Ch. 971..980

Chapter 971

Inside a castle in Lostaria, Johanna had been asleep for a long time before waking up and finding herself in an unfamiliar place.

The bed was huge, and the sheets were velvety. It was easy for one to sleep soundly on this comfortable bed. There was a gorgeous brightly colored bed curtain on top of the bed and walnut furniture everywhere in sight. Even the painting hanging on the wall was expensive.

The entire bedroom was luxuriously decorated, and she felt like she was in a palace.

Johanna was taken aback to realize her surroundings seemed unfamiliar. She racked her brains to figure out what had happened before she lost consciousness and how she was brought to this place. I hailed a taxi, and there was a man inside...

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom was pushed open, and a tall figure strode in. He was clad in a simple shirt and slacks but looked menacing and dangerous.

Zephyr's lips curled when he saw Johanna was awake. He bent over and said, "Kitty, you're awake?"

Johanna pulled up the covers and moved away from him.

She wasn't a fool, so she knew it was this man who had brought her here.

Suddenly, Johanna realized something was wrong. She looked down and noticed she was clad in a thin silk nightdress. She wasn't wearing anything underneath it.

Gripping the covers, she forced herself to stay calm. "If you want money, I can give you any amount you ask for."

Hearing that, Zephyr burst into laughter.

He sat at the edge of the bed nonchalantly and watched as Johanna inched away from him as though she was a mouse running away from a cat.

"I know Forlisle Medical is one of the biggest medical companies in Chanaea. Your ex-husband is wealthy." Zephyr removed his cufflinks, tossed them on the bedside table, and sighed as he added, "Alas, I'm not in need of money."

His excited gaze landed on Johanna as though he was a predator that had found its prey.

"I'm more interested in you," he declared.

A chill ran down Johanna's back. She wanted to jump off the other side of the bed when he wasn't looking, but the moment she moved, he grabbed her ankle and dragged her back to the bed. He then climbed into the bed and pinned her beneath him.

"Let me go!" Johanna roared and gave him a hard slap across the face.

Zephyr didn't dodge and allowed the slap to land on his cheek.

Johanna had been unconscious for the past few days as she was drugged. Hence, her body was weak. It seemed she had used all her might to deliver the slap, but actually, the man didn't even feel any pain. Zephyr let out a low chuckle and glanced at her. "It turns out Kitty is a stray with sharp claws."

He grabbed the woman's hands with one hand and took a huge gulp of the wine he placed on the bedside table.

Then, he bent down and grabbed Johanna's chin, forcing her to open her mouth. Pressing his lips against hers, he fed her the wine in his mouth. Johanna struggled with all her might and tried to close her mouth, but she couldn't stop swallowing the liquid in reflex when it trickled down her throat. Zephyr took another gulp and fed the wine to her again.

He did the same action a few times until the wineglass was empty. Licking his lips, he seemed to be savoring the softness of Johanna's lips.

After that, Zephyr released his grip on Johanna and narrowed his gaze as a smile flitted across his lips.

Johanna scrambled up and tried to flee the bedroom. She usually had a high tolerance for alcohol but for some reason, she could feel herself slowly lose consciousness after being fed the wine. What is wrong? Am I drunk?

Gradually, Johanna realized something was horribly wrong. Her last shred of sanity told her to run as fast as she could, but she couldn't even move an inch.

In a daze, she sensed someone coming close to her, softly caressing her cheek and lips. She couldn't help but inch closer and wrapped her arms around the man's neck before offering him a kiss. The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and passion ensued in the bedroom. Laughter and sobs filled the room.

Chapter 972

Zephyr soon realized he was more interested in the woman than he initially expected. She was so adorable. He would feed her wine a few days in a row and allowed himself to indulge in her body.

After that, the housekeepers came to clean the bedroom, which was a mess. He lowered his pride and picked Johanna up before bringing her to the bathroom.

Zephyr pinned her in the bathtub and was about to kiss her when he realized her lips were burning. In fact, her entire body was burning up. Her temperature was higher than a human's normal temperature. Her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was weak. She was running a high fever.

"A stray that falls ill, huh?" Zephyr sighed. He wasn't interested in getting intimate with a sick woman, so he brought her outside and summoned the doctor.

Johanna survived solely on wine and endured Zephyr's continuous torture for the past few days. As a result, she was drained and fell ill. Her temperature refused to go down as she remained unconscious. She kept muttering Timothy's name, her voice hoarse and weak.

Zephyr was seated in an intricately carved wooden chair, holding a cigar between his fingers. His purple irises were glowing as he stared at the blond doctor standing in front of him.

"I went through a lot of effort to bring Kitty back." His voice was as gentle as usual. "If she dies from the fever, I'll make your children suffer the same fate as her and bury them underneath St. Calisto Church together with her. Doctor, do you think she'll die?"

"She most definitely won't die!" the doctor promised vehemently as cold sweat beaded on his brows.

The doctor's survival instincts kicked in, and he did all he could to save Johanna. Despite being an atheist, he couldn't help but pray that she could survive the ordeal.

Fortunately, Johanna had a strong will to live. Her fever subsided miraculously on the fourth day.

The doctor could finally heave a sigh of relief. He prescribed some oral medicine and told Zephyr when to feed Johanna the medicine.

Knowing that Johanna had to take her medicine today, Zephyr got the housekeeper to bring a glass of warm water. He put two pills into his mouth and helped Johanna up, feeding her the pills orally. After making sure she had swallowed the pills subconsciously, he pulled away from her.

The doctor stared down at his leather shoes and dared not look around.

Zephyr brushed a finger across Johanna's porcelain skin and made sure she was fine before ordering, "Pay Dr. Dory for his service and send him out."

"Thank you, Mr. Osborn." The doctor didn't want to stay here any longer and grabbed his medical kit to leave with the housekeeper.

Downstairs, the housekeeper gave the doctor a stack of Epean currency.

The doctor glanced at it and realized each bill cost five hundred, and he received a total of five hundred thousand. She was only running a fever, but I was paid this much for treating her. The mafia family is ridiculously rich.

In the bedroom, Zephyr was gazing at Johanna when the phone on the bedside table rang.

He picked it up and answered the call.

"Mr. Zephyr, we discovered a string of numbers in the diamond," the person on the other end of the line reported. "We have yet to analyze whether it means a sentence or points to a location." Zephyr's eyes narrowed a fraction. "What a sly, old fox. I've gotten careless."

He quickly hung up and strode out of the bedroom.

The sun had set by the time Johanna woke up. She knew she wasn't dreaming when the ancient bed curtains above her appeared in her line of sight.

Where am I?

Johanna forced herself to sit up in bed as her head throbbed. Soon, her entire being trembled when she detected an uncomfortable sensation on her body.

Stumbling around the bedroom, she found the bathroom and ran into it.

The vast bathroom was luxuriously decorated, just like the bedroom. Besides the shower and bathtub, there was also a big mirror on the wall. Johanna stopped before the mirror and removed her clothes to see countless hickeys all over her body.

She felt utterly disgusted at the sight.

The memories from the past few days flooded her brain, and she felt like her head was about to burst. She was on the verge of breaking down.

Running to the basin, she parted her lips and puked her guts out.

She was hooked to an IV drip because she couldn't eat any solids due to her fever. Thus, all she vomited was her stomach acid. She dug her throat and vomited again.

In the end, her eyes were red and watery from heaving. However, she was still overwhelmed by despair.

Chapter 973

There was an aromatherapy stone on the basin. Johanna took it and smashed it onto the mirror forcefully. The mirror broke into pieces from the force, and shards of glasses fell to the ground noisily. Picking up a shard of glass, she slit it across her wrist.

Pain flared up her wrist and spread to her entire body. She trembled all over as blood splattered everywhere.

Her body swayed and she ended up collapsing to the ground.

She stared at the blood flowing out of her wrist as her vision blurred. Slowly, she calmed down and felt like she was about to be freed from this torturous nightmare.

Soon, Asel's sobbing face emerged in her blurry line of sight, crying for her mother.

Timothy was doing his best to calm the girl down to no avail. "Asel, be a good girl. Mommy will be back in a few days. Stop crying, all right?"

I cannot die. Asel is still so young, and she's waiting for my return. Timothy might also be searching for me frantically, so I cannot die.

Johanna wanted to return to her daughter so badly that her survival instincts kicked in. She held onto the basin and got to her feet. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around her wound tightly.

Right then, a housekeeper, who showed up in the bedroom to see if Johanna was up, came to the bathroom when she found the bedroom empty.

The housekeeper was shocked to see the mess in the bathroom. Instead of losing her cool, she pressed the service bell on the wall so others could come and clean the mess up.

"I broke the mirror accidentally and hurt my wrist," Johanna explained calmly in fluent Ustranasion.

The housekeepers Zephyr hired were brilliant. They could speak their native language as well as Ustranasion, so the housekeeper knew what Johanna meant.

She helped Johanna out of the bathroom.

Soon, around five housekeepers hurried into the bedroom. A few went to clean up the mess in the bathroom while one came to Johanna with an emergency kit in her hand. The housekeeper removed the towel around Johanna's wound.

Fortunately, Johanna was weak and the cut wasn't deep. The bleeding had stopped, so the housekeeper disinfected the wound and applied some medicine on it.

Johanna asked, "What is your master's name?"

The housekeeper who was dressing her wound said nothing.

The first housekeeper who came in earlier parted her lips and said, "Ms. Joule, I'm Anne, the staff manager of the castle. I'll be in charge of your meals from today onward. You haven't eaten for days. What would you like for dinner?"

From today onward? Looks like the beast is planning to keep me imprisoned here.

Johanna asked, "Where is he? Will he be back for dinner?"

"Mr. Zephyr went out to get something done. We don't know when he'll be back," Anne responded. "Mr. Zephyr said you can let us know whatever you need."

The housekeeper didn't spill anything, and Johanna knew she couldn't pry any information from her lips. "I'd like fish chowder for dinner."

"Sure." Anne gave her a bow.

After the housekeepers finished bandaging Johanna's wound, Anne told them to prepare dinner. She then brought Johanna to the walk-in closet.

The gigantic walk-in closet was full of luxurious items of the latest season. The shoes and bags were mostly limited edition items. There were also five drawers full of jewelry, ranging from exquisite jewelry meant for special occasions and jewelry for daily use.

Johanna wasn't interested in any of the items. She picked a long dress that ended at her ankles and changed into it.

After they walked out of the bedroom, Johanna realized that the corridor was more extensive than she initially expected. A long, tailor-made carpet stretched ahead under her feet, and various expensive paintings hung on the wall on both sides of the corridor.

It seemed that she was in an ancient Epean castle.

Johanna initially assumed she could figure out the surroundings and find a chance to knock Anne unconscious before fleeing the place. Alas, she belatedly realized her plan was too far-fetched. It took them at least six minutes to walk past the corridor and make it to the first floor.

Chapter 974

The decorations on the first floor were even more luxurious. The open-designed dining room alone occupied a space of a hundred square meters. Seven to eight housemaids stood neatly on two sides of the dining area with their hands crossed and positioned in front of their abdomens as they welcomed Johanna to have her meal.

Johanna merely glanced at them before sitting down and picking up a fork. Then, she slowly ate the bowl of fish chowder.

After consuming two spoonfuls, some images surfaced within her mind, causing her to feel disgusted and nauseous. However, to prevent herself from dying of hunger, she shut her eyes and forced herself to

eat.

After finishing the food, Johanna placed the fork back onto the table and went upstairs.

Johanna felt quite refreshed the next day, probably because she had eaten something. She instinctively pulled down her shirt when she woke up and did not notice any marks on her body, so she assumed Zephyr did not return last night.

It seemed Zephyr was very busy because he did not return to the castle for the few subsequent days too. His absence caused Johanna to feel relieved.

She no longer stayed inside the bedroom all the time and began taking strolls in the corridor, seemingly at leisure.

Johanna gazed out of the window and saw only stretches of forest on the castle's south, west, and north sides. She failed to catch a glimpse of even another house around the area, no matter how far she looked.

That castle was located very far away from the city and appeared to be situated on a mountain.

A broad road extended from the north side of the castle into the forest. Johanna reckoned that was the only route leading to the foot of the mountain.

She seized the opportunity during mealtime to saunter around the first floor and noticed there was no surveillance camera installed in the entire castle. Then, she found an excuse to take a walk outside of the building and memorized the layout outside the palace.

After that, she even figured out the location of the parking lot, as well as where the driver would put the car keys after returning from grocery shopping.

Despite the lack of surveillance cameras inside the castle, there were men assigned to guard the place at night, not to mention how vigilant those guards were when carrying out their duties. Johanna was racking her brain to think of a way to distract those guards when a heaven-sent opportunity presented itself.

It was raining cats and dogs that night, and inexplicably, the main switch of the palace tripped, plunging the whole place into complete darkness.

Johanna grabbed that chance to change into a housemaid outfit, ran to the first floor to take the car keys from the designated place, and hurried toward the parking lot in the rain.

After getting into the jeep, Johanna turned on the car engine, floored the accelerator, and the car immediately sped toward the gates.

Johanna's anxious heart jumped into her throat. She planned to smash directly through the gates with the jeep if the gatekeeper tried to stop her.

Fortunately, the gatekeeper swiftly unlocked the gates as he was under the assumption that one of the housekeepers was going out.

After the gates were opened, Johanna stepped on the accelerator impatiently. The jeep streaked out and dashed toward the foot of the mountain. She glanced behind her through the rearview mirror. The gates of the palace had disappeared from her vision as she began to descend the mountain. Yet, her hands continued trembling.

Have I escaped that place? I need to find somewhere with villagers and make a phone call...

At that moment, a car drove up the slope from below with its high beam on. Johanna's grip on the steering wheel slackened as the bright lights blinded her.

The jeep's wheels skidded, and the vehicle crashed into a tree.

Luckily, Johanna buckled her seatbelt, and she was protected by the airbag that popped out.

Still in shock, Johanna shook her head and saw there were actually two cars heading up the mountain with their high beams on.

They approached Johanna's jeep and surrounded her.

She shuddered and reached out to touch the car keys in an attempt to reactivate the engine. However, there was no response from the vehicle as the car seemed to have turned faulty following the collision. After the two cars came to a halt, the doors to the vehicle were opened, and three to four burly men got out.

They appeared mean and scary, standing before her amidst the rainy night.

One of the men stepped forward and tugged on Johanna's car door. When he realized the door was locked, he gestured at the man behind him to take some tools to break the car window by force.

Cold sweat covered Johanna's body as she panicked. She tried to turn on the car's engine a few more times in desperation but to no avail.

There was nothing inside the jeep she could use to defend herself. Soon, those men successfully unlocked the car door, and one of them pulled Johanna out of the vehicle by her hair, causing her to fall to the ground.

Pain numbed Johanna as her palms hit the surface of the asphalt road.

The next second, the man who dragged her down from the vehicle leaned in and tore her clothes apart.

Chapter 975

"Let me go!" Johanna shrieked while flailing her arms to hit that man.

However, her retaliation felt no different from the painless raindrops falling on him.

The man relied on his brute strength to yank off Johanna's housemaid outfit. Her bare chest and arms appeared exceptionally fair as the rainwater streamed down her skin.

Johanna was overwhelmed by her urge to smash the man's brain into pieces. If only I have a weapon in my hand. Even a beer bottle will suffice.

At that moment, the car window to the backseat of one of the vehicles gradually rolled down, revealing the face of a man with mixed parentage and purple eyes. He gazed downward at Johanna, who was drenched and caught in a miserable state.

Despite knowing the futility of her feeble resistance, she continued to punch the man who was pressing down on her with all her might.

Even the damp hair stuck to her face could not hide Johanna's dark eyes, which were burning with rage and hatred.

That scene reminded Zephyr of the time when he first met her.

Zephyr uttered a sentence in Irushea in his deep and low voice. The man who was ripping Johanna's clothes stopped abruptly, let go of her, and stood to one side.

She clutched her tattered clothes to cover her chest and sat up on the floor.

While she struggled earlier, the man had repeatedly applied pressure on her legs. Johanna was trying to stand up while her legs were still hurting when a man gradually approached her. A pair of leather shoes entered her vision.

Zephyr had gotten out of the car and walked up to her. He towered over her as he stood before her like a mountain, blocking all her possible escape routes.

Despite the gentle smile on Zephyr's face, he gave off a frightening, devil-like vibe.

A bodyguard held out an umbrella to shield him from the pouring rain. Zephyr slowly crouched down and stretched out his hand to rearrange the wet hair stuck to Johanna's face. "Regrettably, your escape plan failed, Kitty."

Johanna shivered. She had the impulse to leap forward and bite off his neck at the thought of what had happened previously.

Zephyr merely chuckled happily while she glared at him.

He pointed at that man who tore up Johanna's clothes and said softly, "I'll give you two options. You can either join the gang to service those men or be my kitty."

Both options were out of her consideration. Her only wish was to kill Zephyr, a man no different from a beast.

"It seems like you've made your choice." Sensing Johanna's silence, Zephyr sighed. He straightened himself to return to the car.

Johanna gritted her teeth, swallowing some rainwater in the process. "I'll follow you..."

She knew nothing about Zephyr's origin, but after hearing him mention a gang and catching whiffs of the stench of blood on him, she suspected him of being involved in shady businesses.

People like them are cruel and ruthless. If I am forced to join the gang, I don't know if I will survive, but one thing I am certain of is that I will not have the slightest chance to run away. I might as well follow this beast to cling to what little hope I have left.

Someone took out a bag from the car and handed it to Zephyr. Then, all the bodyguards lowered their heads to stare at the ground.

Zephyr received the umbrella from his bodyguard and strode over to Johanna's side. "Kitty, change your dirty clothes."

Johanna felt ashamed and humiliated. She gritted her teeth, forced herself not to think of anything, and took off the tattered housemaid uniform.

Then, she took out a dress from the bag and put it on before using a piece of towel to dry her hair and wipe her hands.

She followed Zephyr into the car afterward.

Immediately after she got into the vehicle, Zephyr pulled her to his side and forced her to sit on his lap. Johanna hastily placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself away to keep some distance from him Her resistance stimulated Zephyr's kink.

He grasped the back of her neck, dragged her head down, and bit her lips. Zephyr forcefully channeled his breath into Johanna's mouth, compelling her to accept him.

All the other men standing outside got into their respective cars and drove toward the castle on the mountain.

Chapter 976

Johanna pushed the man away.

As she suppressed the rising discomfort in her, she said, "It seems like you're rich and have a high standing in society. Won't it be easy for you to have any women you want? I have a husband and a child, and I'm not even half as pretty as celebrities. I'm not worthy for you to be interested in me."

"But I like women like you." Zephyr brushed his thumb across her lips before smiling. "How thrilling is it to steal another man's woman?"

Annoyed, Johanna slapped his hand away.

However, Zephyr grabbed her hand and pinned them behind her. He then grabbed her chin with his other hand and kissed her again.

The car, which was heading up the mountain, slowed down.

During that few hours in the car, the man nearly broke Johanna's wrist.

Johanna was in a daze. She did not know how she had gotten out of the car, but by the time she regained consciousness, she was already on the bed.

Only the wall lights were switched on in the bedroom, and the whole place was quiet.

When Johanna turned to the side, she saw Zephyr beside her, seemingly asleep. The very sight of his face disgusted Johanna, and she wished she could crush his face along with his body. A beat later, Johanna sat up and climbed to the side of the bed before fishing out a letter opener.

It was only the size of her palm, and it was a sharp, silver letter opener.

Johanna held her breath and inched toward the man with the letter opener in her hand. Then, as she stared at the man's exposed neck, she slowly moved the letter opener downward. As long as I stab this into his neck, he's screwed.

Just as Johanna was about to thrust the letter opener into the man's neck and end things once and for all, she abruptly thought about her daughter and Timothy. Her hand froze midair.

If Zephyr dies, I won't be able to escape this castle, and I'll die as well. But I want to stay alive. I want to go home...

The resentment and insanity dissipated from Johanna's eyes. While she coldly stared at the man below her, a plan for revenge began to form in her mind.

She was going to ruin everything the man ever owned and crush him into pieces.

However, Zephyr had already woken up the moment Johanna sat up. He had only remained motionless to find out what the woman was going to do.

When Johanna brought the letter opener down, Zephyr felt that it was a pity.

The woman that he had taken much effort to bring back had a high fever, tried to flee, and now, she was even trying to kill him. He felt a hint of pity at the thought of having to send the woman away when he had only gotten to toy with her for a few days.

Just as he was about to raise his hand, Johanna halted in her tracks.

Zephyr then pretended to slowly wake up. It was then he saw Johanna swiftly throwing the letter opener in her hand onto the bed, but he pretended to not notice it. Instead, he raised his hand to play with a strand of her hair.

"You can't sleep, Kitty?"

Johanna pushed his hand away and moved to lie back down.

Yet, when Zephyr laid eyes on her porcelain skin, he suddenly found his throat dry. In the next second, he rolled over to pin her on the bed.

Johanna swallowed the bitterness in her throat and ceased the pointless struggles.

Every time she resisted the man, she would suffer the consequences of it-she would run a high fever and suffer from body aches. In fact, if it were any more severe, she might even die. Johanna did not want to die; she was going to make the man's life a living hell instead.

The woman's meekness made Zephyr arch a brow, but he was satisfied with it. This time, he did not touch the glass of red wine on the bedside table.

When Johanna woke up the next day, it was already after two in the afternoon.

A housekeeper was stationed in the bedroom. When she saw that Johanna had woken up, she helped her shower and change before asking her in Ustranasion what she wanted to eat. The discomfort caused Johanna to feel horrible, and at the same time, it reminded her of something.

At that, the feelings of revolt crashed against her like tidal waves, but she showed none of the disgust on her face.

After stepping out of the walk-in closet, Johanna pulled open the bedside drawer and looked inside. However, she saw no pills, and the housekeeper did not request her to take any pills either. Johanna could only pray that the man was sterile.

However, she did not dismiss the possibility that the man may have deliberately avoided wearing condoms because he had other nefarious plans.

Chapter 977

After reaching the first floor, Johanna gloomily instructed the housekeeper to prepare a cup of black coffee for her before heading to the kitchen.

As it was a long road down from the castle to the foot of the mountain-it would take half an hour's drive-the kitchen had two huge refrigerators that the housekeepers would keep the food in every time they went grocery shopping.

Johanna took out carrots, celery, and papayas and asked the housekeeper to make a salad for her.

"I like sour foods, so please make me some pickled carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce." Johanna then taught the housekeepers how to pickle the ingredients.

She even asked them to add a large amount of garlic to each jar.

Once the housekeeper was done making the vegetable salad, Johanna sat down and took her time polishing off the plate. She also finished her cup of black coffee. When she saw how sunny it was outside, she decided to head out for a stroll.

Their master had told them that they did not need to follow Johanna everywhere anymore, and since the castle was far from the foot of the mountain, Johanna would not be able to go far even if she grew wings. Thus, the housekeepers did not tail her.

Anne went up to the second floor where the study was and knocked on the study's door. After entering, she reported to the man what Johanna had eaten and how Johanna had told the housekeepers to make pickled foods.

A moment later, Anne lowered her head and added, "Mr. Zephyr, pickled foods and garlic are meant to... avoid pregnancies."

The women around Mr. Zephyr, including his fiancee, are trying everything to get pregnant with his child. In contrast, despite how nice Mr. Zephyr is to that woman, she avoids him all the time. Anne thought to herself.

Zephyr let out a quiet chuckle, seemingly amused by Johanna's actions.

"Let her do as she pleases." Zephyr then waved to dismiss Anne.

After the door to the study closed, Zephyr's subordinate on the other end of the line continued, "Timothy hasn't found anything about Johanna's disappearance, but Armand knows that the one at the cemetery is just your stand-in. Nevertheless, he currently doesn't have the time to deal with us."

Zephyr lifted the cup of coffee from the table and sipped on it. "What's going on?"

"Genevieve is in a bad state," his subordinate informed. "My informant has told me that Armand is bringing her to the military hospital every day, and she's always in the psychiatrist's room for several hours each time."

"Is finding out who her biological father is so shocking for her?" Zephyr raised a brow. "This sister of mine's a little fragile."

"My apologies, Mr. Zephyr. I have yet to find out the reason behind this."

However, Zephyr was not interested to find out more about Genevieve's matter. He then instructed, "Find more people to decode the string of numbers."

If those people could not decode it, he would have to return to find Genevieve.

Zephyr never thought that Genevieve's mother would be someone so important-that she was Baykeep's Zeigler family's missing second daughter.

It was one thing for Genevieve to have a relationship with Armand and another for her own mother to come from a powerful background. It would not be a beneficial situation for Zephyr.

He once hired someone to swap Genevieve and Herbert's DNA test results in hopes to keep Genevieve's birth circumstances a secret-he was hoping that he would be able to knock Felix off his pedestal so that the Zeigler family would fall to ruins. Yet, his plan failed.

In a few years' time, Armand would take over Robert's position. Ethan's death was linked to the Carlo family, and Sally still wanted to avenge Ethan.

Even if he had power in Lostaria, it would still be tricky for him if Armand really wanted to go up against him.

Therefore, Zephyr would refrain from laying a finger on Genevieve unless he had no other choices.

After ending the call, Zephyr stayed in the room to continue dealing with the company matters. A long while later, a housekeeper knocked on the study's door. "Mr. Zephyr, it's time for dinner."

"Okay," Zephyr said without lifting his head. He shut down the computer and left the study after he was done with the matters at hand.

When Zephyr went downstairs, he scanned the area and found no traces of the woman.

Knowing what Zephyr was looking for, Anne said, "Ms. Joule is in the kitchen. She wanted to make dinner herself and did not want the housekeepers' help."

Chapter 978

Zephyr waved to signal Anne not to follow him before entering the kitchen.

Upon entering, he saw Johanna, who was in a vintage dress with a length that reached her ankles, picking up the pot on the stove.

Zephyr did not know what was in the pot-he only knew it looked black. She then poured the contents into a bowl, and steam rose from the bowl. Soon, the faint aromatic scent of food filled the kitchen. "It smells really good. I didn't know you could cook, Kitty," Zephyr praised.

Johanna ignored him as she scooped the pasta from the pot and added some olive oil into the bowl before sprinkling some sesame seeds as well.

Then, she took a bite of it. The familiar taste made Johanna relax, and finally, she felt alive.

Zephyr walked over and glanced at the bowl. "Let me try it."

Johanna halted. Then, she scooped some of the pasta with her fork and fed it to him. He lowered his head and ate it. As he savored the taste, he beamed. "Mm, it's not bad."

Zephyr used to stay in Chanaea for a while back then, and he had tasted many kinds of Chanaean cuisines. However, he was not too keen on them.

To his surprise, the pasta Johanna made was delectable.

Zephyr then took the bowl Johanna handed to him and slowly dug in as he leaned against the kitchen counter. It was then he saw Johanna throw another handful of pasta into the pot.

He arched a brow and asked, "What else do you know how to make?"

Johanna did not answer him. Instead, she took out a lemon from the refrigerator, sliced it, and crushed it in the cup before adding some ice.

She then handed the cold lemonade to Zephyr.

Zephyr took two sips of it. Although the lemonade was a little sour, it was cold and tasty.

Zephyr then lowered his head and studied Johanna in amusement.

The woman was just trying to kill him the night before, but the next day, she seemed all tamed. She was not resisting him, and she was not trying to flee. Zephyr wondered what made her change so suddenly. Is it because she wants to live? Is she afraid that she won't be able to escape after killing me, so she became submissive?

Zephyr enjoyed his pasta, but the lemonade was too sour, so he stopped drinking it after a few more sips.

He wrapped his hand around Johanna's waist and pulled her closer. "Are you not going to run anymore?"

"Do you want me to?" Johanna questioned him instead. She lifted the lemonade and sipped on it. "In that case, don't stop me.

Give me a car, and I'll do as you wish."

Zephyr chuckled. As he traced circles on her chin with his finger, he muttered, "You're really cute."

Johanna hooked the man's shirt and pulled him closer. "There isn't anyone in the castle but housekeepers. It's boring to just look at the scenery all day."

"Oh?" Zephyr grinned at her. "Do you want me to keep you company?"

Johanna pressed the glass against the man's lip to stop him from kissing her. "I need a tablet that will allow me to watch television shows. I also need a drawing book and a set of markers."

"Do you not want a phone?" Zephyr cooed as he narrowed his eyes. "For you to call your lover."

A faint smile grew on Johanna's lips. "You won't give me that even if I wanted it."

"What a smart little kitty." He liked the way she alternated between being unruly and meek. "I can get the housekeeper to prepare those things for you..."

As he pushed the glass in front of him away with his finger, he raised the woman's chin and continued, "But what can you give me in return?"

Johanna grabbed the man's shirt, pulled him down, and lifted her head to bite his lower lip.

The air around them grew sensual.

When Anne noticed no one coming out from the kitchen, she instructed the housekeepers to rest and only left one housekeeper with her to wait in the living room.

A long while after, Zephyr came out of the kitchen with Johanna in his arms, and his shirt was disheveled.

Anne kept her gaze on the floor. Only after the footsteps were gone did she send the housekeeper into the kitchen to clean up the place.

All of a sudden, the phone in her inner pocket began vibrating.

Anne pressed against it before glancing in the direction of the kitchen. When she saw that the housekeeper was already inside, she walked toward the bathroom.

Chapter 979

The next morning, the housemaids brought the tablet, set of markers, and more to Johanna.

As there were many rooms on the second floor, excluding Zephyr's study, Johanna could use any of the rooms. Hence, she chose a room facing south.

Johanna could not plug a SIM card into the tablet, so she could only use its wireless function.

After turning on the tablet, Johanna realized that the browser and application stores were all banned. The only applications she could use were the video-watching and book-reading ones.

Johanna did not know computers that well, so even after two hours, she still failed to get the browser working.

In the end, she gave up and began doodling on the drawing book with the markers. Soon, she drew Timothy and Asel.

Back then, Timothy had been exhausted from work. A few minutes after keeping his daughter company, he fell asleep.

When Johanna came home, she saw her daughter sprawled on Timothy's chest with a marker in her hand, drawing on Timothy's face. In fact, she had colored every inch of his face, and Johanna laughed uncontrollably at the scene.

That was a marker meant for drawing, so it was not easy to wash off. It took Johanna over an hour in the bedroom just to get rid of half of the marks.

While Johanna wiped his face, she commented, "The others are going to laugh at you when they see you with this face in the office tomorrow."

"Let them, then. No matter how cheeky my darling daughter is, I have to dote on her." Timothy then kissed her before mumbling, "Maybe they'll be jealous that I have a daughter!" She missed Timothy, and she wanted to go home.

Afraid that Zephyr would see her drawings, every time Johanna drew Timothy and her daughter, she would stare at the drawing for a while before tearing off the page and burning it. Zephyr did not have any important matters to deal with, so he had been staying in the castle for the following days.

He enjoyed Johanna's cooking, so he began asking her to make Chanaean cuisine for him every day. Whenever he was in a good mood, he would take Johanna to the home theatre to watch movies or to the pool to swim. Sometimes, he even hired a band to the castle. He would get Johanna to change into a gown, and the two would dance under the moon.

He was not only fascinated by Johanna; he demanded much from her as well. As long as he wanted it, it did not matter if they were at the home theatre, corridor, garden, kitchen, or even the living room. As he did not provide her with any pills, she was forced to eat celery, carrot, and other similar foods every day to avoid pregnancy.

Much later, Johanna finally found out some things about Zephyr.

His name was actually Osborn Carlo, but the name he used in Chanaea was Zephyr Juksford. He came from a powerful background-he was part of the Carlo family, an infamous mafia family from Lostaria. However, Zephyr did not tell her who he was in the Carlo family.

Nevertheless, a blond man with blue eyes once came to the castle in search of Zephyr. That man behaved extremely politely around Zephyr, and with the way Zephyr carried himself, Johanna guessed that Zephyr was the head of the Carlo family.

One afternoon, Johanna made a few dishes. Once Zephyr was done with his work and came downstairs, the two went to the dining room to eat.

Johanna said, "I'm sick of staying in this castle every day."

Zephyr picked up the bowl of soup and sipped from it. As it tasted great, his knitted brows relaxed a little. He then looked at Johanna and asked, "You want to go out?"

"Yes. I want to go out to shop." Johanna leisurely ate her food.

Zephyr parted her fringe with his finger and chuckled. "Even a bird will be sick of its cage over time, let alone a kitty like you. I have a friend who's celebrating their birthday today. I'll bring you along." Anne, who was standing aside, was taken aback by his statement. She parted her lips, seemingly about to say something.

Johanna was not Zephyr's paramour-she was but a pet that could be thrown aside at any time. That was why Anne felt that Johanna had no right to attend social gatherings for socialites. Nevertheless, Zephyr said to Anne, "Call Evangeline and tell her there's no need for her to prepare for tonight anymore."

Anne lowered her head and answered, "Yes, sir."

Johanna could hear something amiss about Anne's tone, so she guessed that Evangeline's relationship with Zephyr must be complicated.

Quietly, she memorized that name.

Chapter 980

Knowing that she was going to attend a gathering at night, Johanna picked a gown from the walk-in closet and began tailoring it.

As she still needed to do her hair, she did not put on the gown so soon.

At four in the evening, Johanna and Zephyr left the castle by car. It took the car over half an hour to reach the foot of the mountain. Dozens of minutes later, they finally arrived at a district. The car came to a stop in front of a tattoo shop. After Zephyr came down from the car, he opened the car door for Johanna.

Once Johanna came out, Zephyr held her waist and led her into the tattoo parlor. At the same time, the bodyguards that came down from the other cars barricaded around the tattoo shop. There were several people in the shop-men and women. The moment they saw Zephyr enter, they bowed politely before him.

"Mr. Zephyr."

Zephyr pushed Johanna into a seat. "Tattoo her."

Johanna knew that the Carlo family's insignia was a crow, and Zephyr had a crow on his left arm as well. However, she did not want a disgusting tattoo like that on her skin.

"I'm allergic to anesthesia," Johanna said, trying to make herself seem fragile. "Can I just have a tattoo sticker?"

"I have to brand what's mine." Zephyr brushed his finger across her cheek. "If you're allergic to the anesthesia, I'll tell them not to give you a shot."

He then leaned closer to Johanna and said, "Why don't we do it while they tattoo you? That way, you won't feel the pain, hm?”

Sickened, Johanna shoved the man away.

Zephyr laughed and took a seat on the couch before checking his messages on his phone.

Meanwhile, the tattoo artist pulled up Johanna's sleeve to sterilize her arm before injecting topical anesthesia into the part of her skin where the tattoo was going to be. After that, the others came over to do Johanna's hair.

The sky outside the tattoo parlor gradually darkened.

Right then. Zephyr received a call.

After he picked it up, he walked over to glance at Johanna's arm. The image of a crow was already half-done.

Zephyr leaned over to kiss Johanna's ear before telling her, "I have something to attend to, so I'll leave first. The bodyguards will send you to Kaiser Villa later."

"All right." Johanna had been hoping that he would leave since a long time ago.

Once Zephyr was gone, Johanna no longer felt suffocated. When her eyes scanned the area, she noticed two bodyguards in the tattoo parlor.

She had no chance to run at all.

Half an hour later, a crow tattoo was tattooed onto Johanna's left arm. It was striking, and the sight of it made her nauseous.

When Johanna stood up and grabbed the bag on her way to the dressing room, she paused in her tracks and turned to get a pair of scissors from the tattoo artist.

The tattoo artist hesitated.

"If I wanted to kill myself, I would've done so earlier; I won't wait until now." Johanna snorted. "There are bodyguards here. Are you afraid that I'd rob you?"

After that, Johanna went into the dressing room with the pair of scissors the tattoo artist handed her.

Ten minutes later, Johanna came out after changing. Those who saw her outfit could not help but drop their jaws in shock.

Nevertheless, Johanna ignored them. Once she put on her jewelry pieces, she walked out of the tattoo parlor and went into the car.

Kaiser Villa was a luxury villa built in the eighteenth century. After a few changes in ownership, the villa ended up in the hands of the Leonardo family.

The Leonardo family frequently held gatherings there, and they would invite the rich and the powerful.

It was the head of the Leonardo family, Alston Leonardo's thirty-third birthday that day. So, he had invited numerous friends over to partake in his birthday celebration in the gilded halls.

Right then, two servers slowly opened the doors, which had been closed five minutes ago.

The Leonardos were one of the three major mafia groups in Lostaria, and since their current leader was having a birthday celebration, those who attended were particularly courteous to show their utmost respect. Unexpectedly, someone was late to the event.

Some people then began sneering as they turned toward the doors, wondering who was bold enough to be late.

Then, a figure ambled into the hall under the crystalline lights.