All too late for his love

After much contemplation, Liam decided to tell Zayn about Willow's situation.

Zayn had grown even more intimidating since Willow's apparent death. His frighteningly icy expression and brooding demeanor were enough to loosen the bladders of any high-level executive who dared approach him.

The top floor of the Carter Group building had been crackling with a dark, menacing energy these days.

Everyone in the company dared not so much as make a pip when they were on the top floor lest they angered Zayn and get themselves thrown from the rooftop.

The day before, the head of the finance department had made a minor mistake- so minor it was practically negligible-when he was reporting his work progress to Zayn.

Zayn was strict with work. In the past, he would have given the head of the finance department a dark look if the latter made the same mistake.

However, during the meeting the previous day, the head of the finance department had been met with a look so frigid that Zayn might as well have been hurling ice blocks at him, The words that came out of Zayn's mouth were even more menacing, and the entire office had felt the chilling threat in his voice.

They always looked like they were on the verge of tears whenever they finished their coffee run.

As for the secretaries who had always vied for Zayn's attention in the past, they had grown less eager and more terrified about bringing Zayn his coffee.

Even Liam had come close to tears on his recent encounters with Zayn, Liam patted his chest and mustered his courage before carefully knocking on Zayn's office door.

"Hey, boss?"

"Enter!" came Zayn's harsh bark that made Liam shudder. He gently pushed open the office door and walked over to Zayn's desk, his steps quick and his body tense with nerves.

"Boss, there's something

"Spit it out!" Zayn glowered at Liam and snapped, his impatient tone implied that Liam might be thrown. from the rooftop if he did not cut to the chase.

Liam's skin pebbled when a cold breeze came through the open window.

He thought about what it might feel like to have the air rush past him if he were to be thrown out of the window.

His well-toned body trembled at the idea of free-falling from such a great height.

Liam set his phone down on Zayn's desk and informed, "Boss, I came across this news just now."

He could have gone mute from having Zayn's sharp and warning gaze scan his features.NôvelDrama.Org owns all content.

Zayn looked like he was inclined to tear Liam to pieces and send him to meet his maker.

Biting his tongue, Liam forced his wits to stay with him and tried to look as unfazed as possible.

He closed his eyes and summoned all his courage as his following words tumbled out of him in one breath.

"I was reading the news not because I was slacking, boss! It was purely coincidental, I swear!

"Ms. Sanford is on the news. Yes, your ex-wife-Willow Sanford-is still alive and has now become an overnight sensation after pictures of her holding a bottle of perfume gained traction online.

"Not only that, she's won over millions of boys and has been regaled as The Nation's First Love!

"The last I checked, Ms. Sanford's name has topped the list of trending topics. She's the most popular internet celebrity right now!"

It had been a month since the fire at Bordello, but Zayn's heart still bled whenever he heard Willow's name.

He tried not to think of her or of anything that had to do with her, but his grief and pain only worsened over time.

There were days when Zayn believed he had died alongside Willow and that his heart had burned into. ashes just as her corpse had.

It was as if his heart, which so rarely beat for anyone or anything, had stopped beating altogether and was now buried six feet under.

At that moment, Zayn was no better than a walking corpse, a machine that functioned solely for work and nothing else.

He buried himself in work every day and handled the company affairs robotically. It was the only way for him to keep that hollow cavity within him, where his heart should have been, from aching.

Upon seeing how disinterested and blank Zayn looked, Liam panicked! He cleared his throat and raised his voice before speaking again.