Redemption: Second Chance Love

Chapter 02

"She dares to cheat on me?!"

Barbara liked Hayden being angry with Zoe, but she couldn't help but think he was being a hypocrite, if for all intents and purposes, he was the one cheating on Zoe!

"Hayden, maybe you misunderstood it... Zoe likes you so much. She wouldn't cheat on you like that."

He looked at Barbara and pointed at her phone.

"Does it look like she loves me? Look how that man is holding her hand!" He took a deep, angry breath and went back into the living room, grabbing his jacket and drinking the entire contents of the glass of whiskey on the table. "I'm going to that b***h right now! Where is she?"

Barbara bit her lip and said that Zoe was at the General Hospital, because a friend of hers had sent her that photo when she thought those two made a beautiful couple.

Without further ado, Hayden left and went after his wife, however, when he got there, Zoe had already left. He took out his cell phone, looked up her contact information and clicked on 'call'.

'This number is either disconnected or outside of your coverage area.'

Zoe had blacklisted Hayden's number!

"Oh, damn you!"

Even though Hayden didn't want to admit it, he felt jealous when he saw Zoe with another man. During the whole time they were together, she only had eyes for him.

"What a liar! She said she loved me, but she was lying!" He punched the car seat. "I'm such an i***t! Of course, she was only with me for the money!"

That night, Maxton took Zoe to his sister's house, after all, she had been hurt and he didn't want her to be alone. Zoe hadn't said she was married.

"I only got hurt a little, it's not that bad!" She complained, but Bethany Steele shook her head. She was two years younger than Maxton, so she had memories of the good and sweet Zoe.

"No, no! You got hurt! What if some trauma shows up later? Besides…" she pouted. "I'm tired of being alone! I just got to this city and it would be nice to have company. Female company! Max is so annoying!"

"I'm still here, you know?" He asked and the three of them laughed. Zoe ended up accepting the invitation.

Zoe talked a lot with Bethany, until sleepness took over her. Meanwhile, Hayden was looking for her around the city.

"Sorry, sir, we can't find Mrs. Javernick," Hayden's personal assistant, Jase Pierce, said, his head down.

"She has to be somewhere!"

"Sir... I'm sorry to say this, but... Madam must be very hurt by what happened. You announced your engagement to another woman."

Hayden, who had his eyes closed, holding his head in his hands, while resting his elbows on his knees, looked up at the assistant.

"Do you feel sorry for her, Pierce? You know what that b***h did!"

Yes, Jase had been informed, but he couldn't believe it!

"I’m sorry, sir."

"Go find her!"

Jase left the room and then called the investigator.

"Please tell me you have news!"

"Yes! I was going to call you! I'll email you the evidence. It has videos and everything!"

The assistant immediately opened the email and there it was. He read and watched everything.

In the morning, he tried to contact his boss, but Hayden wasn't home and wasn't answering the phone.

Zoe and Bethany went for a walk. After Bethany insisted, Zoe ended up telling her that she was unemployed and, therefore, had no money.

Bethany didn't want to go into more detail, so she told Zoe that she wanted to go shopping and, of course, when they got to the stores, she said that it wouldn't be any fun for her to just pick out items.

"I can't afford anything here, Beth!"

Bethany rolled her eyes.

"Come on! You said you wanted to see me smile. Well... That'll make me so happy!" Bethany grabbed Zoe's arm. "Oh, please! We haven't seen each other in so long... Are you going to turn me down? I was like your little sister!"

Zoe ended up accepting the kindness, especially since she had nothing and would soon need to tell Maxton's sister the truth.

Barbara was shopping because she wanted to go out to dinner with Hayden. She would take advantage of the fact that he was even more angry with Zoe and try to seduce him.

Maxton decided to have lunch with his sister and Zoe.

"Oh, I forgot my cell phone at the reception desk! I'll be right back!" Bethany said and ran off before Zoe could offer to go in her place.

That's how Barbara saw Zoe with the same man from the night before in the photo and, of course, she didn't waste any time. She called Hayden.

"Hay, you said you were looking for Zoe... I saw her at a restaurant."

Hayden had answered the phone without looking at the screen because he thought it might be Zoe. He was in a bad mood.

"Where? Are you sure it's her?"

Barbara took a photo and sent it to him. Hayden roared on the other end of the line.

"Sorry, Hay..."

But Hayden had already hung up the phone and was heading to the restaurant.

"Hayden is going to teach that b***h a lesson!" Barbara said softly, smiling, and waited.

When Hayden arrived at the restaurant, Bethany was already there and he knitted his eyebrows, since it would be strange to have a third person there, on a date!

"Zoe!" He approached and the three at the table looked at him.

Zoe's eyes widened, paralyzed, but then she recovered and looked at him indifferently.

"What do you want, Mr. Javernick?"

He grabbed her arm tightly. Maxton, who didn't know who that person was, didn't like it at all and pushed the stranger away. This only made Hayden angrier.

"Who are you?" Maxton asked.

"I'm her husband!" Hayden replied and looked back at Zoe. "You're going to come home with me, now!"

Bethany stood up.

"You're not taking her!" She said and Hayden glared at the girl.

"Don't get involved in this, miss!"

"Don’t yell at my sister!" Maxton retorted, stepping in front of Hayden. "Leave, or I’ll call security!"

Hayden punched Maxton, and Zoe finally stood up, pushing Hayden away.

"Are you defending your lover?"

"Shut up!" She pointed a finger at Hayden. "The only adulterer here is you, Hayden Javernick!"

Hayden opened his mouth to respond, but what could he say? Even though he had nothing going on with Barbara, that’s what Zoe believed in. He was the one who made sure she believed that!

The restaurant security guards approached them.

"What’s going on here?"

"This man came to harass us!" Bethany pointed at Hayden. "He even assaulted my brother!"

"He’s my wife’s lover!" Hayden defended himself.

"That’s a lie!" Zoe protested, taking a deep breath. "Max is not my lover. And furthermore: you and I are getting divorced! If you can get engaged to another woman, I can have friends!"

With that, she walked past him, and he couldn’t grab her arm because the security guards didn’t allow it.

Due to the scene, Jase managed to find his boss.

"Mr. Javernick!"

The guards didn’t hold Hayden for long. He was walking like a raging bull, scanning the place, searching for Zoe.

"Zoe’s around here! Find her!"

"Mr. Javernick! I need you to see this!" Jase said.

"Can’t you see I don’t have time, Jase?" Hayden snapped, harshly. "I’ve been too lenient with her. If I were a killer like she is, I’d have killed her. Because that’s what she deserves! To die!"

Jase shook his head in disbelief, horrified by Hayden’s words.

"It’s about the fire! Please, sir!" Hearing that, Hayden stopped in his tracks and turned to face his assistant.

"What did you say?"

"It’s about the fire, sir! Look, look!"

"I already know everything I need to, Jase! Now move and go after Zoe!"

Jase stepped in front of his boss.

"No! You’re blaming Mrs. Javernick for what happened… but I have proof here that it wasn’t her!"

Hayden shook his head, but Jase opened a video and turned the screen toward him. It showed Zoe, standing up from her chair and walking away. Even though the image was from a distance, she was clearly recognizable.

After that, another figure appeared. Hayden squinted his eyes and grabbed the phone, bringing it closer to his face.

"Bar-Barbara..." he whispered.

"There’s more, sir." Jase said, showing all the other evidence, which clearly revealed that Zoe was friends with Willard. He was in love with her, but it was Barbara who was chasing him.

Barbara had been rejected more than once and finally decided to get rid of Zoe. However, she didn’t count on Willard entering the burning building and never coming out, while Zoe was rescued and survived.

Hayden’s heart ached.

The first time he had seen Zoe was when his brother sent him a picture of her, reading. He found her stunning, but when Willard told him that the beautiful woman was his girlfriend, Hayden felt disappointed. Still, he would never covet his brother’s girl.

When the investigation into Willard’s death pointed to Zoe as the culprit, Hayden was so blinded by anger that he decided to get close to her just to make her suffer.

During that time, he struggled internally between letting himself fall for her or seeking revenge. On one hand, the woman living with him was wonderful and captivating. Then the memory of what she had supposedly done would flood his mind, and he would pull back.

Jase was on the phone when Hayden snapped out of it.

"Sir, Mrs. Javernick is nearby." Jase smiled. "Talk to her... Maybe, maybe she’ll forgive you!"

Jase knew how much Hayden had wronged her, but he also knew that his boss cared for her. The man just hadn’t allowed himself to follow those feelings.

Hayden ran out of the mall. Barbara, who spotted Hayden, was wearing high heels, which prevented her from running fast. She tried to follow Hayden, but Jase stepped in her way, blocking her.

"Get out of my way, you i***t!"

"You’re not going to poison Mr. Javernick anymore!"

Zoe was about to get into Bethany’s car.

"Zoe!" Hayden called out. She instinctively lifted her head and looked around. When she saw him, Zoe’s expression hardened, and she turned back toward the car, which had its door open.

However, because of that little disruption, she got distracted and didn’t have time to get into the vehicle before being hit by a car.