That afternoon, after dropping a distracted Zoe Rhodes off at school, Zane Hawthorne didn't start the car right away.
He took out his phone and played the surveillance footage Lawson had sent him half an hour earlier.
The restaurant's surveillance camera was crystal clear, and the audio quality was good, too. So, the exact moment Zoe Rhodes's mood shifted didn't escape Zane Hawthorne's notice.
He knew exactly why Zoe Rhodes had cried.
She was delicate, but she wasn't the type to cry over just anything.
When Jasper Hawthorne had misunderstood her earlier, she hadn't gotten very upset. She was just at a loss, unsure how to defend herself.
She only started getting emotional, even shedding tears, because Jasper Hawthorne had said, "Is this how your family raised you?"
That was the trigger.
Forget Zane Hawthorne—even if Ethan Rhodes had been standing there today and said those words to Zoe Rhodes, she would have cried, no matter how gentle his tone.
