonia and Janice stood by, adding fuel to the fire, making sure Martin’s anger and disgust toward me only deepened.

Lisa’s anxiety grew. “Miss, you know what his temper is like. If you come back alone like this, he’s going to be furious with you.”

“You… maybe you should leave. We can pretend you were never here. I never saw you.”

I smiled gently and placed a hand on Lisa’s shoulder, my voice calm.

“Don’t worry, Lisa. Since I came, it means I’m prepared. And who’s going to get yelled at today… that’s not decided yet.”

Just then, a bright, sharp voice called out.

“You’re back!” Antonia paused, then made a show of looking around. “Oh, you’re by yourself? Didn’t Mr. Jones ask you to bring Stev with you?”

I glanced at her. She was wearing a tight, white, backless dress—the exact same outfit she had worn in my past life.

I dropped my gaze, not bothering to look at her, and walked straight into the villa.

As I heard footsteps on the stairs, I looked up to see a portly, middle-aged man in a suit and a woman with voluminous curls in a brown, form-fitting dress descending, arm in arm.