Chapter 236 Regretting the Divorce
Silence fell behind Zachary. He thought Winona was upset by his words. After a few seconds, he continued, "So, you'd better give up getting rid of me."
After waiting for a while, Winona's voice remained elusive. Furrowing his brow, Zachary sought a secure position and gently shook her on his back, uttering, "Winona.
"Winona.
"Winona."
He called three times in a row, but she didn't respond.
Feeling anxious, Zachary quickly squatted down and put her down. Normally, as a clean-cut young man from a wealthy family, even for where the creases in his clothes should be ironed, he had clear standards. But now, he sat directly on the muddy mountain road, holding Winona in his arms.
Winona's delicate face was pallid, her disheveled strands of hair clinging to her face as her eyes remained tightly closed. She didn't faint from being upset by Zachary; she evidently fainted from the cold.
Zachary patted her face. His hand was already cold, but Winona's face was even colder. "Winona, wake up. Samuel will be here soon with the rescue team. Don't fall asleep."
He bent down slightly, blocking most of the falling raindrops with his body. "If you don't wake up soon, I'll kiss you."
Winona furrowed her brows, perhaps due to his patting, his words, or maybe both. She buried her face in Zachary's bosom. "I'm so tired. I want to sleep for a while. Stop bothering me."
She could feel the warmth draining from her body.
Zachary couldn't allow her to drift off like that. Seeing her response, he grasped her shoulder and gave it a firm shake. "Shall we talk?"
Winona, who was just about to fall asleep, was awakened by him again, frowning. "About what?"
Zachary fell silent for a moment.
He didn't understand her professional matters, and there was nothing worth discussion in their three years of marriage. After thinking for a while, he realized that the only thing that might interest Winona was...
He said, "Let's talk about Matthew."
Winona obediently tried to think along his words but couldn't find a way to continue.
Zachary took off her soaked coat, hugged her tightly, and wrapped her in the coat, trying to warm her freezing body. "Why did you like Matthew back then?"
Winona frowned, and didn't want to answer that question.
There wasn't always a reason for liking someone.
"Just because he helped you deal with that thug?"
It took Winona a few seconds to understand his meaning. "Probably."
The naive teenage love had faded from her memory. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when she started liking Matthew.
Zachary caressed her face. "Now that you know I'm the one who saved you, shouldn't you start liking me instead?"
Winona rolled her eyes, too lazy to respond. This was different from doing homework in school, where you could erase the wrong answer and rewrite it.
After half a minute of silence, Zachary spoke again, "Were you scared that night?"
Although a long time had passed, it was probably the first time she had encountered such a situation. Even though she had forgotten most of details, the intense fear she felt was deeply ingrained in her bones. "Yes."
"What if Matthew hadn't replied to you that night?"
That evening, they gathered at Samuel's mansion, where Matthew, intoxicated and preoccupied, had not glanced at his phone. Winona's message caught his unintended attention. Amidst the commotion later, the phone carelessly tumbled into the pool. For these affluent youths, who were still attending school, no call was deemed urgent enough to answer. Given the weather conditions, no one felt inclined to retrieve it. Consequently, the phone lay submerged until the following day. When it was salvaged by the cleaning staff, it had been irreparably water-damaged.
Winona thought carefully and then shook her head.
If the person had just had a moment of lust, she could have stayed with a friend for a few days. But he had clearly stated that he would go to her school to confront her. If Matthew hadn't replied, she would probably have fought tooth and nail with that person.
Looking at her bewildered expression, Zachary wanted to strangle Winona in his arms. "Did you ever think of asking someone else for help?"
Winona shook her head. "Who?"
At that time, Carlos rejected Winona. All those who used to be friendly with Winona because of her status as Miss Sullivan in the Sullivan family wished to keep their distance from her, except for Matthew, whose attitude towards her remained unchanged. Who else could she turn to?
Winona looked at Zachary, and her chaotic thoughts cleared a bit.
Zachary was soaked through, rain dripping from his sharp contours, his pitch-black eyes shining particularly bright in the night.
Did he say she could seek help from him?
Winona was confused. "Why did you help me back then? I remember we weren't close."
The scant words they exchanged wereall because of Matthew. Given that the relationship was so thin, it wasn't worth his intervention. Yet, he intervened, resulting in him breaking the leg and arm of that person. Moreover, according to Winona's mom, that person took the opportunity to drive a vehicle to injure Zachary when he was least expecting it in an act of vengeance, resulting in his admission to the hospital.
Before doing this, Zachary must have investigated that thug, knowing well what kind of person he was.
"I can't stand seeing you cry."
Zachary pursed his lips, his voice hoarse, his cold lips touching her earlobe, but he didn't continue, as if it was just a close touch that accidentally happened, but his touch lasted for so long that Winona felt he might, probably, be kissing her.
Winona's trembling body stiffened for a few seconds. "I didn't cry."
Did she cry?
She couldn't remember.
But she sent a message at that time. Even if she cried, he probably wouldn't know.
Zachary answered,"Yes, and you cried quite miserably, like a bullied kitten."
Winona was sure he was lying. Even if she cried, she couldn't cry like a kitten. That was not her style at all. Even if she cried, she would wail without any dignity.
Her head rested in the man's shoulder hollow, his chin above, blocking the rain so that she wouldn't be showered with water every time she spoke.
"Zachary, do you regret divorcing me?"
He was too close. Winona occasionally felt his Adam's apple moving up and down, which made her reluctant to open her mouth widely, her voice somewhat strange.
Zachary had been appearing frequently in front of her during this period, doing those misleading things. She wasn't a fool; she could see it.
Zachary said, "Yes."
After a long pause, Winona's voice sounded, already so low that it was almost inaudible. Still, because of the content, it sounded particularly persistent, making it hard to ignore. "But I don't regret divorcing you. I think things are fine as they are now, so don't waste your time on me anymore."
Zachary chuckled softly, "Do you mean it was fine for me to stick to you like glue?"
Winona was speechless.
A glaring beam of a flashlight shone straight up from below, piercing through the rain and the stubborn darkness, exposing the two's embarrassed state clearly
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