Zoe's POV He looked me over one more time before turning away. "I'll give you some privacy if you want to call her." Then he left the room as he had promised. I went to the nightstand and picked up my phone. Just to be safe, I went to the bathroom to dial her number. On the second beep she answered. "Zoe?" Her voice was frantic."It's me." I affirmed. I heard her release a breath of relief on the other end before we delved into silence for a long minute. "Regina…" I said but I was promptly cut off. "What are you doing with Louis Rodriguez?" Her tone was hard. "What are you doing within a five mile radius of that fucking bastard?" Her voice rose. "Regina, it is…" "Confidential." She took the words right out of my mouth. "Like everything else in your life and I understand but this…" She heaved a sigh. "Is different. After everything he did to you. He is Abel's dad but that bastard does not know that he exists." "And I'd like to keep it that way. What did you tell him about Abel
Zoe's POVI really had neither the time nor the energy for a verbal sparring. I had too much on my plate and I could not put something as trivial as the attire I would wear for tonight, get me stressed. I took a calming breath before looking down at the boxes. "Thank you." I said finally, releasing the tension in my shoulders. A look of shock ghosted his features then he shrugged. We resumed work but my mind wandered. The previous day's revelation still sent shock waves through me and I had an itching urge to see Cathy, my mother. I was uneasy and gripped with anxiety. Whoever had put a bullet in her was still out there and would still be looking for a chance to strike. I had made sure she had security but I was still bothered. Then there was the fact that I would meet the D'Amato's today. I had figured out one part of the puzzle that Cathy D'Amato was Agatha Carter. I knew she was my mother but now came the tricky part. If the D'Amato's turned out to be her family and my grandpare
Zoe's POV"Whore!" The students behind me yelled. I knew who they were talking to, but I ignored them. They could all go to hell. I picked up my notebook, and I felt something hit my head."You can't be disgusting and deaf at the same time," came Nessa's nauseating voice. "You better answer me."She got no reply from me as I continued reading my notebook and even momentarily looked out the window, just to get on her nerves."Answer my sister when she is speaking to you!" An unexpected but familiar voice called out to me.Again, I refused to turn around and let out an exasperated sigh as I heard approaching footsteps. I turned around to face him. It was Louis Rodriguez, Nessa's older brother.The guy that girls would kill for. From his olive skin to his eyes that held the ocean to the unruly raven curls that adorned his head. With the build of a Greek god, yet he was just like the others. A rich, overbearing dick. Who loved to see me suffer.I watched in disgust as he came close enough
Zoe's POVI wandered a little bit, contemplating my life and everything else. I felt like was being pushed to the brink of insanity. This person didn't understand what it entailed to survive when you are dirt poor. Sure the part my mother took was not the most ideal but... she had three mouths to feed. She never showed affection towards us like she had when I was growing up. But I couldn't blame her, her job took all she had. She would come home exhausted and bruised. Her customers were monsters. I couldn't imagine; a depraved man letting out all his demented lust and violence on a woman beneath him. Sadly that was what my mother had signed up for.I couldn't completely see her as innocent or wise. She threw her life away for a bastard at nineteen. He had been twice her age. She ran away with him just to be used as an object for sex. She ran away again but she was already in deep. She was penniless but no matter how broke a woman was she could always pay in other ways. Luckily or unl
Zoe's POV The next day was a Thursday, and I made my way to school, dropping my brother off before heading to my own class. As I reached the gate, I paused and inhaled deeply, putting my nervousness to the back of my mind. I planned to thank Louis for saving me but then avoid him like a plague afterward. To be honest, I didn't want to see him at all. That would give me enough of an excuse not to have to talk to him. School was relatively uneventful, but for some reason, I felt like I was being watched. I hoped my intuition was wrong. He was not in our grade anyway, being two grades higher, so I had an advantage, but morally, a disadvantage. We had a test after recess, and when we were done, the teacher called me. "Zoe, take the scripts to my office." "Yes, ma'am." I took the script and made my way to her office. She followed me, and once I finished my task, I turned on my heels to go back to class. Around the corner, I was pulled by someone. "We need to talk," I heard the perso
Louis' POV I fucking hated her! Every fiber in my body wanted to make her suffer, break her down, and destroy her. Her presence drove me crazy, but sometimes not in the way I'd like. But that didn't matter. She had the bitch's blood in her veins. Her bitch of a mother was the reason mine was depressed and hurting. The woman without a status dared to destroy the person that held my family together. That woman bewitched my father to dance to her tunes. Now he barely spoke a word to the woman who had loved him for decades. Now the woman's daughter was in my school? The moment I saw her with her unruly brown hair and determined jade eyes, I knew I had a mission to see her mangled and helpless, totally at my mercy. My sister joined in, and being in the same economic class as the rest of the school helped. From her first day, it was either she submitted or she was punished; either way, she was the loser. She had not one friend after two years. All the other scholarship students had transf
Zoe's POV “Shit!“ I basically yelled at my reflection. On my neck and jaw, were hickeys. Conspicuous hickeys lined the places his mouth had touched. I had already missed a class and I am about to miss lunch. The thought of walking through school with them was enough to drive me crazy. “Ptttts, ptttts Zoe.“ I heard someone call me. I turned to see a student I didn't recognize. She had red hair that reminded me of Andrew. She flashed me a gummy smile and waved at me. I waved back and returned a limp smile. She walked out of her hiding spot. In her hand was a tube of foundation.“You might need this.“ I immediately used my left hand to cover the hickeys which made her giggle. “Don't worry, I already saw it.“ She put the tube into my hand wrapping my fingers around it. “I came to help.““Why? I don't even know you.“ “I am two grades ahead of you, call me Sandra.“ As she put out her hand for a handshake which I took with some trepidation.****I walked back to class. Every step was de
She was joking, she had to be. I turned to her. She had a hopeful, nervous smile forming on her quavering lips."You want to waste my time so bad," I scoffed and watched her smile disappear. "You would make up some shit and expect me to believe it like the idiot you take me for!" "I... but... I," she stumbled over her words as tears welled in her eyes. By now every one had eyes on us. Wondering what two school girls were discussing that led one to cry. "It's probably about a boy," I heard a woman murmur.I almost cringed at her words. A boy indeed! "Ok, ok," I finally said after a moment. "I'll listen." I took her by the hand and led her to the place we were before. Well,l she did help me, I reasoned inwardly.Once we settled, I waited for her to spill her guts."I know it's hard to believe," She whimpered wiping her tears. "Sometimes it feels like a dream even to me." "But how have they not snuffed you out." I was choosing to go along with her story. For now."I had planned it f