I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 399

Standing before the massive screens in the command center, Hayden found himself thoroughly distanced from Zoe.

With Garrett on one side and Timothy on the other, she was entirely insulated.

She was currently giving both men a detailed, meticulous breakdown of the system updates.

On the surface, she was just answering her superior's questions and explaining the tech to Garrett, but Hayden knew better than anyone.

All three of them—Zoe included—were actively freezing him out.

Pulling a cigarette from his pocket, Hayden rolled it between his fingers, his expression heavy with disdain.

The trio in the distance was completely absorbed in the technical breakdown, acting as if he didn't exist.

Hayden stood there for a long time. He had practically moved heaven and earth to get stationed at the aerospace base, only to be reduced to a glorified ghost.

Watching the three of them chatting so effortlessly, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly hollow.

Zoe spent nearly two hours patiently walking Timothy through the advantages of the updated system data.

Garrett, who previously knew next to nothing about AI architecture, listened with genuine fascination as Zoe expertly dismantled and explained the concepts.

When they finished, Timothy noticed the time and invited them to the cafeteria for lunch.

Zoe fully expected Hayden's volatile pride to have driven him away hours ago, but to her surprise, he was still standing there.

Garrett and Timothy were equally shocked. Given Hayden's arrogant and unpredictable nature, the fact that he had the patience to wait for them was staggering.

"Mr. Thorne, apologies for keeping you waiting."

Hayden finally dropped his feigned indifference. He stood up straight, his gaze locking exclusively onto Zoe.

"You're quite skilled, Ms. Lynd."

He hadn't realized it before. Aside from dealing with men, she had been secretly mastering god-tier coding and achieving this level of success.

He had severely underestimated her.

After a long pause, Hayden finally responded in a low, tight voice, "Then I should thank you, Director Yates."

He didn't join them for lunch. Instead, he quickened his pace, his silhouette quickly vanishing down the corridor.

Seeing him leave, Zoe finally let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"Garrett, I'm not feeling great. I think I'll skip lunch."

But Garrett held her back.

"What are you afraid of? Director Yates and I are right here. If you run away now, Hayden will think you actually care."

Zoe paused. Why would she care about Hayden and Sienna?

That was ancient history. They were a match made in hell, and she had just been collateral damage. She was the only real victim in their twisted love story.

But Garrett was right. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of looking affected.