When fate plays its hand

Zach suddenly said, “My mom has been asking about you a lot lately.”

“About what?” Winter still maintained a level of respect when it came to Phoebe. After all, she once gifted her a royal emerald bracelet. Speaking of which, she hadn’t returned the bracelet yet…

“She’s been asking why you never come by our house anymore. She wondered if I’ve done something to make you angry.”

“And what did you say?”

He cleared his throat and said, “I told her I accidentally got you pregnant.”

“What?” Winter’s eyes widened in shock, but Zach chuckled. “I’m just joking.”

She rolled her eyes. This guy was insane!

Zach continued, “I told her that you’ve been busy with work and ignored me, so I threw a tantrum and made a big scene that pissed you off.”

At least he knew how to take the blame on himself.

Winter’s lips curved upward at the thought.

Zach noticed she seemed to be in a good mood and seized the opportunity to suggest, ‘How about we resume our partnership? Just hear me out. First, we’re definitely in for a scolding if our moms find out we broke up, right?”

Winter remained silent. Although Natalie wasn’t one to scold her, she could utter sarcastic remarks that made one want to crawl under a rock in shame without even using a curse word.

Mature socialites like her had that skill down to an art.

Zach pressed on, “Next, we’ll be right back to being pressured to date, get married, and to have kids after getting yelled at. Then, we’re forced to endure our moms‘ endless nagging without being able to retort.”

Winter didn’t say a word, but every word he spoke hit her sore spots.

“To solve our predicament, we’d both have to filter and find new partners. Besides, they would need to be within our social circle, which wouldn’t be easy.

“In conclusion, our best option is to keep working together. As the saying goes, a familiar partner is better than a new one. It saves us both a lot of hassle.”

Winter had to admit that Zach’s persuasive skills were impressive. For a brief moment, she was genuinely tempted to accept his offer, but unfortunately…

“I already told you that I don’t make love with my business partners.”

Even if she was sorely tempted, she couldn’t compromise her principles.

Zach was sipping his tea when he heard her remark nonchalantly that they slept together. He almost choked on his tea. Seriously, this woman was too wild

“This is an easy fix. Isn’t it fine if we just stop calling it a partnership then?”

Winter raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Our previous partnership is over. From now on, we’re not partners.”

“Then what are we?”

“We’re in an open relationship.”

“Huh?”

“You can think of it as friends with benefits.”

Winter sneered, “Hah, Mr. Graham. Your scheme is so obvious that it’s practically right in my face. D you have an ounce of shame?”

A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. “Come on, you seemed to be enjoying yourself that night. Didn’t I do a decent job in every aspect?”

“Your ego is quite big,” she quipped.

Zach’s lips twitched. “I’m not just tooting my horn. I’m really good- The next few sentences he spoke

were too obscene to be mentioned.

Nonetheless, Winter remained unfazed. Once he was done, she casually remarked, “Are you trying to brag?” She turned the tables on him effortlessly.

Zach suddenly leaned in and gripped her chin, forcing Winter to look him in the eye. “You admitted that night wasn’t a drunken mistake, and you were sober. Since you were clear–headed, why didn’t you stop

me?

“Winter, ask yourself honestly. If you weren’t tempted by me even for a moment, would you have let me sleep with you?”

“You-”

“My words may be crude, but the logic stands. After all, you like to have fun and want to be satisfied physically. I can give you all of that and keep our families off our backs at the same time.”

Zach enunciated every word slowly, “You won’t lose out by being with me.”

Winter stared into his dark eyes and found herself momentarily dazed.