Chapter 50:
Did the recorder really exist? Was Olivia bluffing? Zoey’s mind was in turmoil. She was clearly in a vulnerable position—her hands and feet tied—and yet she claimed to have hidden a recorder under the coffee table? But then, she had survived a jump into the ocean… Zoey couldn’t make sense of it. His thoughts raced, desperately trying to figure out whether to take the risk of calling her bluff.
Just as Zoey was about to make his decision, Olivia gasped, as if remembering something crucial. “Oh, right, my recorder automatically saves and uploads to the cloud every ten minutes. Do you have a laptop?”
Evan immediately ordered someone to fetch a laptop. Zoey’s face drained of color. The mental defenses he had been clinging to began to crumble.
The laptop arrived quickly. Olivia logged into her cloud storage with practiced ease. “Here it is,” she said with a confident smile, tapping the screen in front of him.
Zoey’s heart skipped a beat, and his breath caught in his throat.
Before anyone could react, Olivia lifted her gaze to Zoey, her smile turning icy. “Don’t play it!!” Zoey lunged forward, grabbing the laptop and clutching it to his chest as if it were the only thing keeping him from certain doom. “Ms. Frost, let’s talk this over…”
Olivia sneered, her eyes glinting with determination. “You tried to rape me, and you wanted to keep me imprisoned. If I hadn’t jumped from the second floor into the sea, would I be sitting here now?”
Zoey’s face twisted in frustration, panic creeping into his voice. “You misunderstood…”
“Enough nonsense!” Olivia snapped, her voice sharp and unforgiving. “Have the guts to open the laptop and let everyone listen!”
Zoey’s desperation intensified. “Ms. Frost, I have elderly parents and children to support! Please, let me go! I’ll kneel and apologize!”
Olivia’s fury flared. “Let you go? Did you ever think of letting me go? I’m an only child. My parents would be heartbroken if they knew that disgusting creep almost violated me.” Her hands balled into fists, her voice growing louder. “Someone, grab the laptop.”
Zoey, sensing his impending defeat, hugged the laptop tightly to his chest, his eyes wide with fear. “I was trying to save you! I… I admit I said some vulgar things, but I was joking! Forgive my momentary lapse in judgment.”
Olivia’s gaze was filled with disgust. “Die, you dog! Forgive you? Unless you castrate yourself right now, I won’t forgive you!”
The room fell silent for a moment, everyone stunned by her fury. Zoey, no longer the confident vice president, now appeared a man cornered. He tried to salvage what little dignity he had left. “Olivia! Don’t push it! Nothing actually happened between us! I happened to pass by, and I said a few things while rescuing you. Is that a crime?”
“You were joking while groping my leg?” Olivia’s voice was dripping with disbelief.
“I was checking for injuries,” Zoey stammered, but the feeble excuse only made his actions seem worse.
The verbal sparring had inadvertently revealed the truth—Zoey had indeed been to the house and had assaulted Olivia. His attempt to downplay his actions only made it clearer to everyone in the room. The employees looked at him with contempt, their judgment unmistakable.
Ann Maxwell, who had been watching the exchange with growing confusion, now stood frozen in shock. She had heard the words, but it was only now, as the full weight of Zoey’s actions hit her, that she truly understood the man she had trusted. She was utterly stunned.
