Chapter 35: Keep Provoking

Seeing that Patricia was about to run out of patience, Zac said with a smile, "Don't you know that there
is always deception in war?"

"Well..."

Looking at Zac's handsome face, a tinge of bitterness settled in her heart. He was absolutely correct.

War did beget deception.

And she had already been defeated by him.

Hadn't she? Growing up, she had always heard that when two people were in a relationship, the one
who gave their heart first lost the race.

If so, then she was the loser in this game called love.

And although she didn't want to be like this, she couldn't change the fact that she had given her heart
to Zac at the tender age of six when he had saved her life.

Now, she wanted nothing more than to retrieve her heart; she just didn't know when that would happen.

After Zac's statement and her train of thought, Patricia's mood suddenly changed.

This left Zac confused and wondering what had caused this shift in her temperament.

‘Wasn't she just provoking me and backing me into a corner? Women really are complicated! It is so
hard to guess what they are thinking!’ Well, he didn't want to guess! And given that he still had a heavy
workload awaiting him back at the office, he decided to finish eating quickly so he could return.

Having made up his mind, Zac continued eating.



Patricia, who was now in a foul mood, became more irritable when she saw Zac happily eating his
meal.

Annoyed, she picked back up her chopsticks and began eating again.

So...

The battle for the food continued.

Faster and faster, they continued to snatch food off the plate until they started grabbing the plates
directly.

In no time, all the food had been devoured.

Tenderly patting her stomach, Patricia thought to herself, ‘Oh no, I can't believe I've over-eaten!' So, on
the one hand, Patricia was in a bad mood, but on the other, there was Zac, sitting there thinking, ‘I can't
believe that I was provoked by this woman and ended up eating so much!’ Strangely enough, he had
enjoyed eating in such a manner.

"Now that we have finished eating, you can leave now!"

Patricia said coldly, glancing at Zac, who had packed up the now empty dishes but made no attempt to
leave her side.

Upon hearing her remark, Zac silently picked up the bag, turned around, and walked toward the door.

Just before reaching the door, he spun around and faced her.

"After you're discharged from the hospital, go directly to the Oakleaf Villa.You are to stay there from
now on, as there's no going back to the Sampson family.As for the matter of the Sampson family, leave
it all to me.I don't want you interfering!"



When Patricia heard this, she instantly became confused, wondering what he could have meant by
those words! What was he implying when he said she couldn't return to the Sampson family house?
And what did he mean when he stated that she should not interfere in the affairs of the Sampson
family? That was her home.

Her grandfather had protected it with his life.

So, why couldn't she go back! What exactly had he done to the Sampson family? With a heavy heart,
she was about to question him on what he'd just said to her, but he cut her off by saying, "I'll be here by
dinner.Wait for me."

After saying that, Zac rubbed his nose and disappeared from the room as if fleeing from her.

After Zac left, Patricia's mind was in a state of frenzy.

What did Zac mean just now? What on earth did he do to the Sampson family? These thoughts kept
running through her mind, but Patricia had no idea what Zac's intentions were towards her family.

Well, forget it! Even if Zac was planning to do something, she had no way of currently stopping him.

And even if she went there, her presence would only cause more trouble. Moreover, some people
didn't want her coming back to the Sampson family house again! But, despite knowing this, she still
couldn't help anguish over this thought, which placed her in a melancholy mood.

Feeling like this was only human nature, more so for those with a kind heart.

Such persons couldn't help but treat others with compassion, even after being hurt time and again by
those same individuals.

In fact, those kindhearted people didn't want to believe that their graciousness and tolerance would
make them easy targets for others.



In actuality, this led others to believe they were too naive, and this opened them up to worse bullying
and other opportunities to be hurt by others taking advantage of them.

That afternoon, as Zac had promised, he showed up, with food in tow.

To Patricia, it felt like a repeat of their lunch.

Zac had unpacked their meals, cleaned her hands and face and then seated himself opposite her.

"Let's eat!"

Zac's words were still as cold as ever.

But what he really wanted to say was, ‘Let the competition begin!’ He couldn't say this out loud, but he
was looking forward to seeing Patricia re-challenge him for the food in front of them, as she had done
during lunch.

He seemed to enjoy the feeling of vying with her for the food.

But to his dismay, she simply poked at the food with her chopsticks without eating anything.He figured
something must be on her mind bothering her.

"You should eat something.You haven't fully recovered yet, so the more nutritious food you can eat, the
better! " Zac said, and placed a piece of braised pork into her bowl.

Taking in his actions and words of concern, Patricia thought now might be the best time to have a
proper conversation with Zac.

Putting down her chopsticks, she looked at Zac.

Her eyes shone bright, but hidden behind them was a well of anxiety.



Seeing her like this, Zac knew that Patricia had something to say to him.

He put down his chopsticks, looked at her indifferently before he asked, "Is there something you want
to say to me?"

Feeling a little embarrassed, Patricia touched her nose and thought, 'Was I so obvious?’

When Patricia continued to remain silent, Zac prompted her by saying, "Even if you can't say it now,
you can always tell me in the future.But at that time, I may not be patient enough to sit and listen to
what you have to say!"

‘Damn it! This bastard is threatening me again!’ Although she cursed Zac in her heart, she suppressed
her anger and closed her eyes tightly while she composed herself.

When she re-opened her eyes, she was calm, once again.

"Zac, as you wished, I agreed to our divorce.And as you requested, I had an abortion! Now, we have
nothing tying us together anymore.Going forward, I do not want you interfering in my life.I want to live
for myself in the future, which means I can't have you there affecting my every decision.Although I can
tell that some of your actions are sincere, I cannot accept this kindness from you."

As Zac's expression hadn't changed nor had he lost his temper with her, she felt like she could
continue.

"With regards to the Sampson family, they are still my family, and I will continue to protect them, like my
grandfather before me.So, I hope you wouldn't do anything that could hurt my family."

"Even after they've treated you like this, you'll still protect them?"

After hearing what Patricia had to say, Zac felt heartbroken.



'How could she act so ungrateful after everything I've done for her!’

"Yes"

Patricia answered firmly, the determination evident in her eyes.

Hearing her affirmative answer, Zac became furious.

Did she not know that she would have died had he not taken her away that day? She couldn't be so
naive to think that the Sampson family would care about her life and would just let her go that easily?
Even after all those things that Lyndsy had done to her, Sullivan didn't stop.

Since then, Zac knew that in their eyes, Patricia's life meant nothing! « But this stupid woman couldn't
even understand this! Zac really didn't know how she had survived in that household throughout her
time there.


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