Chapter 140  

Lily noticed Zoya's face turning red with indecision and promptly took the menu from her hand. 

"I've got connections; let me order," she said confidently. 

The others: "..." 

The meal started off rather uneventfully, with Brooks and Director Wang continuing to monopolize Edmond's attention, engaged in an endless conversation. Meanwhile, Lily and Wang Niannian exchanged WeChat contacts. Just as Lily was about to send a message, she caught a glimpse of Zoya leaving the room out of the corner of her eye.

Two minutes later, Leopold's phone buzzed briefly, and he too excused himself and left. Half-closing her eyes, Lily sensed something fishy and quickly texted Wang Niannian.

Lily: "Let's head to the restroom."

Zoya's business trip this time was to oversee a foreign project for L&S. Starting from Qingming Festival and now already in September, it had been exactly six months. This was the longest time she'd been away since joining the Jian family. She hadn't wanted to leave, but she had no choice; she needed to disappear for a while. Edmond had terrified her.

On April Fool's Day, Lily had brought Edmond back to the old house for dinner. That evening, Lily was called to the room by Layla, and Edmond had stepped out for a smoke. Zoya had followed him, wanting to talk. But with one cold "Get lost," his disdain for her was blatantly clear. Even...

"Back in Lily's senior year, something happened. I've heard she always insisted it was your doing," he'd said. 

"So, Zoya, did you have a hand in it?" 

Did she? No. She wasn't just involved; she was the mastermind. 

When Lily was kidnapped and sold to a remote mountain village by human traffickers, nearly losing her life, it was Zoya's momentary lapse in judgment that led to it all.

Yes, what she did was wrong. 

When Lily came back and grabbed her by the throat, ready to fight for her life, Zoya was scared and remorseful. But everyone has a dark side, moments when they lose their mind in a fit of madness. And besides, it wasn't entirely her fault. 

Whose fault was it? It was Brooks and Layla's, who had nurtured her ambitions and desires over the years, slowly feeding the beast within her. 

It was Leopold's fault for giving her the unchecked power that allowed her to slowly usurp Lily's place. 

It was her biological mother's fault. If that woman hadn't remarried, leaving her with an insidious problem that she couldn't shake off, she wouldn't have had to walk such a tightrope while trying to enjoy her new life. 

It was all these people. 

They were the ones who forced her to take out her misfortune and resentment on Lily. They made her believe that only by erasing Lily could she have peace of mind. 

So, when her emotions were pushed to the brink by various factors, in a moment of insanity, she made a deal with the devil. 

She wanted to destroy Lily. 

Selling her off to the mountains—if Lily never came back, then Zoya would be the only daughter left in the Jian family, and she could permanently replace Lily. 

And even if Lily was eventually rescued, she would have been ruined, tainted beyond repair. People like Brooks and Layla, who cared so deeply about their reputation, would likely send Lily abroad, hiding her away as a dirty little secret. 

That moment of insanity—it really was just a moment. 

She was a good person at heart; it was those people who forced out the worst in her. 

So, in the end, everyone was guilty of what happened to Lily back then.

She had thought the incident was long behind them. The Jian family had covered it up, and Edmond had suppressed the news. No one dared to bring it up again. Even after Lily returned to China, she never mentioned it. 

Zoya had thought it was over. She never expected Edmond to bring it up that day. 

She knew he was only suspicious, just testing the waters. 

Because he couldn't possibly have proof. No matter how powerful he was, even he couldn't find evidence. 

But when you've done something wrong, there's always a shadow in your heart.

The day Lily was brought back by the police, the first time she saw Zoya, the terror in her eyes slowly turned into fury and hatred. In front of the police and everyone else, Lily had lunged at her, intent on tearing her apart. 

Back then, Zoya could feel that Lily genuinely wanted to die with her. 

On the second-floor balcony, Lily had grabbed her, trying to drag her over the railing. Fortunately, the police intervened just in time. 

That girl had struggled like a mad dog, uncontrollable by anyone. It was only when Franklin and Royce arrived and held her in Royce's arms that she finally stopped going berserk. 

Back then, only Royce could calm her down.

It had taken years for Zoya to finally push that memory aside. But when Edmond suddenly brought it up again, she was haunted by nightmares, her nerves stretched to the breaking point. 

So she left. She needed time to cool down, to regain her composure. 

She had only returned because she heard Brooks had arranged a marriage for Leopold. 

Why had she come back so hastily? Zoya's feelings for Leopold were complicated. 

She had only joined the Jian family at the age of 12, and initially, her attempts to get close to Leopold were merely to steal the affection he had for Lily. Leopold had doted on Lily, almost to the point of indulgence. Zoya was envious—she wanted a brother like that too. 

Later, when she discovered that Leopold had feelings for another girl, his first love and ex-wife Yang Xi, she began to flirt with him deliberately. 

She would drink from his cup, wear flimsy nightgowns to his study to ask for help with work, accompany him on business trips, and feign drunkenness during social events just to brush her lips against his... They weren't related by blood, so she didn't feel guilty. 

Leopold, on the other hand, probably did. When he realized their interactions were becoming inappropriate, he started to avoid her. 

But men are men. In the beginning, they care about their reputation. But once the distance between them crosses a certain line, avoiding it becomes impossible.

So, on yet another business trip, she let him cross that line. They went beyond boundaries. 

Leopold felt guilty toward Yang Xi and treated her better and better, which only made Zoya more resentful. So, she made sure Yang Xi saw them kissing. 

She didn't think she was in the wrong. If Leopold could cheat, it only meant he wasn't worth holding on to, and she was just helping Yang Xi leave a scumbag sooner. 

The only thing she might feel a bit guilty about was causing Yang Xi to lose her baby in a fit of rage.

The year after Leopold divorced Yang Xi, he wanted to make their relationship public. 

"I'll talk to Mom and Dad, see if we can have your household registration moved back to your hometown. You can change your surname back to Zhao, still go by Zhao Zoya, and go abroad for a few years. When you return, we can be together openly," he suggested. 

Back to her hometown? She'd rather die. She had fought so hard to become Zoya—how could she be knocked back to square one? 

And besides, Leopold was dreaming if he thought that even if she changed her name back to Zhao Zoya and even if Layla still liked her, they would ever allow her to marry into the family as their daughter-in-law.

She refused, so Leopold proposed a second plan. 

"I'll talk to Dad about managing our foreign projects, and you can come too. There, we can be together openly. When Dad's close to retirement and we return to take over L&S, by then, we could have a child, and everything would be set in stone." 

She refused that as well.

By then, she had already set her sights on Edmond. She wanted to marry the most outstanding man in Jiang Yu—she wanted to marry Edmond. 

Her flirtation with Leopold was nothing more than a way to win his favor, to use him as a stepping stone within L&S, to make herself more valuable, and ultimately, to become worthy of Edmond. 

She had always seen Leopold as a tool, a means to an end.

But when she heard Leopold had agreed to marry Wang Niannian, she rushed back. When she took the initiative to suggest spending the night at his place and he refused, she panicked. 

When she tried to kiss him and he pushed her away, telling her that from now on they would only be siblings, she panicked even more. 

Sometimes, Zoya would be honest with herself. 

Maybe, deep down, she had inherited her father's unfaithful and promiscuous nature. 

Her goals were clear—she was determined to break up Lily and Edmond, and eventually, she would marry Edmond. 

Her desire to marry Edmond had never wavered, but at the same time, the thought of Leopold marrying someone else made her uneasy. 

She was well aware of her ambitions. 

She wanted both men. 

This time, she had already come up with a plan to break up Lily and Edmond, a plan that was foolproof and would shatter their marriage. 

So, when Lily and Edmond flaunted their love at dinner, Zoya wasn't bothered—let Lily bask in her arrogance for a little while longer. 

The one thing she couldn't wait for was Leopold.

At the dining table, Director Wang and Brooks were deep in conversation, while Leopold didn't express any objections. The wine was almost finished; if nothing was said soon, this marriage would be finalized. Brooks needed the Wang family's bank, and once this was settled, there would be no turning back.

Leopold left the private room, smoked a cigarette in the corridor, then exited the restaurant, turned left, and walked to the D section of the parking lot.