All too late for his love

"Boss, Ms. Sanford is still alive!"

Only then did Zayn pause whatever work he was in the middle of, the pen he gripped in his left hand hovering above the paperwork.

A self-deprecating scoff escaped him next as Liam's words sank in.

There they were again, the delusions that had been mocking him since Willow's death.

He'd just imagined Liam, who had never been a wisecrack and took his job seriously, telling him Willow was still alive.

How could Willow possibly be alive when Zayn himself had applied makeup on her reconstructed face and combed through her wig before she was cremated?

He had even personally carried the urn containing her ashes, which was all that was left of her. Willow was not coming back.

"What did you just say, Liam?"

Zayn's icy voice was quiet, but it seemed to draw the air out of the room and leave Liam breathless.

Liam had to take a deep breath to feel the air pressure in the room return to normal.

Gathering his courage again, he pointed at his phone on Zayn's desk and said, "Boss, Ms. Sanford is alive and has become an internet sensation. She's now The Nation's First Love!"This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

Zayn finally cast his gaze on Liam's phone screen when he heard this.

On the screen, Willow was indeed pictured smiling as she held up a bottle of colorless perfume. She looked breathtaking in a vintage-looking white dress.

She wore the barest makeup that accentuated her naturally beautiful features. With a face like that, she could put other women to shame even without makeup.

In truth, Willow's presence had always been a sensuous one.

She was a born temptress. She smiled so brightly in the pictures and looked so angelic in her white dress that it was hard to imagine her as anything but demure.

She looked enchanting, like an ethereal fairy.

Zayn couldn't help rubbing the phone screen with the flat side of his thumb as though caressing Willow's face-the face that occupied his thoughts day and night.

He felt his heart strum back to life in his chest.

Willow was alive. For a moment, everything felt right and wonderful.

However, Zayn's happiness lasted only a second before he was filled with violent anger.

Willow was still alive, and yet everyone in the world had heard of Zayn losing himself in grief over the death of a mystery woman.

He had lived like a robot, a functioning corpse, for a month since Willow's supposed death. And yet, she couldn't even bother telling him she was alive and breathing.

He wondered if she simply enjoyed watching his mind unravel with grief.

Zayn let out a humorless chuckle as he contemplated Willow's newfound title, "The Nation's First Love".

It was bad enough that she had won over Kenan and Matthew, but to seduce all the men in the world?

Zayn wondered where she got the audacity.

As Zayn threw a violent fit, Liam's phone became collateral damage.

Liam trepiditiously picked up his phone, the screen cracked from Zayn's aggressive smashing.

He was about to leave Zayn before the latter threw another tantrum when a news update popped up on his phone.

It read, "The Nation's First Love, Willow Sanford, accepted an invite to audition as an ambassador for Arena of Glory."

Liam froze when he read this.

Disbelief colored his face as he thought about ago about how determined Skyler about the news he read days was to become Arena of Glory's ambassador.

"Boss," Liam began warily, lifting his phone.

"There's more news on Ms. Sanford."