Chapter 4 Count Me In

Brett froze, his face tightening with disbelief as his eyes locked on Caylee. This couldn't be real. How on earth could someone so plain, so ordinary, possibly be Zephyr?

The butler's words suddenly echoed back in his mind. Caylee was the healer Matthew had invited. The atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.

Stacey was the first to react, her tone sharp with alarm. "Matthew, she's tricking you. That's not Zephyr. I already invited the real one... this woman's an impostor."

Brett quickly jumped in to back her up. "Yes, Mr. Walsh, my ex-wife is nothing but a fraud. She's pretending to be Zephyr just to take revenge on me and wreck our deal."

Matthew listened to their bickering with a faintly amused smile before shifting his eyes to Caylee. "Miss Jenkins, your ex-husband is quite the entertainer."

Under the warm light, Caylee found her gaze drawn to Matthew's face. Something about his features overlapped too closely with the masked man she remembered. Her heart gave a small jolt. Was it just her mind playing tricks on her?

Shaking off the strange thought, she muttered lightly, "He's just being paranoid."

Matthew chuckled. "Could be. Mr. Griffiths, you might want to have that paranoia checked. And let me make something clear. My choice to cooperate with your company was only because of Miss Jenkins. Now that the marriage is over, so is that favor."

He gave the butler a brief look and said coldly, "See them out."

Brett stood rooted to the spot, dumbstruck. How could his ex-wife, the same woman who had depended on him for years, suddenly hold such influence?

No, it had to be some kind of trick.

He clenched his jaw, ready to argue, but Matthew's contempt stopped him cold. "To be honest, the entire Griffiths family doesn't even deserve to stand in Miss Jenkins's shadow," Matthew said with icy indifference.

Humiliation burned through Brett, his face hot with shame.

Narrowing his eyes, he convinced himself Matthew was being duped. Once the true Zephyr appeared, he swore he would unmask Caylee and ruin her completely.

Beside him, Stacey bit down on her lip, fury rising. "Matthew, you can't possibly believe her! She was just a housewife, how could she ever be a healer?"

Her voice dripped with venom as she turned her glare on Caylee. "You're disgusting, pretending to be Zephyr just to drag Brett down! Fine, I'll deal with you myself!"

She lashed out with her hand, aiming for Caylee's face, but Caylee caught her wrist midair with steady ease, then delivered a sharp slap in return.

"I'm no longer Brett's wife," Caylee said icily. "If you enjoy feeding off another woman's scraps, that's your business. But don't parade it in front of me. Whether you believe I'm Zephyr or not is none of my concern."

Stacey staggered back, her hand pressed to her cheek, and eyes wide with fury. "You hit me?" she shrieked, hurling herself at Caylee in a wild attempt to scratch her.

Matthew's face hardened. Disgust flickered across his features at Stacey's tantrum. He nodded to the butler and said in a low voice, "Show them out. If they cause trouble in my house again, there will be consequences."

Panic crossed both Brett's and Stacey's faces.

Brett quickly shouted, "Mr. Walsh, we actually know the true Zephyr! You can't just throw us out like this!"

Stacey, her voice screeching, chimed in, "Kick us out and you'll lose your only chance to meet Zephyr!"

Matthew's lips curved into a thin, merciless smile. "Remove them," he ordered without hesitation.

The butler and guards stepped forward, grabbing hold of them.

Brett and Stacey thrashed, shouting threats as they were dragged toward the door. Even while restrained, Stacey yelled at Caylee, "You turned Matthew against us! Just wait! Brett and I won't forget this. You'll pay for it!"

When the pair were gone and the door shut behind them, Matthew looked back at Caylee, his voice cool but not unkind. "I should have handled that better. Strange how two pests found their way into my house."

Caylee simply shook her head. "I'm alright. Just take me to your grandfather."

Inside the master bedroom, Gerald Walsh was resting weakly against the pillows, his face hollow and drained of life.

Caylee walked straight up without delay and gave him a shot of the serum she had been working on. Almost at once, his skin regained color with more vitality.

Matthew was stunned. Many top specialists had come and gone with little to show. Yet with that single injection, Caylee had done what they could not.

"The immediate danger has passed," she said quietly. "He'll need months to recover. I'll follow up with more treatment as required. For now, I'll take my leave."

"Thank you, Miss Jenkins," Matthew said, making no move to hold her back. Yet his gaze stayed fixed on her as she walked away, a slight smile forming. They would meet again, and more would unfold between them.

Right when she stepped outside the Walsh grounds, her phone vibrated in her hand.

"Boss, the key proof showing Stacey staged her own attack has been moved," the message read.

"Any idea who got hold of it?" she asked.

"Not for now," came the reply. "But they left instructions. They want you at the race three days from today. Win the championship, and the evidence is yours, no conditions."

Caylee stopped in her tracks, staring at the message glowing on her screen. Someone who knew about her hidden life as a racer was baiting her out.

Her mind instantly went back to that masked man whose driving skills matched hers. Was this the moment they would finally meet again?

Without a second thought, she typed her reply. "Count me in."