CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93: WEARING THE WEDDING RING

It was unclear how long Jenson Forrest had been standing there, watching with cold eyes as she was bullied and cornered.

A chill crept into Zinnia Lawrence’s heart, and the coldness quickly ignited into anger. She suddenly struggled free and slapped the middle-aged man pulling her hard across the face.

SLAP!

The man was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage.

"How dare you hit me, you little bitch!"

He swung his hand toward Zinnia, who squeezed her eyes shut.

But the slap never landed. Instead, she heard a pained scream.

She opened her eyes to see Jenson’s tall figure standing in front of her.

He had the middle-aged man’s arm twisted behind his back. His handsome face was indifferent, but his imposing aura was enough to make the troublemakers hold their breath in fear.

"Let go of me, I..."

The man with the twisted wrist struggled, his face pale, but Jenson simply kicked him.

BANG!

The man was sent flying, crashing into the wall before collapsing to the ground.

Jenson raised his hand, and the man who had taken Zinnia’s phone, his face ashen, cautiously placed it back in his palm.

"Get lost!"

Jenson’s cold gaze swept over them. They clearly recognized him as someone not to be trifled with. Without even attempting to argue, they helped up their friend, who was drenched in a cold sweat from the pain, and scrambled away.

Zinnia had kept her head down. She only looked up when she felt Jenson’s gaze fall upon her.

She was about to say something, but then she saw Crystal Sutton and Katherine Rhodes walking toward them from behind Jenson.

Zinnia didn’t want to get entangled with them. She frowned, snatched her phone back from Jenson’s hand, and said, "Thanks for before. They’re looking for you, so you should go... Hey, what are you doing?"

Before she could finish, Jenson grabbed her wrist.

He began pulling her toward the exit, ignoring the shouts from behind them.

"Brother Jenson!"

"Jenson, where are you going? Come back!"

Jenson didn’t turn back. Thinking he might not have seen or heard them, Zinnia tugged at her hand to get his attention.

"They’re calling you."

"I’m not deaf."

Zinnia was speechless.

"Aunt, look..."

Watching their figures disappear, Crystal’s eyes reddened as she leaned against Katherine Rhodes’s shoulder in defeat.

Katherine stared grimly toward the door while patting Crystal’s back comfortingly.

"Crystal, don’t be sad. It’s not good for the baby."

"But it seems like Brother Jenson doesn’t want to divorce my sister, and he doesn’t want to get engaged to me either. There must still be feelings between them. He dragged my sister away without even a single glance back at me. Aunt, you saw it all."

Tears of sorrow streamed down Crystal’s face. She wiped them away, her expression conflicted.

"Aunt, I don’t want to be a homewrecker. Maybe I should just get rid of the baby."

Katherine was counting on the baby in Crystal’s womb to save Julia Forrest. Hearing this, she immediately gripped Crystal’s hand.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Didn’t Jenson just agree to the engagement in front of Zinnia? Zinnia must have pulled some trick again, and Jenson was only momentarily swayed by their past. Crystal, Zinnia came here tonight specifically to ruin your engagement! You’re already carrying Jenson’s baby. If anyone is a homewrecker, it’s Zinnia for constantly getting between you two."

"But just now, Brother Jenson still didn’t agree to the engagement..."

Just a short while ago, in front of Zinnia, Jenson had played along with her and Katherine’s wishes, even saying he would send Zinnia an invitation.

Crystal had believed it and was overjoyed.

Who knew that as soon as they returned to the private room and Katherine brought up the engagement again, Jenson’s face would turn cold. He stated bluntly that there would be no engagement and promptly left.

Only then did Crystal realize he had never intended to get engaged to her; he had merely used her to provoke Zinnia.

Now, watching Jenson drag Zinnia away, Crystal’s heart was filled with nothing but bitterness and jealousy.

"Don’t worry, I will stand up for you. I will make sure Jenson divorces Zinnia," Katherine promised.

「Meanwhile.」

Zinnia was dragged to the parking garage by Jenson, who opened the passenger-side door.

Zinnia, however, stood still and looked at him.

"I can get back by myself. Isn’t it a bit much to just abandon your fiancée like this?"

I really don’t understand him. Wasn’t he just discussing his engagement with Crystal tonight? Yet he ditched her to drag me away. One moment he’s like this, the next he’s like that. Does he have a split personality?

"I’m not even divorced. What fiancée?" Jenson retorted, looking down at Zinnia with a sarcastic gaze.

"But you were the one who said you were going to send me a wedding invitation," Zinnia said, confused.

Jenson let out a cold laugh. "Weren’t you the one who said that first?"

"I never..." Zinnia instinctively refuted, taken aback by his icy glare.

Then she remembered. She had, in fact, been the one to tell Crystal and Mandy not to forget to send her an invitation, and Jenson happened to overhear. At the realization, she couldn’t help but clench her fingers.

So Jenson said that deliberately to anger me?

Zinnia was annoyed. "So, you weren’t meeting her parents to discuss the engagement tonight?"

Jenson sneered, "Bigamy is a jailable offense."

Hearing that, Zinnia felt a sudden wave of relief. It was only then that she realized she couldn’t truly bring herself to wish him and Crystal well, nor was she as indifferent as she had thought.

"Oh."

"Are you getting in the car yourself, or do I have to help you?" Jenson frowned, his impatience showing.

Zinnia didn’t refuse this time, lowering her head as she got into the car.

Jenson sat in the driver’s seat, and Zinnia twitched her nose. "You were drinking, weren’t you? Are you okay to drive?"

There was a faint scent of alcohol on him.

Jenson pulled the car out of the parking space with one hand, not looking at her as he replied coolly, "I didn’t drink."

Zinnia was stunned again. She had clearly seen Simon Sutton toast him earlier.

If Jenson was really planning to marry Crystal, how could he possibly refuse a toast from his future father-in-law? It seems the engagement was just a fabrication after all. Crystal and Mandy Lowe must have seen me and deliberately went to the restroom to say all those things for me to hear. And later, Crystal and Katherine were just lying to me too.

Zinnia’s expression softened, and she unconsciously let out the breath she had been holding.

Realizing how happy this made her, Zinnia bit her tongue, feeling utterly ridiculous.

Here I was, telling myself to let go and be free, yet he can still stir my heart so easily. Besides, Jenson only said they wouldn’t get engaged *now* because we aren’t formally divorced. That doesn’t mean he won’t get engaged to and marry Crystal in the future. It’s just a matter of time. What do I have to be so happy or hopeful about? I’m so pathetic.

"Address."

Jenson’s cold voice beside her snapped Zinnia back to reality. She gave him the address.

It was the new apartment she was renting with Yara Fairchild, a place Jenson had never been.

He finally glanced at her again. "Why aren’t you staying at your ’good’ mentor’s place anymore?" he asked sarcastically.

Zinnia shot him a glare. "I don’t have a mentor with the surname ’Good.’ You must be mistaken."

Jenson let out a soft chuckle and didn’t press the issue. In any case, the fact that she had moved out of Alaric Hawthorne’s apartment put him in a good mood.

His voice softened slightly because of it. "I don’t know the way. Pull up the navigation."

"Okay."

Zinnia leaned over to operate the system, and the navigation’s voice soon filled the car.

The drive was smooth, and the atmosphere in the car was the calmest it had been between them in a long time.

Maybe it’s because we’ve both decided to let go and are making an effort. That’s why being together isn’t so tense anymore, Zinnia thought.

She pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned her phone and hands.

The memory of slapping that man left a sticky, disgusting feeling on her skin. After carefully wiping her hands, she remembered that Jenson had also touched the man when twisting his arm. "Do you want one, too?" she asked instinctively.

She pulled out another wet wipe and offered it to him.

Unexpectedly, Jenson didn’t take it. Instead, he held out his hand to her. "I’m driving."

He wanted her to do it for him.

Zinnia looked at his outstretched, slender hand and instantly regretted her thoughtful gesture.

But it would be awkward not to help now, and it would make her seem both ungrateful and pretentious.

After a brief hesitation, Zinnia took his hand. She used the wet wipe to carefully clean his palm and fingers.

As she wiped his long, slender ring finger, her movements slowed, and her gaze fell on the ring resting on his knuckle.

"Why... are you still wearing your wedding ring?"