Who was Ian? Warning bells had gone off in Zach's head. Was he wrong about her being on the run? Did she simply return to her old life and move on to the guy next door? Or did she run off somewhere and found a guy? Had she been turning down his advances because there was already another man in her life?
Zach felt like his heart was being squeezed at the same time it thudded wildly against his chest. He needed answers to his questions or he would go crazy. Or was it already too late for that? No, was it already too late for him with Amy? Was he about to lose the love of his life? Yes, somewhere alonge the line, Amy had become the love of his life.
"Let me see what he wants first."
He thought she would terminate the connection but he heard the shuffling sounds in her background. Amy had taken her phone with her and went out of her room to meet Ian. The young man was about to leave the house when Amy walked out of her bedroom.
"Ian."
He turned to look at her. Her hair was disheveled, there were some lines imprinted on her face by the sheets, and her face was bare without any makeup. She was wearing a satin robe on top of her pajamas. Despite this, Amy stood looking like a beautiful mess. Without even trying, the young woman looked so beautiful that Ian stood tongue tied on his feet.
"What are you doing here?" She asked while walking over and stopped when there were a few feet distance between them.
"Gra-Grandma asked me to come get you for breakfast. I used her spare key to get in", he responded without so much eye contact with her.
"Okay. Tell her I'll join you guys in a bit", she told him.
He nodded but remained unmoving. His bangs shielded his eyes that looked at her with a complex gaze. Amy rubbed her arms as she started to feel odd with him just standing there. She opened her mouth to speak when he beat her to it.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I heard you..... talking over the phone. Who was it?" He could give a good guess judging from what he heard but he wished it was not true.
Amy was taken aback by his question. She did not think he would be the type to pry. Zach on the other end, seemed to have held his breath. He could not help but wonder what Amy's response would be. As much as he prepared his heart for whatever her answer may be, he could not help but fall into a nervous mess. But all that disappeared when he heard her answer.
"My husband", she replied.
Both men were silent. One was clearly stunned and while the other felt immense disappointment. Amy, on the other hand, didn't want to continue having that conversation in case Ian blurts out something he shouldn't. She was already a case of nerves on the inside because of her answer.
"Tell Stella I'll join you guys shortly."
With that, she sent him away before going back to her room. Zach should probably have a lot of questions or probably upset for using him as part of her disguise. Then, there was the issue of him asking about her whereabouts. She was not sure if he would let it go.
"Zachery, are you still there?"
"I'm here."
She flinched when she heard the sharpness in his tone. "Are you mad at me?"
"Should I be?" His tone was much gentler than before.
"I don't want you to."
"Then I won't be", his tone grew much softer.
Amy relaxed immediately. But she still needed to address the elephant in the room. Well, the many elephants in the room. But her mind was blank. She needed time to figure out how to handle the mess.
"Can we talk later? I should be on my way", her tone was apologetic.
"Alright." She was about to disconnect when she heard him say. "Later, wifey."
Zach heard the sound of a falling substance followed by scuttling sounds before the connection was terminated. How could he stay mad at her? She had no idea how happy her actions had made him. Leaving the connection open while she attended to the Ian guy just showed that she trusted him to a certain degree. But most importantly, she called him her husband!!!
He took out his phone and dialed for George. The latter knew to answer on the very first ring whenever his boss called. Before he could greet his boss, the latter quickly blurted out a command.
"I want the security team ready for me in 20", he cut the call and threw his phone on his bed.
With all the energy, Zach had the shortest shower in his life. He threw on some jeans, a jersey, matching sneakers and some shades to complete his ensemble before dashing out of his room.
"Sir-" Edmund was just about to knock when the door to Zach's room flew open and the man whizzed by him and took the stairs going down.
"Your breakfast", he added quietly.
The only response he got was that of the sound of the door slammed from downstairs.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBam!
Outside, there was already a car waiting for Zach. Seeing the man didn't wait for his door to be opened, his driver was quick to get in and drive off. The people in the house could not help but wonder what could have prompt such behavior from their master. His shadow bodyguards including Skull's team took their cars and followed him.
He arrived at Frost Corporation exactly within the twenty minutes he had set. He quickly took his private elevator and made way to the security department. George was already waiting for him and was holding the glass door open for him. Zach entered and stood at the back of the room.
His presence was overpowering as the security team immediately stood up in respect when they saw him. His expression was impassive. That was nerve-wracking besides the emergency assembly the man had called for. George was quick to go to his side.
"Your orders, sir."
"I need the list of everyone with the surname Harper in New York."
The team sat back down and immediately got to work. Why New York? He had talked to Amy countless times but she never made it known what time of day she was talking to him. He thought she was going by his time as part of her cover but the conversation Amy let him overhear was the key answer.
One: it was morning for both of them which means they shared the same time zone.
Two: the Ian guy had an accent, a New Yorker's accent.
The huge screen showed the list of everyone with that surname. His eyes skimmed through the different names. The team had arranged them in alphabetical order. Then his eyes fell on the list of names with the letter J. Amy was known as A.J, he wondered if she had ever used the J as her new identity.
"I want information on everyone whose name starts with the letter J and has the surname Harper."
And the team narrowed it down to those names. George who stood on the sidelines could guess that this had something to do with Miss Harper and his boss had just got a clue. Zach was reading through the different opened files of the names he had asked for. Then his eyes fell on a certain name: Jennifer Harper.