I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 335

Hayden was entirely drenched, water dripping from his hair and trailing down the sharp, aggressive lines of his jaw.

The slap left a stark red mark across his cheek. His dark eyes contracted instantly, radiating a suffocating, predatory coldness.

"Get the hell away from me..."

Zoe gasped out the words like a feral hiss. Lily threw herself into her mother's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mommy..."

Seeing her mother plunge into the freezing river had utterly traumatized the little girl.

She had truly believed she would never see her again.

Hayden pulled back, staring down at her with a towering, imposing dominance.

Zoe clutched Lily tightly against her chest, her heart still hammering with residual terror.

If she hadn't reacted fast enough to shove her daughter backward, it would have been her precious Lily drowning in that abyss.

Hayden pressed his lips into a hard line, his gaze flashing with icy fury.

"You ungrateful wretch."

If he hadn't hurled himself into the freezing river to drag her out, she'd be lying in a morgue right now.

Zoe showed zero appreciation, glaring right back at him.

Her rapidly heaving chest betrayed the absolute fury coursing through her veins.

"Hayden, you keep your woman and her spawn away from my daughter. If he tries another malicious stunt like that again, I will destroy him."

Hayden's gaze darkened. Watching the mother and daughter huddled together on the concrete, his expression turned deeply somber.

"You actually think Holden did this?"

"Of course he did! He tried to drown my daughter."

The sheer malice from a child so young made Zoe shudder to her core.

Hayden straightened to his full height, his eyes as cold as glacial ice.

"Holden wouldn't do something like that. She's just a little girl, and you dragged her out into this chaotic, packed crowd entirely alone. If you wanted to bring her out to have fun, why didn't you just call me?

"He's not your father. Holden is his son."

If Sienna had been the one to fall into the river today, he probably would have held Zoe under the water himself to drown her.

"Are you alright, ma'am? Do you need an ambulance?"

A kind bystander stepped forward to check on them. Zoe pushed herself up and shook her head. "No, thank you. We're fine."

As she took Lily's hand to leave, Garrett rushed over, completely drenched in sweat, his shirt clinging to him.

"Zoe—"

It was obvious he was in a state of absolute panic.

Seeing him, Lily's pent-up grievances shattered, and she threw herself into his arms, wailing at the top of her lungs.

Her mommy was a girl, too, and she hadn't cried even after falling in. Lily had wanted to be strong for her, but the moment she saw Garrett, she couldn't hold it in anymore.

The man had saved her mother, but he had yelled at her and taken that awful boy's side.