Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Reeks of Conspiracy

"Go ahead! Call the cops! It’s not like I haven’t been locked up before!" Wyatt Shaw punched him again and again.

The woman beside them shrieked repeatedly. Seeing her lover getting pummeled without being able to fight back at all, she frantically looked around and picked up a brick.

Yvonne Sutton hurried over to stop the woman. "Do you want your affair with him exposed?"

The woman’s face paled, but she still dropped the brick.

Yvonne Sutton saw the man had taken several punches, so she grabbed Wyatt Shaw.

"Don’t pull me back! I’ll beat him to death!" Wyatt Shaw said angrily.

"Do you want Zoe Churchill to walk in on this scene completely unprepared?"

Wyatt Shaw took a deep breath and kicked the man away.

"We already know about you and her. You’d better give Zoe Churchill an explanation, and soon!" Wyatt Shaw warned the man.

The man, his face bruised and swollen, still looked completely bewildered.

"Wait, you’re just a tenant, aren’t you? Aren’t you overstepping your bounds?"

"It’s called righting a wrong when you see one, get it?" Wyatt Shaw raised his fist.

The man probably didn’t get it, but he was scared enough to nod quickly.

"Get lost. Don’t let Zoe Churchill see you in this disgusting state!"

The woman helped the man up. The two of them scrambled into the car and quickly drove away.

When the two of them returned to the courtyard, Zoe Churchill came out in her wheelchair, looking anxious.

"I heard a commotion outside. What happened?" Zoe Churchill asked.

Wyatt Shaw casually made something up. "A stray dog tried to get in, so I chased it off."

Zoe Churchill was amused. "You’re really going to argue with a dog?"

Wyatt Shaw rolled his eyes and went upstairs, not bothering to answer her.

Yvonne Sutton smiled and walked over to Zoe Churchill. "He can be pretty childish sometimes."

"Mr. Shaw is a very good person."

Yvonne Sutton offered to push Zoe Churchill back, but she said she could manage on her own.

"This wheelchair ramp used to be really steep. I often couldn’t get up it, and one time the wheelchair even tipped over with me in it. I told my husband about it many times, but he always said he was busy and kept putting it off. Then Mr. Shaw came. He saw I was having trouble, and the very next day, he tore down the old ramp and built a new one with bricks and mortar."

Yvonne Sutton looked at the ramp. It had many grooves carved into it for traction, a clear sign of his thoughtfulness.

"Actually, besides suspecting he was suicidal, I also suspected that... ahem, that he had a crush on me." At this, Zoe Churchill couldn’t stop laughing.

"Huh?" Yvonne Sutton was stunned for a moment, then she couldn’t help but laugh too.

"But then you arrived. When I saw the way he looks at you, I knew that was a misunderstanding too."

"The way he looks at me?"

"His eyes are completely filled with you. There’s no room for anyone else."

"Is that so?"

"And sometimes his gaze gets so blatant, it’s like he wants to drag you to bed right then and there."

"Stop right there!" Yvonne Sutton quickly cut Zoe Churchill off.

Zoe Churchill stuck out her tongue. "Please don’t tell him. He was just being kind and helping me out, and here I was, narcissistically thinking he liked me. How embarrassing would that be?"

"I definitely won’t." ’Besides, when it comes to being embarrassed, Wyatt Shaw would probably think he’s the more embarrassed one.’

Zoe Churchill had a wonderful personality—cheerful, always laughing, confident, and resilient. The two of them chatted for quite a while, and if it hadn’t gotten so late, they could have kept on talking.

Wyatt Shaw had her sleep on the bed while he took the sofa.

It was the first time the two of them had shared a room, yet slept separately. It wasn’t just Wyatt Shaw; even she found it a little strange.

Yvonne Sutton had a habit of morning jogs. No matter how late she went to bed, she would get up the next morning to run. When she got up, Wyatt Shaw was already out.

In the early morning, the small town was quiet and peaceful.

She ran along a small path. In the distance were misty mountains, in her ears was the gurgling of the river, and under her feet was grass heavy with dewdrops. The air was crisp and clean. Once she was out of town, she saw fields of lush green wheat.

Farmers in straw hats were fertilizing and watering the fields, forming a beautiful tableau with the mountains and the great river.

From a distance, Yvonne Sutton saw Zoe Churchill talking with someone.

She ran over and saw that the woman talking with Zoe Churchill was none other than the woman from last night.

"My apartment is in a bustling area of Aethelgard. It’s in a good school district, with a mall and a hospital nearby, so the amenities are very convenient. I listed it with the agency for 2.3 million, and I won’t sell for less than that. But your Wayne Coleman came to me and said he was interested in my place and asked me to lower the price. Sigh, setting him aside, you and I have known each other for so long, we’re old friends. For your sake, I have to drop the price a little more. How about this: 2 million. Sound good?"

Hearing this, Zoe Churchill’s face lit up. "2 million?"

"Do you think that’s a fair price?"

"It’s more than fair! But Ms. Lynch, won’t you be taking too much of a loss?"

The woman Zoe Churchill called Ms. Lynch gave a wry smile. "I know things aren’t easy for you two. A small loss is a small loss."

"Then thank you, Ms. Lynch! I’ll go back and start raising the money right away."

"Alright, but you need to be quick. I’m planning to go on a long trip soon."

"I’ll be as quick as I can."

The woman didn’t turn her head, so she didn’t see Yvonne Sutton. After settling things with Zoe Churchill, she got in her car and left.

Yvonne Sutton’s mind raced as she walked over to Zoe Churchill.

"Hey, Yvonne, are you out for a walk too?" Zoe Churchill greeted her.

Yvonne Sutton nodded, then glanced at the car driving away in the distance. "Who was that just now?"

"Oh, that’s Ms. Lynch. She runs a cafe in town."

"Are you two close?"

"We are. We’ve known each other for five or six years."

"I just heard you talking about an apartment?"

"Oh, Wayne—that’s my husband—he wants to buy a retirement home for my mother-in-law. And what a coincidence, right? He went to Aethelgard to look at properties, saw one at an agency he liked, and it turned out to be Ms. Lynch’s place. So Ms. Lynch said since we’re all friends, she’d drop the price by 300,000 for us. I need to hurry and raise the money so I don’t hold her up."

Yvonne Sutton frowned. This reeked of a conspiracy.

"Have you seen the apartment?"

"I haven’t, but my husband has. He said the location, amenities, and renovations are all great. He and my mother-in-law both love it."

Yvonne Sutton and Zoe Churchill walked back toward town together. Along the way, she listened as Zoe told her many more stories about her husband and mother-in-law.

"My mother-in-law has always taken great care of me. She never looked down on me for being paralyzed from the waist down, and she never pressured me to have children. Whenever there’s good food, she sends it to me. I think buying her a nice retirement home is the right thing to do," Zoe Churchill said.

"Two million is not a small sum. Your husband must earn a lot, right?"

"Him? He’s just a junior employee at a company, making only five or six thousand a month. He has to travel back and forth to be with me, so after gas, work lunches, and pocket money, there’s basically nothing left."

"So you’re the one paying for the entire apartment?"

"Mhm, my mom left me some money when she passed away. That, plus what I’ve earned from the guesthouse these past few years, is almost enough to buy it."

Yvonne Sutton let out a breath. ’So Wayne Coleman plans to drain Zoe Churchill of all her money and then divorce her.’

"You know, Wyatt Shaw and I are from Aethelgard. Why don’t you send me the address of the apartment? I can help you check out the location, the amenities, and all that, to see if it’s really as good as they say."

"Oh, that’s not necessary. Wayne has already seen it."

"What if the real estate agent tricked him?"

"Ms. Lynch wouldn’t lie to me."

Yvonne Sutton was momentarily speechless. ’She had only known Zoe Churchill for a day, while Zoe had known that Ms. Lynch for five or six years. She couldn’t very well say, ’You have to trust me, not her.’’