Chapter 264

Nathan fell back into his swivel chair, feeling a wave of nausea rising in his throat. He pressed his palm against the desk, slightly tensing his knuckles, to ease the discomfort.

"Nathan, I finally get why Zinnia turned out this way. You’re the one who made her like this, you jerk.” Jackson grabbed the glass of water from the desk, took a gulp, and tried to suppress his anger.

Jackson really wanted to have a fight with Nathan, but seeing how Nathan looked, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Jackson felt like he was going to be suffocated by his own frustration.

For the first time in his life, Nathan had been called a jerk.

“Fuck your old illness,” Jackson continued. “You better get yourself cured, and then I’m going to beat you up.”

“Never thought you’d use such vulgar language.” Nathan had just managed to suppress the pain in his chest, but was caught off guard by Jackson’s curse, which made him cough violently. His face turned red from coughing.

It was then that he realized Jackson was really furious because he couldn’t hit him at the moment.

“Don’t tell me you are dying right now?” Seeing that Nathan couldn’t catch his breath for a long time, Jackson couldn’t help but frown.

“Can’t you say something nice?” Nathan coughed a few more times, still feeling an itch in his throat. His eyes had turned red from coughing.

“It’s been so many years, I thought you had died somewhere,” Jackson turned around, walked to the water dispenser in the office, and poured a cup of water for him.

“Why are you so eager to find me?” Nathan took a sip from the cup.

“I was thinking of collecting your body,” Jackson said coolly.

“You’re overthinking. I’m not going to die anytime soon,” Nathan said. He felt an itch in his throat again, so he rolled his Adam’s apple, trying his best not to cough.

“After I took Zinnia to the Lynn residence, it was you who sent me that file, right?” Jackson sighed.

He guessed that Nathan had planned all of this. Nathan had been keeping an eye on Zinnia’s situation in the shadows.

At first, Nathan didn’t think Maelis would dislike Zinnia. Back then, it never crossed his mind that any parent could not love their own child.

His own parents had loved each other deeply, so he believed that no matter how mean someone was, they wouldn’t hurt their kid. He didn’t expect Maelis to be so unreasonable, and he definitely didn’t expect that Donald wasn’t Zinnia’s biological father.

He had only left Zinnia in Laystoland because he thought she’d missed out on love from her parents. He was trying to do what was best for her, even if it hurt. He never imagined she’d be treated so badly.

Once he realized something was wrong, he sent her the key right away. What surprised him was that Yannis somehow got involved by accident. In the end, Zinnia didn’t even use the key herself.

The Perkins family knew Zinnia was helping treat Yannis. With their protection, no one dared to ask about her background. Everyone in the Perkins family was fiercely protective, so nobody wanted to mess with them.

After learning what Zinnia went through at the Shaw residence, Nathan was heartbroken. He wished he could tear the entire Shaw family to pieces.

But Nathan had important business to take care of overseas, so he couldn’t bring Zinnia to him. He didn’t even use the connection to track her down, afraid his enemies might contact her.

“That’s right.” Nathan nodded.

“When are you coming back?” Jackson raised his eyebrows. He didn’t expect Nathan to joke with him.

“February,” Nathan said after thinking for a moment.

“Why?” Jackson asked.

“There are still some enemies of mine overseas. I have to take them out before I can go back. I can’t put Zinnia at risk.”

“Just over a month,” Jackson said, doing the math. There were only 35 days left until February.

After school, Zinnia took the bus with Lydia to her house. She called upstairs, “Bonnie, I’m here.”

They went up the stairs. As soon as Lydia pulled out the key and opened the door, Zinnia followed her inside.

“Zinnia-” Bonnie’s cheerful voice came from inside the house.

“Slow down, Bonnie. Put your shoes on,” a man’s anxious voice called out.

Then Zinnia saw Bonnie–and Benny, who was chasing after her with a pair of fuzzy slippers.

“Wow, Zinnia’s here. I’m going to see her.” Bonnie quickly slipped on the slippers.

“Lydia, what’s going on?” Zinnia asked, surprised to see Benny in the living room.

“He shamelessly stuck around, said he wants to take care of my mom,” Lydia said, glancing at Benny, who was still chasing after Bonnie, looking a bit helpless.

Benny’s real name was Ian Hollis–that much Bonnie knew, and she had written it down in her diary.

Ian had bought the house next door to Lydia and Bonnie. He came over whenever he had time. While Lydia was at school, he helped out at the house.

Bonnie had nerve damage from past poisoning, so her mind was like a child’s. She wasn’t likely to recover. But Ian only lost his memory–his mind was still normal. He had no problem living like an ordinary person.

Lydia didn’t want Ian hanging around, so Ian asked Toby to help him buy a house right next door. Sometimes, when the maid took Bonnie out for a walk, Ian used the chance to tag along and slowly build a bond with her.

“Zinnia, you’re finally here. I missed you so much.” As soon as Bonnie saw her, she ran over and grabbed Zinnia’s wrist, rubbing her head against Zinnia’s shoulder, her voice full of trust.

“I came to see you. Sorry, I’ve been a little busy lately,” Zinnia said gently, patting her head.

“You’ve been busy? Then you must be tired. Come sit down,” Bonnie said, suddenly looking sad. She pulled Zinnia toward the couch.

“Ian, go get Zinnia some yogurt and jelly,” she called over her shoulder.

Ian gave Zinnia a small nod, then turned to get the snacks like Bonnie asked.

“Never mind, I’ll go get them myself. You’re clumsy, and you don’t even know which jelly Zinnia likes.” Bonnie couldn’t sit still and ran off to pick out snacks herself.

In the end, she and Ian looked through the snack box together nearby.

“Lydia, did you forgive Benny?” Zinnia glanced at the two of them, then turned to Lydia, who was walking out of the kitchen with a plate of mini cakes and cookies.

“I didn’t. He just refuses to leave. But if he wants to play housekeeper, let him. My mom doesn’t have anyone to talk to anyway–he can keep her company,” Lydia said nonchalantly, glancing at Ian.

Ian insisted on staying at Lydia’s house. Even when she gave him the cold shoulder, he wouldn’t leave. He had won over Bonnie first, so Lydia couldn’t just kick him out.

After Bonnie got sick, her mind became childlike. Her old friends had already cut ties with her. Since she’d stayed in a mental hospital before, the neighbors didn’t want much to do with her either.

Back then, the only people Bonnie saw were Lydia, the maid, and Zinnia. Sometimes Maisie, Brian, and Ethan would visit too. Now Ian was here, and Bonnie finally had someone to be with her.

And Ian wasn’t all talk. The first time they met, he transferred all his money into Bonnie and Lydia’s names. Even the house–he bought it with three months of salary that he borrowed in advance from Yannis.

Ian mainly worked on security systems for the Perkins Group.