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Zackery opened the box and found a custom–made brooch.
Its design artfully blended the symbols of “Z” and “Y.”
There was a tiny card tucked inside. It read: [“Y” and “Z” will always be together. Happy birthday. Your guardian, Yvonne.]
Zackery held the brooch, stunned and unmoving for a long time.
He remembered that after graduating from college, when his parents died in that car crash, he spent the next three years drowning in depression.
One day, Yvonne went out to negotiate an investment for the Quinn Group, whose stock had crashed and was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Zackery was at home, tearing the place apart like a madman, in a desperate search for the brooch with a “Z” letter–his mother’s gift to him on his eighteenth birthday.
His mother had told him, “Pin this brooch close to your heart, and may you always carry the heart of the Quinns with you.”
To Zackery, losing it felt like a terrible omen, a sign he’d never be able to pull himself back up again.
That night, Yvonne came home drunk. When Leila brought her back, she shot Zackery a
stern look.
Leila said, “She almost… almost got assaulted. They were already in the hotel room. If I hadn’t barged in, who knows what would’ve happened.
“Zackery, seriously, can you get your act together? You’re letting those sleazy big shots mess with your girl–your own woman! You’re making her go through hell because of you.”
Zackery was already losing his mind over the missing brooch.
As soon as Leila was gone, he lashed out at Yvonne, yelling at her like a madman.
He accused her of lacking self–respect, drinking to excess, and meddling where she shouldn’t. He raged about how she nearly ended up in another guy’s bed, how her friend had to step in and put him in his place, how she’d made him look pathetic.
He shoved her away, shouting, “Get out! Just leave me alone. Just let me waste away like the loser I am.”
Yvonne clung to him, ignoring the stabbing pain in her stomach, her face wet with tears. “Zackery, you’ll get through this,” she whispered, trying to comfort him.
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00:52 Sun, 31 Aug
Chapter 6
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Zackery shoved her away, his voice raw. “I can’t even find the brooch my mom gave me. Nothing’s ever going to get better.”
Yvonne rubbed his back softly. “It will, Zackery. That brooch was your mom’s way of protecting you. It’s gone, but you still have me. Starting now, I’ll watch over you. I’ll give you a new brooch. One that means I’m here for you.”.
Yvonne refused to let go, pulling Zackery out of the pit, crawling and clawing their way through hell together. In the end, they dragged the Quinn Group back from the edge and saved it.
Years rolled by, and the company soared. Those days faded into nothing, barely a shadow in Zackery’s mind.
It wasn’t until he saw this brooch again that all those memories came flooding back.
He squeezed it so hard the sharp edges cut into his palm, making him bleed, but he didn’t even notice.
Only now did he realize that the woman he’d always thought had no sense of romance, Yvonne, was actually the most romantic soul in the world.
He howled, a wild, desperate cry ripping through the room, as if he could finally let go of all the regret and pain bottled up inside him.
It felt as if he just screamed loud enough, maybe Yvonne would come back.
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