Chapter 6 Speaking Without Thinking

Pearl grabbed Jasmine's hair without hesitation and dragged her aside.

Jasmine's knees buckled, and she crashed heavily to the floor.

"You think a tramp like you deserves to sit in Cheryl's chair? Who the hell do you think you are, showing up here to cause trouble!"

Pearl completely abandoned all decorum, dragging Jasmine by the hair toward the office door.

Jasmine screamed, tears streaming down her face as she flailed pathetically on the floor. "Zachary! Help me, Zachary!"

The employees outside gasped. Though no one dared speak, their eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

This is incredibly satisfying.

"Pearl! Stop it right now!" Zachary finally snapped out of his daze, blood rushing to his head.

He strode over and grabbed Pearl's wrist, yanking it hard. "You've lost your mind."

"Zachary, you're the one who's lost it. You're pushing me for some mistress? And you drove Cheryl away—you're the crazy one here!" Pearl stumbled back several steps, disbelief written all over her face.

Zachary quickly helped Jasmine up from the floor and shielded her protectively.

He turned around, veins bulging on his forehead.

Cheryl had just come back to grab something. She'd barely approached when she saw the crowd blocking Zachary's office door.

Confused, she pushed through the crowd and walked in—just in time to witness Pearl's attack.

She froze in shock. Before she could say anything, Zachary spotted her.

Like he'd found an outlet for all his rage, he instantly redirected every ounce of fury toward her.

"Cheryl, this is your doing, isn't it?" Zachary pointed at her, words pouring out recklessly. "You're too vicious and proud to apologize yourself, so you got Pearl to do your dirty work? You're not just vain and jealous—you have no basic decency at all."

Cheryl stared quietly at this man who seemed completely bewitched.

Pearl exploded. "Zachary, are you insane?! This has nothing to do with Cheryl. I came here because I can't stand this bitch!"

"Shut up!" Zachary snapped at his sister, then turned his contemptuous gaze up and down Cheryl.

"Cheryl, I used to think you were just stubborn. But now I see—you're rotten to the core."

He sneered, his words cutting like knives. "The way you use underhanded tactics to crush others—you're exactly like your mother. Just as vile."

The moment those words left his mouth, Pearl gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

Cheryl's mother was the one wound that could never be touched.

Zachary knew this better than anyone. He'd once held her as she sobbed at her mother's grave and sworn that anyone who dared mention it would pay dearly.

Yet now, the sharpest blade was the one he himself had driven into her heart.

Cheryl stood still, watching him with extreme calm.

Every emotion in her once-clear eyes shattered in an instant.

Years ago, Cheryl's mother, Claire Mitchell, had been a well-bred lady from a respectable family. But she'd been systematically destroyed by a calculating mistress who'd forced her way into the marriage through pregnancy.

That mistress had conspired with powerful allies to slander Claire's reputation and torment her relentlessly during her pregnancy.

In the end, suffering from severe depression, Claire had leapt from the balcony of the twenty-eighth floor on a stormy night.

Cheryl had been only ten years old.

Her mother's death was the deepest, most festering wound in her soul.

And now, the man she'd loved for five years, supported for five years, given everything to for five years—

Not only had he struck her and forced her to resign for the sake of a homewrecking mistress—

He'd gone for the kill.

"So… this is what you really think of me."

Cheryl let out a soft laugh.

"Zachary, only today do I finally see exactly what kind of creature you are."

Cheryl didn't even glance at them again. She turned and walked out.

Watching Cheryl leave without hesitation, Zachary's heart seized violently. A sudden, inexplicable terror washed over him.

What had he just said?

He'd actually used her mother's death to hurt her?

Zachary's face turned deathly pale. That wasn't what he meant—he'd just been provoked by Pearl. He only wanted Cheryl to back down and apologize.

"Cheryl!"

Instinctively, he took a step forward, wanting to chase after her.

But then, a pair of arms clung desperately to his legs.

"Zachary, it hurts—my stomach hurts so much."

Jasmine curled up on the floor, face streaked with tears, clutching Zachary's pant leg with all her strength.

"Zachary, don't go. I'm so scared…"

Zachary's steps came to a grinding halt.

He looked down at Jasmine writhing in pain, then looked up again—but Cheryl was already gone.

"Zachary, you're not even human!" Pearl's eyes turned red, her whole body shaking with rage.

She kicked the trash can violently and jabbed her finger at Zachary's nose. "You treated Cheryl like that today for this tramp—you're going to regret it! Don't you ever expect me to call you my brother again!"

With that, Pearl stormed out without looking back, furious as she headed home.

Two hours later, at Riverfront Heights Villa.

This was Cheryl and Zachary's marital home.

Once, it had been filled with the warmth of Cheryl's careful touches.

But now, as Cheryl looked around, all she felt was bitter irony and disgust.

Expressionless, she walked into the walk-in closet and dragged out a massive black suitcase.

She packed only her everyday clothes, along with all her design-related professional books, drafts, and an expensive set of tailoring tools.

As for Zachary's things?

Her gaze swept over the jewelry and accessories before she looked away coldly.

All garbage. Not worth dirtying her suitcase.

As she cleared out the bottom layer of her jewelry box to retrieve her documents, her fingertips suddenly brushed against something cool and smooth—a wooden box.

Cheryl's movements paused.

She opened the rosewood box. Inside lay a flawless imperial jade bracelet, its emerald green so vivid it seemed to glow.

This was a family heirloom. Five years ago, when she'd first married into the Francis family, Zachary's grandfather, William Francis, had personally placed it in her hands.

"Cheryl, Zachary's stubborn. With a wise wife like you to guide him, I can rest easy. This bracelet is only passed to the matriarch of the Francis family. Keep it safe."

Grandpa's kind face seemed to appear before her eyes.

In the calculating Francis family, William was the only one who'd ever given her warmth and respect.

Cheryl lowered her gaze, her fingertips gently tracing the cool jade.

She wouldn't take a single thing that belonged to the Francis family.

In a few days, it would be Grandpa's birthday. She'd go to the Francis estate in person, return the bracelet intact, and finalize the divorce.

Cheryl closed the box.

After finishing her packing, Cheryl pulled the suitcase behind her and took one last look around the place she'd lived for five years.

Then she turned and walked toward the door without a trace of nostalgia.

Just as Cheryl was about to leave, the electronic lock on the front door emitted a crisp beep.

The door was pushed open from the outside.