Way Back Into Love (Essie)

An uneasy expression appeared on Zac's face. "Alice comes from a complicated family. I don't want you to get involved in their complex lives. I'd be more at ease if you kept some distance from them," he explained.

"Don't all you rich folks come from a complicated family? Are you saying that your family is any better? It seems like you think they live simply and in harmony." Essie believed that Zac's family only appeared to live in harmony and peace. She knew there was a darkness that hid deep in their family's blood. A violent struggle and a thirst for power and wealth.

Zac sighed, "I never implied that. What I mean is, Alice is not an ordinary woman. I'm just worried that you'll get involved in unnecessary problems." Essie sneered at his words as she had already been involved in trouble for some time now, and the culprit was none other than Zac himself.

"If Alice is so strange, do you mean to say that Elizabeth and Valery aren't? For me the enemy of our enemy is a friend!"

she said rather firmly. It was obvious to Zac that she wanted to work together with Alice and Holy to strategize against Elizabeth and her daughter.

It also seemed to be the exact same thing Alice was expecting from Essie.

"Do you know why Alice had sworn not to marry a man for the rest of her life?" he asked in a low voice.

"Why?" Essie's dark eyes twinkled with curiosity. When Jim had brought up this topic in the party the last time, he wasn't able to finish his words because Alice suddenly arrived. Essie had always been curious from that moment and wanted to know why.

"It is because she wants to be the head of their family in the future." Zac said each word slowly and clearly. Although Essie was normally oblivious and confused, she had always been clever with important matters. He believed that she was capable of making her own judgments properly. However, what Zac didn't know was that Essie was in fact one of the members of Alice's family. She had no interest in other people's affairs, but quite frankly, she wanted to stay by her sister's side.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's natural for her to strive for that as the daughter of Baron. Of course she should have the right to fight for her place in the family business," she said lightly, but in reality, her heart was beating fast from the turbulence of emotions she was feeling. When they had to part ways, Alice told her that she was going to take back what was rightfully theirs and drive Elizabeth away. After all these years, she had not broken her promise and continued to work hard for it.

Essie figured that she must have been exhausted fighting for this by herself, and now was the time for her to give her a hand.

The main reason why Elizabeth had spent all this time fighting for her daughter's marriage to Zac, was because she hoped Zac would be able to help her son, Vinton, defeat Alice and hold the power in the family. With Essie's arrival in the picture, this evil plan was torn into shreds. Essie waited a long time to find a chance to seek revenge, and now that she had it, she needed to make good use of it.

Zac resigned helplessly when he heard her words. He wondered if she was just pretending to be stupid.

"The struggle for power is cruel and could be very vicious. Innocent people always end up being taken advantage of. I just don't want you to end up as their pawn." Since Zac figured that he couldn't change he mind, all he could do was tell her straight to the point.

She smiled lightly and said, "You think way too much. If every relationship had to be meticulously calculated, then what is the point of friendships? You'd end up having no friends, don't you think so?" She continued to play dumb, despite knowing very well that he just didn't want her to be involved. It was impossible to keep herself clean when being thrown in the muddy waters. Zac always worried for her whenever she was acting stupid and oblivious. As of that time, he couldn't keep his mind away from the issues within Alice's family, but there was no way he could just put his foot forward Essie this time.

His face started showing signs of worry and apprehension when he heard such careless words from her. He thought this wasn't a good time for Essie to be so silly and simple-minded. However, all he could say at that time was, "Honey, we don't know what's yet to come, but we have to be careful."

An innocent smile appeared on her face and she said, "I know. I would like to be Alice's friend, but I won't get too close. As for Holy, he's just a young child, there's no reason to be too careful. Right?" Zac was stupefied. He proceeded to touch her nose and thought, 'You seem like you're a bit slow today. Why are you acting so foolish and innocent?'

A strange look appeared in Essie's eyes, and within it hid a secret. She took the unfinished juice on the table and leaned back on the sofa to take a sip. A self-satisfied expression was seen from her face. The next day.

Mary called to say that the cook made chicken soup for her son, so she asked Zac to visit home for a while. Clearly, it was just another one of her excuses to get Essie to come and teach her a lesson. Since Valery wasn't there that day, the house was much more peaceful.

The servant started to bring out the chicken soup for everyone. On the table, Zac served food for his wife like a gentleman. He separated the meat from the bone with his chopsticks one by one and placed it or her bowl. "Your chin is getting sharp. You've been losing weight so you should eat more," he said.

"That's a bit ironic..." Essie touched her chin and felt otherwise. These days, she had been well fed in their household, in fact, her face was getting rather round. She had no idea why he said the opposite. Zac touched her head gently with affection and said, "You lose weight so easily, but it takes you a long time to gain it back. Make sure to eat well."

Essie gave him a frisky look and playfully said, "Stop worrying about me, I can eat by myself. I'm not a child, I can spit out chicken bones." She tried not to be too much, because it would be rude to show off tod much affection in public. If Mary saw what happened, she would probably think badly of Essie and assume that she was taking advantage of Zac.

They didn't notice however, that Mary was watching the whole time and witnessed the whole exchange.

She watched them and worried that his son was spiraling into madness. All their years together, he had never seen Zac so considerate towards women, not even his own mother. He didn't pay much attention to the women around him, in fact, not even Leila.

He always had been like an arrogant cheetah who would conquer and plunder. Mary couldn't understand how this woman seemingly tamed him.

She seemed to have come into their lives and had become a cause for disruption, as if she was Helen of Troy.

She frowned at the sight of them and left the room unnoticed.

Essie had herself another serving of chicken soup, looking very satisfied. The family chefs were all first class. The soup had a wonderful fragrance and the taste was exquisite for just a simple chicken soup. Zac watched her with delight and filled her up another bowl.

"It's not often that we come here without Valery pestering you all day. We seem so peaceful that my appetite has doubled," she bantered.

Zac lovingly wrapped his arms around her and said, "Honey, just give me five months. I promise you, the moment the baby is born, she will completely disappear from our lives."

Essie wondered how it would even be possible.

She seriously doubted it.

She wondered if Zac was either becoming naive or if he took his enemy lightly.

Valery was still the mother of the baby. There was no way she would leave the child. It would be inevitable and just natural that she would feel attached to her child. Besides, when the child is born, they would even have a better, more honest excuse to be in their household. It would be impossible to stop someone from seeing their own son.

"Zac, can you tell me how she set you up?" Essie asked.

When she finished speaking, Zac chocked and spat the soup he had just put in his mouth. Fortunately, he was able to cover his mouth in time, so he didn't make a mess. Zac faced towards her with a puzzled expression on his face. She talked about her husband's affairs so lightly, and so passively too. He wondered if she was out of her mind.

A ludic smile appeared on her face, she continued, "I just want to indulge my curiosities. How did you lose control of yourself? Did she get you drunk, or did she drug you?" Her mind went straight into a badly written TV drama scenario written by an unimaginative scriptwriter. It seemed like they couldn't find a more creative way for a mistress to entrap a man, besides drugging or getting him drunk.

Zac was enraged from embarrassment.

No one knew about his phobia towards touching women. He had always been a sensible man who focused all his attention on his work. The only time he had ever gotten drunk was on April Fool's day. It was a Yang City's True Color Bar, and he ended up getting married to this muddleheaded fool! Not only was she the first woman he had been with, but also the only women he was willing to embrace into his life. "The soup is getting cold, darling. You should finish it first." He coughed, attempting to change the topic.

Essie felt disheartened that he was reluctant to share his secrets with her. However, the longer she thought about it, the more she realized that an arrogant man such as him must have been completely humiliated to be fooled by someone like Valery. It's natural for him to be hesitant to look back into such a traumatic experience. So, Essie chose to just let it go for his sake.

She simply gave him a pat on his shoulder and showed her sympathy. She sighed and said, "Ice guy, you really should be careful. Don't get fooled into having sex with someone, otherwise you might get coerced into having another child."

It was obvious that it wasn't a reminder that came from care, but rather a schadenfreude. Zac proceeded to raise his hand and flicked her on the forehead. "Don't be dumb. Don't forget, that I am your husband now. If I end up in an affair, you're the one who will be unhappy about that."

That really was the case.

Essie didn't bother to utter another word because what he said was in fact, true. It would definitely hurt her at least a little bit if Zac betrayed her. She sipped her soup quietly and cleared her throat before saying anything else. Then she opened her mouth to say, "Well, in order to prevent another situation like this, I won't allow you to talk or touch another woman for the duration of our marriage when I'm not present. Otherwise, I will punish you by leaving you to the evil witch so you can suffer in impending doom."

Though she said that with exaggeration,

now, she could finally act like a real wife.

Zac was seen showing an indulgent and proud smile while he looked at her.

At dusk, Albert arrived back home. He asked his son to go to the study room to engage in some business. During this time, Mary took the opportunity to talk to Essie in the garden. "How are you feeling, Essie?" asked Mary, greeting her.

"Everything is well." Essie nodded her head respectfully.

"You need to be careful in the future," Mary suddenly said with a change in her tone. She took a sip of sea and continued, "I heard about the incident. Zac was poisoned because of you. Fortunately, it only stayed in the surface of his skin and didn't get into contact with his blood. When a situation like this takes place again, you need to make sure to stop him from doing something so dangerous." Essie lowered her head, without saying a word. She didn't want that to happen and was also worried about him getting poisoned. She tried to stop him, but didn't have the strength at the time. Observing her silence, Mary sighed and said, "Zac is not an ordinary man, so his wife cannot be ordinary either. You need to consider your position as the wife of such a powerful man. For now, the two of you seem to be so carried away with love. When you're in love, you'll feel like you're capable of doing anything. However, when that excitement fades away, you'll start noticing your differences and might notice that you aren't suitable for each other. When that time comes, both of you will start filling up with regret and will part ways from a lack of harmony. You need to figure out if you are suitable for each other now." Essie gave off a gentle smile and said indifferently, "That's true. However, you as his mother should know him more than anyone. You can't stop this man from doing what he wants to do, or be able to force him to do something he doesn't believe in. Now, he chose me as his wife because he thinks of me as the better woman. I will work hard on improving myself, and take all the responsibilities that are given to me. The moment he thinks I'm not suitable for him or finds someone better, I will part ways respectfully and will not take anything from him. I hope that eases your mind." She implies that the woman Zac would marry was not up to Mary, her or Valery. It was all up to her son.