Chapter 359 She Discovered His Secret
Zachary leaned in, his head dipping closer to her.
Winona felt his warm breath on her face, making her eyes flutter shut.
His lips brushed her forehead, and then...
Nothing else happened.
Zachary stood up and tucked the blanket around her. "Get some sleep."
Winona stayed quiet.
Her body was still buzzing with desire, but her steamy thoughts fizzled out. She couldn't show she was bummed out, didn't want to seem too thirsty.
She kicked off the blanket and got out of bed, using it as an excuse, "You can't crash yet. You're all dirty and dusty. No way you're lying down like that."
Without waiting for his reply, she stomped off to the bathroom. Zachary had carried her from the car, and she was still in her outdoor shoes, so she went barefoot.
When she finished her shower and came out, Zachary was gone. Her slippers were neatly placed at the bathroom door.
It was still early, and she couldn't sleep. After drinking, her stomach felt a bit off, so Winona headed to the kitchen to warm up some milk.
Zachary had been acting weird since he got that bouquet, but he hadn't said a word about it. Winona thought about it and warmed up an extra cup.
When she went downstairs earlier, she saw light coming from the study, so she headed there with the milk. Before she could knock, she smelled something burning inside.
He wouldn't be thinking of doing something crazy, would he?
Winona didn't bother knocking and pushed the door open.
A censer was burning on the desk in front of Zachary. He was tossing something into it. When the door opened, he looked up.
In that moment, the item in his hand slipped and fell into the censer, swallowed by the flames.
Their eyes locked.
The room was dead silent.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" The fire in the censer was dying down. As Zachary walked towards her, he poured some tea into the censer. His eyes landed on the milk in Winona's hand. "Did you bring me milk?"
Winona's eyes were still on the censer. "What are you burning?"
Zachary was about to explain, but seeing the milk, he changed his mind. This was the first time Winona had heated milk for him, it would be a waste to use it to douse the fire. "Just some unimportant documents."
"Zachary, you liar," Winona cut him off. "I saw it. Those were the love letters I wrote to Matthew."
Even though it had been years, it was her first time writing love letters. She had carefully chosen the stationery and envelopes, and she vaguely remembered the patterns.
Thinking back to how he didn't show any jealousy or say anything when she mentioned it today, she realized Zachary must have felt guilty. "Did Matthew see them?"
If Matthew had seen them and thrown them away, she couldn't blame Zachary.
Realizing he was caught, Zachary admitted, "No, I never gave him a single one."
So all those gut-wrenching days she spent waiting, thinking Matthew had ghosted her because of their families, were all because Zachary never delivered the letters.
Winona was fuming, glaring at him, speechless.
Zachary met her gaze without flinching, speaking slowly and clearly, "Meeting you was the best twist of fate in my life. I treasure our memories. In this big ol' world, my eyes see only you."
She was already this mad, and Zachary was still trying to butter her up with these cheesy lines, probably ripped from some romance site, totally lacking any real emotion.
"I cut out Matthew's name, so I consider these words as written for me."
Winona's eyes widened in shock. "I wrote these?"
Those cringy words, and she had written them?
Zachary's voice was gentle. "I haven't finished. Want to hear the rest? I can recite them for you."
Winona stayed silent.
No way! She wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
"Shut up," Winona threw the cup of milk at Zachary, spilling it all over him. She yelled, "You don't deserve milk, go eat dirt."
How could he do something so low?
Her face turned bright red with a mix of shame and anger. Without looking at Zachary's reaction, she bolted back to her room.
Years later, hearing the contents of her old love letters still made her cringe.
Friday.
The sun was shining brightly. Winona went to the prison. Before going in, she did a quick fortune-telling for herself, and it was a good omen.
She tossed the fortune-telling coin into her bag and got out of the car.
This time, she easily met Xavier. In just a few days, he looked rough, with dark circles under his eyes, pale skin, and chapped lips. He seemed so weak that a gust of wind could blow him over, but his bloodshot eyes were bright.
"Can you really send my son abroad for treatment and find that professor?"
In the past few days, he had asked the guards to help him check, and there were indeed cases of successful treatment abroad, but the professor had retired and was not someone ordinary people could meet.
"Yes."
Xavier's eyes darted around, filled with excitement, fear, and determination. Heavy breathing came from the other end of the phone. "Then you have to promise me, after he's cured, let them stay abroad."
Winona stayed silent.
She hesitated for a moment, not because she was unwilling to spend the money, but because people are never satisfied. The easier she agreed, the more Xavier would demand.
But she knew she would agree.
He was the perpetrator, and without other evidence, his testimony was crucial to sending the other party to prison.
So when Xavier asked for her help and promised this was his only condition, not even requiring her to cover their living expenses abroad, Winona agreed.
Xavier's chapped lips moved slightly. "Someone approached me back then..."
There was a knock on the door.
A series of hurried footsteps approached from outside, and Winona's heart pounded with them. She leaned forward, almost pressing her face against the glass, urging, "Who?"
The next second.
The receiver in Winona's hand was snatched away.
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