Chapter 17 Chapter 17. Zoria Abandoned by Her Mother
"The fetus showed signs of preterm birth." Evander handed Zoria a prescription and reminded her to take the medicine for the next few days.
He looked into Zoria’s tired eyes and sighed. Evander passed both the prescription and the medicine to her, then casually asked, "Your left hand was seriously injured, why was Zephyr not by your side to take care of you?"
Zoria put the medicine into her bag without paying attention and simply said, "He wanted to take care of Faye."
Evander understood immediately. Zephyr was a selfish male. The last time, Evander had wanted to take Zoria away from Hawthorne Castle, but Zephyr had refused and even threatened him. As a result, Zoria had been injured right after he left.
Unfortunately, he was only an outsider and could not interfere in their lives. Reluctantly, he asked, "The two of you could not live in peace together, so why not sever the bond?"
"He used my father to threaten me." Zoria closed her eyes, hiding the emotions in them.
"Zephyr truly was a bastard!" Evander could not hold back his curse, then he blamed himself, "It is all because I am useless. If I had convinced my parents to rescue you from Zephyr, you would not have to suffer so much."
Zoria gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
In the past two months, too many things had happened in the city of Cygnus. Everhart had been dismissed from his position, while Zephyr had become an Alpha no one dared to offend. No one at this time would confront him.
Zoria also did not want to implicate the members of Valor. She had already caused Everhart’s downfall, so she did not want Valor to suffer any further because of her own foolishness.
When Evander asked about the injury on her hand, Zoria only said she had fallen on her own, not daring to tell the truth for fear that he would go after Zephyr to avenge her.
"Right now, your pregnancy was unstable and you could miscarry at any time. You must be careful and continue your weekly prenatal checkups as before."
"I know, thank you, Evander." Zoria lowered her head to look at her belly and felt it had grown slightly larger. When she thought of the baby growing inside her, her heart finally felt lighter.
Evander patted Zoria’s head, then suddenly remembered something, his expression growing heavier. "Zoria, if there is anything that makes you unhappy, share it with me."
Zoria did not quite understand what Evander meant, so she only nodded. In her entire life, the thing that saddened her most was her father being imprisoned. Could there truly be anything else that would make her unhappier than that?
Evander said nothing more, only reminded Zoria to be careful on her way home.
Zoria walked alone down the street. The sunlight fell on her, yet it brought her no warmth. On the contrary, the cold inside her only deepened. She shivered, wrapped her arms around herself, her bewildered eyes fixed on the flow of traffic.
She stood dazed at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to take her home. While waiting, she suddenly noticed a familiar figure. Her eyes stung, and by instinct she almost called out "Mom", but when she saw Juliette standing beside an unfamiliar male, the lump rising in her throat blocked all sound from leaving her lips.
Juliette was choosing rings at a jewelry store, while the strange male stood close to her, his arm wrapped around her waist with intimacy. It was easy to see that their relationship was far from ordinary.
It seemed she felt someone watching her from behind, for she turned and saw Zoria. A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.
Juliette said a few words to the male beside her, then walked toward Zoria. Seeing Juliette come closer, Zoria’s eyes brimmed red and her heart ached sharply. She wanted to run, but her feet felt nailed to the ground, refusing to move.
"What are you doing here?" Juliette asked, her voice distant, as though addressing a stranger on the street.
Zoria tried to put on a brave face, smiling. "Mommy, I…"
"Do not call me mommy." Juliette frowned, clear impatience showing on her face.
"I have severed the bond with your father. Everhart has nothing to do with me anymore, and neither do you."
With the increasingly complex blending between humans and werewolves, severing the bond was no longer impossible, nor did it render couples inseparable except by death as before. As long as both sides voluntarily agreed to cut the bond or one could prove the other had committed a serious fault, they could part ways with ease.
Zoria listened to Juliette’s words and could hardly believe this was the same person who had once embraced her and protected her.
"Everhart has collapsed and I cannot bury my life for your father and you anymore. Zoria, remember this well, do not come looking for me in the future, do not ruin my new life." With that, Juliette pulled a bank card from her bag.
"Out of respect for the fact that you are still my daughter, I will give you five hundred thousand. Take it, and let this be the end of our connection."
Zoria lowered her head, not looking at the bank card Juliette held out, but only at the diamond ring on her finger.
That ring was worth up to 1.5 million.
Impatience began to show on Juliette’s face. She tried to grab Zoria’s hand and force the card into it. But unexpectedly, Zoria stepped back, and the card immediately fell to the ground.
Juliette looked displeased, then suddenly seemed to think of something. The corners of her lips curved into a mocking smile. "You are still staying by Zephyr’s side, aren’t you? Zoria, how could you be so pathetic? I feel ashamed that you are my daughter."
She herself felt truly pathetic, and she was also the disgrace of Everhart. If Juliette were to know that Zoria was carrying Zephyr’s child, she would feel even more ashamed to be her mother.