The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Zachary said slowly, "You could try."noveldrama

"Fine," Steven replied stonily and hung up. He knew calling Annalise was redundant because she had blocked his number long ago. As such, he dialed Zane's number instead.

When Zane saw Steven's name on the caller ID, he asked oddly, "Why are you calling me at this hour?"

"Could you pass the phone to Annalise? I need to speak with her. It's about Zachary," Steven said courteously.

Zane glanced at me. I took a deep breath but did not refuse to speak with Steven. Taking the phone from Zane, I coldly asked, "What is it? Get to the point."

"Do you have any idea what Zachary did today, Annalise?" Steven demanded angrily.

"No," I answered indifferently.

I could tell he was suppressing his rage as he bit out, "Go on the internet and see for yourself! I'll bring Zachary over to the Huxham residence later. You'd better get the facts straight before you decide whose side you're on!"

He didn't bother waiting for my response before hanging up.

Zane asked, "I'm guessing you don't want to get involved in their conflict?"

I nodded. "I hate Steven for not leaving me alone even after we've divorced... He finds ways to annoy and harass me. If I were a judge, I'd be biased toward his opponent, no questions asked."

Gripping my hand, Zane reassured me gently, "Don't worry. I'll be here. I'm a fair judge."

I leaned into his embrace. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he said softly. "Your business is mine."

...

After his discussion with Annalise, Steven texted Zachary, "We'll head over to Zane's house now. Do you want me to pick you up?"

Upon reading Steven's text, Zachary's mouth quirked to the side as he replied, "No. I don't want you beating me up again."

For some reason, Steven nearly flew into a rage when he saw Zachary's response. But he leashed his temper and typed, "I'll see you there, then."

Zachary hummed in response before glancing away from his phone screen. He then told his driver, "Please drop me off at the Huxham residence."

The driver was happy to oblige. He straightened up and said, "No problem."

Zane stared at Steven and Zachary evenly, and his usually impassive face turned grave as he assessed the latter's swollen cheeks. "What happened?"

Zachary ratted Steven out immediately, "Steven hit me."

"You hit a child?" Zane demanded, cutting a sharp look at Steven. Judging by the

swelling, Steven hadn't held back when he struck Zachary.

Zachary added fuel to the fire. "He

didn't go easy on me, too! Just go on

the internet, and you'll see how hard

he hit me! He could've burst my eardrums with that slap!"

Zane's gaze was like shards of ice.

Steven asked stormily, "All you saw was a video of me slapping him, but aren't

you going to ask me why I did that in the first place?"

"Regardless of what happened, you

should talk sense into him instead of hitting him," Zane pointed out emphatically. "Violence is never the answer. Got it?"

"What if I told you he tried to persuade Jessica to get an abortion?" Steven drawled.