Chapter2
635 Words
The next morning Zoe tried to focus on her recipe test for the new dessert she wanted to add to her future menu. But her hands kept shaking, memories of the SUV screeching to a halt replaying over and over.
Her mother, Elaine, walked into the kitchen wrapped in her old purple robe.
“You look like you saw a ghost, my girl.”
“Nearly,” Zoe muttered.
Elaine raised a brow. “Max again?”
“No. Max is easy to block. This problem wears suits and drives cars that cost the price of a kidney transplant.”
Elaine blinked. “That…does not narrow it down in Johannesburg.”
Zoe sighed.
“I’ll tell you later.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Her stomach dropped.
She answered cautiously. “Hello?”
“Zoe Dunbar.”
She froze.
That voice.
“Robert?” she whispered.
“Good. You remember me.”
“What do you want?”
There was a pause. “Believe it or not…I want to apologize. Properly. Could you meet me this afternoon?”
“No.”
“Five minutes.”
“No.”
“I’ll support your restaurant.”
Zoe went silent.
She hadn’t told him a thing about her dream. Not even the name.
“How do you know about—”
“Meet me at Saxonworld Estate, 4 p.m. My assistant will send the address.”
He hung up.
Elaine stared at her. “Zoe. Why does a billionaire know where you live?”
“I don’t know!” she groaned.
“And why does he know about your restaurant?”
“I don’t know!”
“And why is he calling you?”
“I. Don’t. Know!”
Elaine nodded sagely. “It’s always the quiet ones. Be careful.”
4 PM — SAXONWORLD ESTATE
The estate gates alone made Zoe feel like she wasn’t supposed to be alive, let alone walking in.
She followed the marble foyer into an elegantly lit lounge.
And there he was.
Robert Thompson.
Looking like sin and power in a navy suit.
“You came,” he said.
“I shouldn’t have.”
“Probably not.”
He didn’t smile, but something in his eyes softened.
“I owe you the truth,” he said. “Someone has been targeting me. Yesterday wasn’t an accident.”
“So I was almost killed because of you?”
His jaw tightened. “Yes. And I’m sorry. But that’s why I wanted to ask—do you notice anything strange? Messages? Calls? People following you?”
“No,” Zoe whispered. “Nothing.”
“Good.”
His eyes scanned her face again—careful, deliberate, unsettling.
“You’re safe,” he said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Her heart skipped. “Why would you care about my safety?”
He hesitated.
Then stepped closer.
“I knew your father.”
Her breath vanished.
“What?”
“He helped my family years ago. When we were in trouble. I owe him…a debt.”
Zoe felt her knees weaken. Her father had passed away five years ago.
“You’re lying,” she whispered.
“No. And I’ll protect you. Even if you hate me.”
She opened her mouth. “I don’t hate you.”
He stilled.
The room changed.
The air thickened.
But before anything could happen, a door slammed open.
Nick, his friend, burst in.
“Rob! It’s your father—Joanne is saying he collapsed again—”
Robert was already moving, grabbing his keys.
He paused, breath harsh, eyes locked on Zoe.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
He was gone in seconds.
Zoe stood alone in a billionaire’s mansion, heart hammering, world spinning.
She had no idea what was happening.
But this was only the beginning.
- Writer
