Wild Young Miss: Mister, Let's Kiss!

Zoey bit her lower lip, staring at Zion straight in the eye. Her hands were behind her back, fingers fiddling against each other as she looked down. 

"Because Dad wouldn't let me be with you and Mom." Zoey answered in a low tune. 

"Why do you think so?" 

"You've seen him. Dad has never liked me, but being alone all these years..." Zoey choked and she took a deep breath before she looked back up. 

"... I just want to spend more time with the people who treated me like their family even though we're not blood related. Even if the company has been doing well, there's always something that's missing."

Zoey added, explaining the reason why she 'wanted to come home'. Zion's eyes softened as he sighed heavily seeing how vulnerable his sister was. 

"So, you used me so you can come home? You know that's unnecessary, right?" Zion shook his head, but his tone was gentle and lenient. 

"I'm sorry." Zoey looked down once again, her shoulders relaxed after taking a deep breath. 

"You know you're always welcome. Dad is just being Dad, but I know he likes your presence here." 

Slowly, Zion reached Zoey's head and patted it lightly. His heart ached for her that she had been enduring being alone all these years. 

Although he had offered her many times that she should come home instead of living inside her office, Zion couldn't blame her for rejecting his offer. He understood Zoey and her reason; he respected it. 

Thus, Zion could overlook this harmless lie. Zoey rarely expressed herself, and he would accept her because they were family. 

"Stay here for as long as you like. Don't be afraid of Dad, your brother is here as well." Zion reassured with a smile.

His heart melted when Zoey looked up and suddenly jumped for a hug. Zion patted Zoey's back, comforting her and making sure she feels that she's safe with him around. 

"Welcome home, Zoey." Zion whispered as he felt Zoey's head nod slightly. 

*****

Shortly after Zion left, Zoey entered her room. The room was still the same; everything pink and girly.

From the bed that was designed for a princess, the large vanity mirror, and teddy bears, Zoey discerned that Sarah and Nanny Jean had been maintaining this room. Even the coldest heart would be moved by this. 

After all, no one knew whether Zoey would ever come back. Even during rare family gatherings that Zoey would attend, she never slept over in this place. 

"Ahh...  nostalgic." Zoey expressed as she jumped on the soft bed with her arms open wide. 

Zoey then rolled on her back and stared at the white ceiling. Slowly, the corner of her lips curled into a smirk. 

"How stupid." She muttered, recalling Zachery's face when Zion confronted him. 

Surely, Zachery didn't expect hearing such strong words from his beloved son. Although Zoey felt bad for manipulating Zion, these people should see Zachery's true nature by themselves. 

It may look awful to some, but Zoey wouldn't change her mind. In her previous life, Zoey held herself back because she didn't want to ruin the superficial happy family. 

But in this lifetime, Zoey realized how wrong she was. The peace in this family, it was all temporary. 

'With Zachery's selfishness, Zion and Sarah's happiness wouldn't last long. Even though my problem with Cora's safety changed, my brother and his mother are not safe either.' Zoey thought internally, delving deeper in her train of thoughts as she reviewed Zachery's personality. 

'Who knows what he would do?' 

As Zoey was deep in her thoughts, she snapped back to reality upon hearing her phone. She turned her head to her back that was on the bedside table before crawling to get her phone. 

When she successfully picked up her phone, Zoey knitted her brows seeing Angelo's name on the screen. 

"Right... they haven't heard from me the entire day." Zoey's shoulder shuddered as she imagined Angelo berating her. 

"Ahem!" Zoey cleared her throat, sitting right up as she readied her ears before answering the call. 

"Yes?" 

As soon as Zoey answered, she immediately kept the phone from her ear from a safe distance. However, unlike her expectation, silence came from the other end of the line. 

'Huh?' 

Zoey furrowed her brows as she cautiously placed the phone in front of her ear. 

"Everything good?" She asked, raising her brows briefly. "Hey, can you hear me?"

After three seconds of silence, Zoey's red alarms rang inside her head. Her heart started pounding as her mind started thinking of the worst. 

"Do you think I am the CEO of your company?!" Two seconds later, Zoey was nearly deafened by Angelo's enraged voice. 

"Do you think I didn't know you'll put the phone away...?!" After his first scream, Angelo let out a series of his dismay at Zoey's behavior as his boss. 

Meanwhile, Zoey put the phone away but she could still hear Angelo's voice. Even if her ears are safe now, they had already been inflicted damage upon. 

"Jeez! Calm down, will you? I'm doing something important!" 

"So your company is not important?" Angelo was quick to reply that rendered Zoey speechless. 

"Geez! I know this will be s problem with establishing a company while settling things with your past." Angelo calmed down, scratching his head in distress as he assumed Zoey was doing something that was related to their enemy.

"That's why you're there." In a matter-of-fact tone, Zoey shrugged her shoulders as she didn't mind this misunderstanding. 

Angelo rolled his eyes at her answer. "Anyway, we do have a problem — a huge one." 

Zoey arched her right brow at the sudden change of mood and topic. "Problem?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she had all ears to listen to this dilemma that could be a crucial one. 

"Your friend, Cora, and that troublesome Ivan are dating. That crazy has snapped and is just doing whatever he wants to do — he has lost his mind! What more? They want to make me their teacher so they could communicate better and be lovey-dovey in front of me! I didn't sign up for this!"

"...."