Cherise stared at Damien, eyes wide. âRaymondâs gone?!â
Damien patted her back. âYep. It was an urgent situation. I have limited connections in Ziphon, so I asked Zac for help. Thatâs why he was grumpy on his wedding night..â
Cheriseâs mind drew a blank, âBut⦠how?â
Though Damien and she werenât there to guard Raymond, Mr. Kolson, Mr. Hampson, and Blake were!
These werenât just any men; they were practically ninjas! And Raymond was barely alive after those injuries. He couldnât just walk out, right?
Damien sighed, pulling Cherise close. âItâs Gwenn. She found someone to fake being your dad, fooled everyone, then switched him with Raymond.â
Cherise feels like sheâs been hit by a brick. âWhat?! Soâ¦â
Lyraâs voice barely a whisper, âSo Zac left last night⦠not because of me?â
Zachary slumped beside her and managed a weak smile. âSpot on, Lyra.â
The truth slapped her like a cold fish.
Zachary was in the middle of a crisis, and she threw divorce at him like a ticking bomb? Seriously, Lyra?
Her cheeks burned with shame. Wish she could vanish right into the floor.
Zachary smiled at Lyra and said softly, âLyra, come sit with me.â
Lyra hummed and walked over, sitting a little further away than usual.
She was shy but always careful not to upset him.
Zachary saw the gap and sighed.
He remembered preaching to his friends in school about maintaining a respectful one- meter buffer with girls they werenât close to. Now, his own wife mirrored that same cautiousness.
âLyra,â he said gently, âwhat did you just call me?â
âZac,â she mumbled, her cheeks like blushing apples.
Zachary playfully mimicked Damienâs action, stretching his arm and pulling her closer by the shoulder.
âHey, itâs time for new names! Weâre married now, remember?â
Lyraâs face practically glowed red. âUh⦠Zacharyâ¦?â
Zachary laughed. âSilly goose, we said âI doâ yesterday! How about hubby or something sweet like that?â
Lyra trembled in his embrace, then looked up, her face radiating shyness. âHubbyâ¦â she whispered, almost inaudible.
Her blushing checks were as tempting as ripe berries. Zachary couldnât resist gently tilting her chin and kissing her lips tenderly.
Lyra held onto the sofa, her body frozen yet still.
Cherise and Damien exchanged a knowing glance and then quietly made their way out.
Seated in the car, Cherise spoke in a low voice, âDad has a soft spot for Gwenn. If he discovered that Gwenn used him to provide cover for the monster who raped Mom, he would devastate. Perhaps we should keep it under wraps for the time being.â