Crises in Love (Zora and Jaylan)

Sure enough, as I suspected, Zora wasn't out house hunting as she had claimed. She was meeting a man, a guy in his thirties, broad-shouldered and muscular. They seemed to know each other pretty well and walked into a café together.

Coincidentally, I was familiar with that café. It had a backyard parking lot and a backdoor entrance. I parked my car in the lot and briskly entered the shop. The place was set up with private booths, and the main hall was usually empty. People came here to discuss business, so they preferred the privacy of the booths.

I headed straight upstairs where I had spotted them entering a booth. For convenience of eavesdropping, I sat down on a side adjacent to them and ordered a cup of coffee. Because the booths were not completely enclosed at the top, the sound insulation was not so great. I could clearly hear the man's deep voice coming from the neighboring booth. "What do you want, Zora?"

"I need your help!" Zora's voice was clear and crisp, "You must help me find out about something."

The man chuckled, "I knew it! You wouldn't call me unless you needed something."

"Can you not talk like that? You are the only one I trust!" Zora's voice was full of resentment, "Do you think this is easy for me?"

"Whether it's easy or not, I don't know. But when you were living the high life, I was nothing to you. You said you trust me? Ha! I was just a puppet, at your beck and call!" The man's voice was bitter, "I must have owed you in a past life!"

"Enough!" Zora snapped back, "There's no telling who owes who. When you were spending my money, you didn't complain this much."

I was taken aback. Zora had the audacity to have another man, all while spending Jaylan's money. She sure knew how to play the game.

"Cut the crap, Zora. Quit keep bringing up that little money you've given me. Out with it, what do you want? Who do you want me to look into?" The man seemed to have relented, asking her to get to the point. There was a pause before Zora spoke again, "This woman. I need you to find out who she is."

I realized that Zora must be talking about Marissa.

"Ha! Who else could it be? It must be that dog's mistress. I knew it, he's no saint. If he can lay his hands on you, his own maid, he'd definitely not sit idle."

The man spat, a tone of disdain in his voice, "In my opinion, it's a waste of time to investigate her. You should just steal his money, that's the most practical thing to do! Next time he uses your card to transfer money, just keep it. We can run away together. He's obviously loaded, what can he do to us?"

I was shocked. Turns out Jaylan had been using Zora to launder his money, no wonder she was so loyal to him.

"Don't talk nonsense. Something must have gone wrong for him to treat me this way. After all, I have given him..." Zora choked up, "You're just short-sighted, only seeing what's in front of you!"

"Bullshit, you think Jaylan will actually marry you? Even a fool can see that he's just using you!" The man's words were harsh, but they were the truth.

However, the truth sometimes hurts.

Zora angrily retorted, "Shut up! If you can't help me, I'll ask someone else for help!"

"Damn it, Zora! Do you think you can play with me? I've been protecting you since school, even followed you to Goldenvale Town. You think I'm your tool, don't you?" The man was losing his temper now, "Zora don't push your luck. I, Maddox, am a man of dignity. I've let you off the hook all this while because of our past. But don't forget how you got to Goldenvale Town!"

As soon as he said this, Zora immediately shushed him and in a hushed voice said, "Keep your voice down, the walls have ears!"