Dear Ex-wife Marry Me novel (Maja) novel Chapter 1597

She couldn't even be bothered to utter the word "leave"; instead, she turned her head towards the window, pretending he wasn't there.

Fitch's forehead was reddened from the splash of soup, and his temper, already on a short fuse, was being forcibly contained.

He wanted to explode, but seeing her so much thinner, and remembering the slap from the night before, he swallowed his anger.

"I've left the dog here."

As he finished speaking, Zoey cracked another smile.

"Take your dog and get out."

"Zoey!"

His tone grew stern, his features hardened, but her next words froze him in place.

"Mr. Haskins, are you going to slap me again?"

Fitch stood motionless, something piercing sharply through his heart amidst the dull ache.

He held the dog carrier, suddenly finding himself without a comeback.

To others, Zoey had appeared unhinged the night before, especially after dousing Wendy with boiling water. Without intervention, who knew what she might have done?

It was a moment of desperation.

He had never been one to hit women.

Fitch suddenly realized he had no defense because, in his heart, Zoey was that kind of woman - excessive, venomous, unscrupulous in her aims.

He even believed she had gone to the Haskins' with the intention of entanglement, which had pushed him beyond his limits.

The idea that Wendy would come in person to snatch Ozzy seemed ludicrous, given Wendy's top-tier upbringing.

But who would have thought, Wendy had indeed done so.

Everyone had wronged Zoey that night. How desperate did she have to be to storm into the Haskins' under those circumstances, only to face further humiliation?

"Irrational."

Dropping that single word, he left with the dog carrier.

Drying his hair, he couldn't resist calling the police station.

Previously, the case of Belinda poisoning Wendy was still under investigation. Belinda had insisted, under questioning, that Zoey had put her up to it. But when she heard her man was cheating again, she threw in the towel.

"So what if I did it? Nobody told me to. Why should that tramp Zoey have it better? We're both women; shouldn't she suffer like me? Murray fancying her was her good fortune; her daring to refuse is laughable. She must be after my man, that bad seed from the start."

"I poisoned Wendy, said Zoey made me do it. Everyone would believe it was Zoey, even without evidence. They'd still suspect her, ruin her reputation. Suits me fine. She'll never marry better than me; she's meant to be a dog at my side, at my beck and call."

The officers present were stunned at these words.

Zoey was Belinda's own daughter, and here was a mother speaking so of her child.

But they were police; they had seen worse. Once, a mother had forced scalding oil down her daughter's throat, blistering her from mouth to intestines, which eventually killed her.

Some mothers envy their daughters' lives, resenting the oppression they've endured and seeking to inflict the same on their offspring.

Belinda was of such a mindset, unable to stand Zoey's better lot, willing to destroy herself to drag Zoey down.

Even if Zoey couldn't be killed, she would be branded as the instigator of her own mother's crime.