Lady Warrior's Warth on Divorce Day novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Zoya paused, a little taken aback. “I can do it myself…”

“I know,” Wren said. “You’re not the type who needs anyone’s help, and I get that you like handling things on your own. But Zozo, I want to do this for you. So just let me, okay? Don’t say no.”

Sometimes, he couldn’t help but wonder, ‘If she were more fragile, would she rely on me for everything? Would I become someone she truly couldn’t live without? Would I finally have her right where I wanted her?‘

But Wren knew that if that were the case, she wouldn’t be herself anymore, and she wouldn’t be the Zozo he loved.

Once Zoya slipped on her slippers and followed Wren into the dining room, he said, “Just sit down for a bit. I’ll bring breakfast out.”

“Breakfast?” Zoya asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah, I made some oatmeal. Try it. If it’s not to your taste, just let me know what you’d like, and I’ll learn to cook it next time,” he said.

She was genuinely surprised. She hadn’t expected him to make oatmeal for her so early in the morning.

“Did you wear an apron?” she suddenly asked, since she could hardly imagine him cooking in the kitchen.

“No, I didn’t. Why do you ask?” Wren replied.

A trace of disappointment flashed across her face. “Oh, nothing. I was just wondering what you’d look like in an apron.”

Wren gave a gentle smile. “If you really want to see, I can put one on for you.”

With that, he started to head to the kitchen to grab an apron.

“No need,” Zoya quickly grabbed his arm. “I was just saying.”

“Then next time I cook for you, I promise I’ll wear an apron so you can see,” he said, placing the steaming bowl of oatmeal right in front of her.

Zoya tasted the oatmeal, which was warm, comforting… and somehow, a little sweet too.

‘Actually, growing old with this man might just be pretty good, Zoya thought to herself.

*****

Later that afternoon, Zoya showed up at the office.

Just as she’d expected, Eowyn sidled up to her with a mischievous grin. “Spill it, did you finally sleep with Wren last night?”

“Yeah, I did,” Zoya replied without missing a beat.

“So what finally changed your mind? I was betting you’d hold back till the end of time!” Eowyn teased.

Zoya just rolled her eyes at Eowyn.

“Oh, speaking of which, we didn’t even finish the show yesterday. Wanna go see it together some other time?” Eowyn asked.

“Go with someone else. If I go with you, I bet the show’s gonna end up getting canceled halfway through again,” Zoya said.

Eowyn paused, then realization dawned. “Seriously? Was Wren the reason they stopped the show yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Zoya replied.

Eowyn gaped in astonishment. “Wow, classic Mr. Richmond, always making a splash! Fine, I’ll drag someone else with me next time.”

“So, how did things end up with Leon last night?” Zoya asked, genuinely concerned.

“What do you think? We talked it out, said everything that needed saying, then poof, he’s out of my life for good,” Eowyn shrugged.

“So, what’s up with you two now?” Zoya asked, her voice trailing off.

“Nothing at all!” Eowyn gave Zoya a pat on the shoulder. “We broke up ages ago. If I could let it go once, you can bet I’m totally over him now. So relax, I’m fine!”

“Glad to hear it,” Zoya replied.

“Oh, and get this, I just found out this morning that some big investors are pulling their money out of Mayer Technology. Nicolas must be losing his mind right now. If he doesn’t land some fresh cash fast, the guy’s gonna have no choice but to sell the whole company for scrap,” Eowyn said.

“That company was never worth much to begin with,” Zoya replied with an unbothered shrug.

“Exactly! Tech startups like that need real talent, and Nicolas doesn’t have the faintest idea what actually made his company successful or how he managed to get it listed!” Eowyn scoffed, openly mocking him. “People like him, thinking they can get their hands on your patents, as if he’d even know what to do with them!”

Zoya just smiled. “There’s no way I’d ever let him actually use my patents.”

“Divorcing you is the dumbest thing he’s ever done. Honestly, it won’t be long before Nicolas loses everything and ends up flat broke,” Eowyn declared, already foreseeing Nicolas’s inevitable downfall.

“But divorcing him is my blessing,” Zoya replied.

She then thought, ‘Men like Nicolas always reach for too much, greedy and never satisfied, and in the end, they wind up with nothing. And I genuinely feel relieved that I’ve finally seen his true colors and found the strength to leave him behind once and for all.‘

Inside the CEO’s office at Mayer Technology, Nicolas slammed his phone down onto the floor.

‘How could this be happening?‘ Nicolas’s thoughts raced, panic rising in his chest. ‘I’ve practically begged on my knees, but they’re still determined to yank their money out!

They knew exactly how badly this would hit Mayer Technology, but they didn’t care. They weren’t giving me even the slightest chance to fix things.

“Nicolas!” Jasmine burst into the office, narrowly dodging the flying phone. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“N–nothing,” Nicolas stammered, forcing himself to calm down. “What are you doing here?”

“I know a guy who can arrange a credit loan for you. The interest is higher than a regular bank, but hey, your company’s desperate for cash, right? You can borrow it now, and once things get better, you can pay it back,” Jasmine said.

“A credit loan?” Nicolas frowned. He knew loans usually required stable business operations and annual revenue to meet certain thresholds.

But ever since Zoya had quit, Mayer Technology had been slammed with setback after setback. Its stock price had been plummeting, and its reputation in the industry was now quite poor.

‘No legit bank would ever shell out big money for a company like mine,‘ Nicolas thought.

“Getting a loan will probably be tough,” he said.

“It’s not that hard! I already talked to them about your company, and they said they could lend you 15 million dollars,” Jasmine said, her voice full of excitement.

“What? Seriously?” Nicolas’s eyes widened in surprise, but then suspicion crept in. “Wait, you’re not talking about some shady loan shark, are you?”

“No, it’s not a loan shark! Their annual rate won’t go over 36%,” Jasmine replied.

Nicolas felt his heart sink. Even if it wasn’t illegal, that was still as high as the law would allow.

“These rates are still beyond my means. Perhaps I should explore alternatives… Nicolas said.`

“Nicolas, my uncle’s actually interested in starting a drone project. Why don’t you borrow this money first to revitalize

your company? Once your business is back on track, you’ll have leverage to negotiate with my

uncle.

“When he actually invests in your company, paying off that loan will be a breeze,” Jasmine said, her tone brimming with optimism. “Plus, in two months, your shares will finally be unlocked.

“You could sell off a chunk, and the cash would be right there. Honestly, if you cashed out every share you’ve got, you’d easily be looking at 60 million dollars!”

That was exactly why Jasmine believed Nicolas could make a comeback.

Nicolas paused, wrestling with the decision, then finally nodded. “Alright, I’ll take the loan.”

“The venture capital firm is pulling out, so I need this money urgently to keep operations afloat, Nicolas thought. ‘In two months, I can sell some shares and repay the loan with interest.

“Great!” Jasmine grinned. “I’ll let them know right away.”

After she finished the call, Jasmine fired off a text to Paul, the man blackmailing her. [You’ll get the 14.85 million dollars in three days.]

Meanwhile, Zoya got a call from the military base. “Zoya, can you come over to the base? We’ve officially recovered the drone Oscar left behind.

“The SD card inside is in better shape than we expected, and we’ve managed to recover some of the data using our tech. You can come take a look.”