Chapter 58: They Are Not Allowed to be Mrs. Lockhart Unless They are You

Zarah messaged Hope where she was waiting and went on to do her papers on her laptop.

She was at the library as usual as no one could disturb her there.

Zarah looked at her phone and suddenly thought of sending Xavier a message.

He was consistent in sending her message updates every hour.

Isn't it too much?

Well, as soon as Xavier heard from Olivia about the old couple's routine back then, he felt extremely jealous and so made sure that he would message her every thirty minutes when they were apart.

Zarah had to convince him to tone it down and so he agreed to do it every hour for as long as he could.

If he could not, Rupert or Christian would do it for him.

She never thought that Xavier would be like this when he was jealous. He would be childish.

However, it was partially her fault. She knew that Xavier was very insecure and their relationship was only starting. Therefore, the foundation was not very strong.

Also, she wanted to hide this in public yet because she was not ready. She was afraid that this would stir strong public opinion.

After all, Xavier became an instant celebrity in the business world. She knew her man was so capable and it was not impossible to know that a lot of daughters from rich families in Oakridge City would want to covet him.

Marriage by alliance was very common among rich families, especially when the family only had a daughter to inherit their wealth.

Zarah was sure that they would eye on Xavier as their future son-in-law and knowing that she was dating him, that would put her in the spotlight. She might be the most hated woman in the city.

All Zarah cared about was peace in her life.

Xavier understood her point. However, he agreed on one condition. She should take over as the Vice President while Xavier was the CEO and Chairman of Stevens Group.

That way, he could see her in the office. Xavier also knew that Zarah never planned to be a part of the company even though she had a huge share in it.

As expected, Xavier did not want to lose an opportunity. To make amends, Olivia and Trixie helped in convincing her, too.

Zarah had to think about it carefully on the spot. Although she still had classes to attend, she didn't have to spend her whole day at school.

As long as she explained this to their dean and her professors first, they would surely understand if she missed some classes as long as she could hand in her thesis and other school papers on time.

Therefore, she reluctantly agreed to one condition. She had a few reservations in her heart. She was sure that the Board might be against it. After all, she hadn't finished her business degree yet.

She had to prove her worth by relying on her efforts and hard work and not relying on Xavier's intervention.

Everyone in the company knew who she was. Therefore, the pressure was much stronger on her. They were only waiting to see her downfall.

And announcing their relationship at this early stage would not only not benefit Zarah but also complicate things for her.

They would not believe that she earned her position because of her hard work but because she was the CEO's girlfriend and Isaiah's adopted daughter. It was easy to get discredited just because she had strong backing.

Therefore, her condition was that she would assume the position when she graduated. In the meantime, she would start as his part-time executive assistant until she graduated.

Zarah wanted to observe the company in depth. She wanted to gain their respect first. Surprisingly, he agreed to it immediately.

They had a tacit understanding of what they wanted. Xavier didn't want to be separated from Zarah and not disappoint him. She could only agree. However, she also had her conditions for it, too.

Xavier didn't want Zarah to feel suffocated in their relationship and so he agreed.

He knew that it would take time for her to adjust.

Looking at her phone, Zarah snapped from her chain of thoughts.

She decided to send one anyway. She saw that his last message was two hours ago. That meant that he was already on the plane.

As she tried to type a message, she froze as she was speechless. She had no idea what to send to him since their mini-conversation ended with his last response.

Zarah could not believe that she was dating again. Everything felt surreal.

Zarah decided to send him a heart emoji instead. She knew that it was not hard to make this man happy.

"Zarah!" Hope whispered to her since they were in the library.

"Oh!"

"Are you done?"

"Yeah. Let's go to the cafeteria and eat."

Everyone looked at Zarah and Hope together.

Since she was a late transfer student and a beauty too, Hope became popular with the student's discussions.

They thought that Zarah would be dethroned from being the campus belle.

Yes! Ironically, even though she was the most hated student in her batch, they could not deny that she was a beauty.

She had been selected by the students as the campus belle for four years now.

Now that Hope was in the picture, Zarah's title was surely snatched by Hope.

However, they could not believe that Hope and Zarah would walk to the cafeteria together. Also, they seemed to have a good relationship.

So who was prettier now that they were walking next to each other?

Those who were waiting for Zarah's downfall immediately admitted defeat especially when they saw how Zarah presented herself with her outfit.

Yes, Hope was beautiful, too. However, Zarah became more beautiful because of the aura around her.

Hope knew what they were thinking. She wanted to tell them that no one could be more beautiful than a woman who had a blooming love life.

"I've heard rumors about you," Hope said while they entered the cafeteria.

"Do you believe them?"

"Nah. Why should I? I'd believe what I saw more than some rumors. Moreover, my sister Zarah is the best." Hope meant it from the bottom of her heart.

She thought that transferring schools was not a bad decision at all. She got the chance to know Zarah more by attending the same school.

Zarah was satisfied with Hope's response.

However, she felt worried that those who were on the lookout to bully her would come to Hope instead.

"I have to warn you, my reputation with the senior had always been bad. I'm afraid that they would come at you for being close to me."

Zarah thought that Hope would be scared to hear this. Nevertheless, Hope kept calm as she listened.

The corner of her lips curved and she said, "Sister, are you worried that I might not handle them?"

"Yes." Zarah didn't hide it from her.

"Don't worry. I can handle them." Hope reassured her.

Hope was no longer a weak young miss of a rich family in Sterlington City.

"And besides, why should I be afraid? You're here with me. You're my biggest hacker," Hope added which made Zarah speechless.

As long as Zarah was there beside her, they would never touch her. It would save her little trouble.

Of course, she should defend herself when Zarah was not with her.

"Just be careful. Silver Oak is not like your old school. You might be kicked out once you broke the rules." Zarah said after she recovered.

"I'm not worried. Compared to my last school, this school is better."

It was their turn to take their orders.

They had garlic chicken, a hot soup dish, garlic rice, salad, and sliced fruits on their trays.

After paying, they looked for an empty table so they could eat.

Hope didn't order Julie to make her a lunch box since she remembered that the food in their cafeteria was not bad.

They spotted an empty table and decided to approach it. However, they did not expect that trouble wand could come at them immediately.

Hope was walking when someone stuck their foot and tripped Hope.

Hope didn't have a quick reflex and so, she was bound to fall.

However, Zarah was quick to grab her hand and pulled Hope towards her while holding her tray steadily in her other hand. Her actions looked so cool in the eyes of the others.

Hope failed to save her food and it was thrown on the ground. This created a sound that gathered everyone's attention and the buzzing cafeteria turned silent.

Hope pouted as she knew how important it was to not waste food.

Aside from that, Hope's heart went cold.

Hope thought that she would have an accident just now should Zarah didn't pull her.

The soup still had smoke on it and so it was hot. They wanted to ruin her so soon.

Hope was not as tough as Zarah's. Therefore, she shivered a little.

"Are you okay?" Zarah asked in a worried tone.

Hope pouted and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Can we not eat here next time?"

Hope thought that there were restaurants nearby.

They could eat there next time.

"Okay." Zarah agreed.

Zarah thought that Hope was shocked by now and so she felt guilty and her eyes turned cold while looking at the girl who tripped Hope.

She scanned the entire table and she finally understood why this girl who seemed to be a freshman would want to cause trouble.

It turned out that she was doing this because someone ordered her.

Zarah looked at the woman who was with the freshman.

"Crystal Gil, are you satisfied with your new minion's performance?"

Crystal Gil was Zarah's nemesis ever since they were in high school. Zarah was two years younger than her.

Zarah could not understand why this woman hated her so much when she didn't even care to pay attention to her.

Zarah graduated as their class valedictorian. Should Zarah didn't exist, Crystal was confident that she should be the valedictorian.

Crystal was fed up with being second best to Zarah.

As soon as her name was called, Crystal looked at Zarah and there was extreme hatred in her eyes.

Since the funeral was held for seven days and a lot of people came to pay respect to the dead. Eventually, she had classmates who tagged along with their parents and saw Zarah there.

Thus, they finally knew who she was. And Crystal was one of them.

She came with her father Mark Gil and saw Zarah there.

When she learned that Zarah was the mysterious adopted daughter, she didn't regret targeting Zarah all these years.

However, she thought that this information was useless. So what?

So what if she was adopted? The keyword was adopted. She was not blood-related to the Stevens.

And so even if she bullied Zarah, they would not come at her for that, right? And it calmed her heart a little.

Every time Crystal saw Zarah's face, she felt annoyed. So, she decided to order this freshman to bully Zarah.

However, they did not expect that Hope would become their victim this time.

However, they knew nothing about Hope's background other than being a legitimate paying student at the university.

So what if she could afford the tuition fee here? She was probably just like Zarah since they were close.

Thus, they were not worried that someone would avenge Hope.

Crystal got up and decided to confront Zarah and also deny that they did it.

Crystal had already received a warning from the disciplinary committee because of Zarah.

Should she cause trouble, she would be suspended on the second offense and expulsion on the third.

"I think you've mistaken Zarah Jansen. She didn't trip her. Angela was stretching her legs when she passed by. It was an accident."

"Are you sure? Should we review the CCTV, are you confident that we won't find any?" Zarah challenged her.

Hope was close to her and they dared bully her.

Seems like she had been magnanimous to these kinds of people in the past.

Sure enough, dating Josh softened her a little.

"Are you accusing me?"

"I'm not. I'm stating facts."

Angela, the freshman student, felt a surge of panic and she hurriedly interrupted the two.

"I'm sorry Miss Jansen. I was stretching because my legs felt numb all of a sudden. However, I didn't expect that you would be passing by." She tried to explain.

She created this mess, so, she should clean it up.

"Is that so?" Zarah doubted the explanation but decided to let this matter go since Hope was not harmed thanks to her.

She also didn't want to make a scene that would disappoint the dean and the campus director.

"Okay. If they feel numb next time, just approach me and I'll break your legs for you so you won't feel numb again."

(Is she serious?)

It was not a threat but a warning to everyone.

Angela turned pale. She didn't expect that the rumors were true.

Hope touched Zarah's arm as she wanted this to end.

Zarah did stop and walked to the table and placed her tray of food.

"Stay here," she said and she went to the counter to order again.

Crystal could only look at Zarah with anger.

Her father did sternly remind her not to bully Zarah again.

She might be blinded by her hatred but Mr. Gil was not blind to not see the affection Xavier had for Zarah.

Should they want to get Xavier's attention, his daughter should get close to Zarah first.

Should they become friends, there was a higher opportunity that she might get a few encounters with Xavier.

Yes, Chairman Gil was planning to marry his daughter to Xavier.

Though they were only ranked fourth inside Oakridge City when it came to wealth, they could still give Xavier benefits from this cooperation.

Crystal had no idea about this since her father didn't explain this to her.

'Befriending Zarah? Never!' She thought.

Meanwhile, Olivia heard about this and relayed it to Zarah immediately as she didn't want ger best friend to be brokenhearted again.

Zarah grabbed her phone and messaged Xavier to inform him about it, "Someone wanted to be your wife."

She thought that Xavier would not respond to her message but much to her surprise, he replied immediately.

"Wanted to be my wife? You are my future wife, mon amour." Xavier's response stirred her heart. She felt happy.

Zarah replied to him, "Better be, or else I'll dump you heartbeat beat."

Xavier who was in the car heading to the company smiled and his gaze became gentle when he read the message.

"Oh, Zarah. You have no idea how much I yearned for you." He mumbled while looking at Zarah's photo which was his phone wallpaper.

***