"But, Zen..." Mrs. Tanner wanted to say something, but Zen waved at them directly. She did not want her to say anything further.

She turned around and looked at Christian. Then, she said in a cold tone, "I will go back with you, but I have a request. I hope that..."

"You are not qualified to request anything from me." Before Zen could finish her words, Christian rejected her request directly.

He did not even want to listen to her request.

Zen just smiled without saying anything further.

In fact, she wanted to request Christian to let her visit her parents once in a while.

But, it did not bother her anymore. After all, she was determined to go against Christian no matter what.

Christian’s eyes flickered when he saw the helpless smile on Zen’s face.

He did not say anything about it either.

"Let’s go," Zen said softly.

After Zen took a few steps, Mr. and Mrs. Tanner chased after her.

Mrs. Tanner grabbed her arm and refused to let go. "Zen, please listen to me. Don’t go!"

Zen took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she turned around to look at her mother. She felt so unbearable and miserable at that moment.

She then said to her mother word by word, "Mother, you know what kind of person Christian is. If I don’t leave with him, none of us will survive."

"I am not afraid of dying," Mrs. Tanner cried.

"How about me? Are you afraid that I will die?" Zen asked.

Mrs. Tanner was stunned.

Indeed, she was not afraid of dying.

However, she was so afraid that Zen would die.

If she did not let her go, she would not survive too.

Mrs. Tanner burst into tears as she let go of Zen’s arm slowly.

As a mother, she knew that her daughter was walking to her doom. Yet, she could not do anything to help her at all.

It was such an unbearable feeling.

Mrs. Tanner felt so weak on her knees now.

For the past few days, she was already not in good health due to Zen’s matter.

Moreover, she was already so old.

Zen helped her mother up upon looking at her condition.

She then helped her to the chair and said to her father, "Father, please take good care of her. If..." Zen was going to say, if she had a chance, she would visit them.

However, she swallowed back her words instantly.

She did not know if she still had a chance to see them again.

Moreover, it was not convenient for her to tell them anything about what she and Wendy talked about the other day.

"Let’s go," Zen took a deep breath as she said. She then turned around and left with Christian.

She could still hear her mother sobbing sadly behind her.

It was so heart-rending to hear the sobbing of her mother.

However, she did not dare to slow down at all. On the contrary, she walked even faster.

She was so afraid to hear the sobbing sound that she would turn around and run towards her mother.

"Zen, come back! Come back, please!"

"I am so sorry that we could not protect you at all."

"Zen, please take care of yourself. No matter what happens, do not end your life ever again!"

...

Mrs. Tanner’s voice faded gradually.

It was until Zen could no longer hear her mother’s voice that she started to wipe off her tears.

Christian was walking behind Zen. Unexpectedly, he asked his bodyguards for a piece of tissue paper and handed it over to Zen upon seeing the scene.

Zen twitched her mouth into a mocking smile upon seeing the tissue paper appeared beside her all of a sudden.

She reached out her hand and took over the tissue as she said softly, "Thank you."

Christian frowned when she heard such a cold tone from Zen.

Although Zen took the tissue paper, she threw it into the rubbish bin immediately without even using it.

This act provoked Christian instantly.

...

The next moment, Zen’s neck was being strangled ruthlessly.

It was hard for her to speak or swallow saliva now.

Zen had no choice but to lift her head while looking at that tall figure.

She gritted her teeth without saying anything.

The more Christian looked at her reaction, the angrier he got.

"What do you mean by this?" Christian asked word by word as he gritted his teeth.

Zen’s face turned red instantly due to difficulty in breathing.

In fact, Christian was waiting for Zen to beg for mercy.

As long as she shouted pain or even said sorry, he would let her go immediately.

Such a pity that Zen still remained silent.

It was until Zen’s face started to bloat and turn exceptionally red that Christian decided to let go of her.

He knew that if he still strangled her in this manner, Zen would die of suffocation.

"It seems that you have become fearless after experiencing death," Christian put his hands down as he clenched his fingers into fists.

However, he did not let Zen off just like that.

Christian looked at the tissue paper that Zen threw away just now. He then pointed at the tissue paper and said in a threatening tone, "Pick it up!"

Zen gazed at the rubbish bin consciously after hearing what Christian said.

Pick it up?

"It is just a piece of tissue paper. Why should I pick it up?" Zen said after she cleared her throat.

"Haha..." Christian explained to her unexpectedly, "How dare you throw the tissue paper that I handed over to you in the rubbish bin? Are you despising the things that I gave to you? Zen, do remember that you are still in my hands. You have no freedom to behave how you want. Whatever I give you, you have to take it, regardless of whether you like it or not! So now, pick it up to wipe your tears off!"

"Are you insane?" Zen scolded him without hesitation. "It is just a piece of tissue paper. Moreover, I have already thrown it into the bin."

"It is a tissue paper that I handed over to you. I did not say that you are allowed to throw it away. Pick it up now!" Christian’s tone turned harsh instantly. "Pick it up right now! Don’t make me turn things uglier. Remember that you are still in the hospital, and your parents are still here too."

He used her parents to threaten her again.

Zen could not help but sneer.

She felt that she had chosen the correct path to work with Wendy.

Otherwise, not to mention herself, her parents would be shadowed with fear for the rest of their life.

Zen did not feel angry at all. She smiled instead.

Just that, she smiled coldly.

She took a glimpse at Christian as she bent over to pick up the tissue paper from that rubbish bin without further hesitation.

Then, Zen used that particular tissue paper to wipe off the tears that had already dried up on her face in front of Christian.

Zen asked with a smile while wiping the tears, "Mr. Lucas, are you satisfied now?"

Christian’s face looked so gloomy now. She did not know whether he was satisfied or not.

Zen continued to wipe her tears repeatedly since she did not get any response from Christian.

The thin paper started to wear off.

However, Zen still continued to do the same action over and over again.

"Enough!" Christian stopped her. Christian knew that Zen did it on purpose.

"Enough? What do you mean by enough?" Zen sneered. "Please be specific.

Otherwise, I am afraid that you will use my parents to threaten me again if I get the wrong meaning."

Christian was so furious that he closed his eyes instantly.

"Stop wiping your face with that tissue paper," Christian said.

"Yes, Sir," Zen followed his instruction obediently and put her hand down.

The tissue paper was only left with a tiny piece of debris.

However, Zen still held it tightly in her hand.

...

Christian lowered his head slightly and saw Zen still holding onto the paper. He took a deep breath and said, "Why are you still holding it?"

"What should I do if I am not supposed to hold onto it?" Zen asked him back. "If I don’t hold onto it, Mr. Lucas will blame me for not following instructions again. I only have one father and one mother."

Christian’s expression gradually turned ghastly.

He clenched his fingers into fists and gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright. I order you to throw it away now."

"Yes, Sir," Zen still replied coldly. Then, she threw the debris into the rubbish bin as instructed.

Christian took a deep breath again as he tried hard to suppress his emotions.

Both of them remained silent after that.

Zen followed Christian to his car.

The chauffeur was driving the car, so Zen and Christian sat together at the back seats.

The back seats were very spacious. However, Zen squeezed to the side as she leaned against the door. She did not want to get any closer to Christian.

Christian took a glimpse at Zen secretly. He saw Zen winded the window down as she gazed outside the window.

Christian turned around and said to the chauffeur, "Go to Fairview City."

Fairview City?

Zen frowned as she heard the name of the destination.

Weren’t they heading back to Christian’s house?

"Fairview City?" Zen turned around to look at Christian. Then, she asked in doubt, "Why are we going there?"

"It’s none of your business," Christian replied coldly.

Zen did not dare to ask Christian any further. She wondered why they were heading to Fairview City instead.

If she remembered correctly, Fairview City was a high-end community.

It was absolutely impossible for Christian to bring her along to meet his friend.

Soon, the car drove into Fairview City.

Zen got down the car and followed Christian.

They went into the lift, and Christian pressed on the button stating the twenty-eighth floor.

The lift reached the floor soon.

After getting out of the lift, Christian walked towards the door and unlocked it with his fingerprint.

The door opened instantly.

It was the first time Zen came to this place.

After all, Christian owned countless properties that it would not be surprising that Zen did not know about it.

However, it would be kind of strange for Christian to bring her here directly from the hospital.

But, Zen did not ask further since he had no intention to answer her in the first place.

Since he had brought her here, he should have given her some explanation.

As expected, Christian started to talk, "You will stay here then. I will send a maid over to you soon."

"I am staying here?" Zen’s face darkened instantly upon hearing what he said.

In fact, she agreed to come back to Christian to look for the safe.

Now that Christian arranged to let her stay in Fairview City, how could she look for the safe?

Zen lowered her head slightly. She did not know why Christian wanted to do so.

Wasn’t she staying at Christian’s house in the past?

Initially, Christian thought that Zen would be happy when she knew that she would be staying here instead.

After all, she was just discharged from the hospital. She had experienced life and death and even lost her child.

If Christian brought Zen home directly, he was afraid that Zen would commit suicide again due to devastation.

He might be able to use her parents to threaten her once, but he could not use it to threaten her forever.

It would not be effective to apply the same threats over and over again.

However, it seemed that Zen did not feel happy with the arrangement at all.

"Are you not willing to stay here?" Christian said as he looked around the house.

"This is one of my properties. The house is big enough and the environment is good too."

Zen noticed that Christian seemed to be suspicious about her act.

If she refused to stay here, Christian would be suspicious for sure.

However, if she accepted the offer, she would be staying here for good.

Then, what about the safe then?

"What are you thinking?" Christian asked Zen tentatively as he observed hereaction.