"Apparently, Zane had a first love back in junior high," the caller informed. Steven's disappointment vanished as he asked incredulously, "Really?"

The caller feigned offense. "Don't believe me?"

"Well, it looks like Zane and I aren't so different after all," Steven mused triumphantly. He had been convinced that Zane was as perfect as Annalise had made him out to be. He instructed the person on the other line, "Find out more information on this." "Got it."

Steven's spirits were visibly lifted after he hung up. He just had to be patient for a little while longer.

Once Zane's first love showed up, Zane's loyalty would sway, and he was bound to hurt Annalise the way Steven had. When that happened, Annalise would be Steven's for the taking.

It took superhuman effort on Steven's part to will himself to be patient and not rush things along. At the end of the day, nothing else mattered as long as he could get Annalise back.

He took a deep breath. When his gaze fell on Zane again, it was full of mockery. The man was still hung up on a mysterious first love he had back in junior high, yet he claimed to love Annalise. He was not so much a fine specimen as he was a smooth liar. Not that Steven should tell Annalise about this now. He had to first gather enough evidence so that when he exposed Zane's true colors to her, she would be so disappointed that she'd give up on Zane entirely!

A vile thought crossed Steven's mind at that moment: if he couldn't have Annalise, no one else could. He would never admit this out loud, but ever since he lost Annalise, he felt like he was swallowing acid whenever he saw her living happily with Zane.

It wasn't until Zane had finished his work that he picked up his phone and called Shane's father, Carlisle Winslow.

When the call went through, Carlisle greeted politely on the other line, "Yes, Mr. Huxham?"

"It seems your constituents have

little to no regard for Huxham Corporation," Zane said evenly, though itwas obvious he was displeased. "They even came by the company and picked a fight with one of our most important employees."

Carlisle chuckled as he explained, "No, that can be right. I, for one, have great respect for you, Mr.

Huxham Despite his courtesy, it et

wasn't hard to tell that he didn't mean a single word he said. He

might as well have been joking.noveldrama

He continued lightheartedly, "I would never dream of disrespecting your employees during normal business transactions, let alone raise my voice at them. I shudder at such crude behavior. There must have been a misunderstanding!" Zane narrowed his eyes. He heard only excuses from Carlisle but no solutions. He knew, of course, that Carlisle was merely pushing off the blame and trying to sweep things under the rug.

He had no plans to let that happen,

so he cut to the chase. "Is that so? In other words, even though your son instigated trouble in my company you have no intention of resolving this and merely want to brush this off as an accident. Is that it?"

Zane was no pushover. "And what if the employee in question forgives you and your son? Will you expect the rest of my employees to also overlook such matters in the future?" The smile on Carlisle's face slipped as he demanded, "How do you want me to resolve this, then?"

Shane was his son, and the employee in question was an irrelevant character. Why should he choose to side with the latter?

Zane let out an icy chuckle. Shane was at fault, to begin with, yet Carlisle refused to be held accountable for his son's misdemeanor and made it sound like Zane was in the wrong. Carlisle even had the nerve to be irritated by this confrontation.

Zane had never been one to waste time on matters like this. "I hope you won't interfere with this."

With that, he hung up. I was in the next room when I overheard Zane speaking on the phone. I could tell he was in a bad mood after that.

Setting my work aside, I walked up to him and asked in concern, "Is everything okay?"