Chapter 653 Winona Is With You
Zachary was about to say no, but after his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, he swallowed his words.
He wasn't sure if Winona had turned off her phone and not come home because she was angry about those photos or if something else had happened. Given the current chaotic situation, he couldn't afford to take any chances.
Moreover, Maeve had said that person was returning to the country today, but he hadn't seen them.
Could it be that they had prepared in advance to avoid his surveillance?
He had just returned to the country, and Winona had disappeared.
These two events together couldn't be dismissed as mere coincidence.
Zachary spoke rapidly, "I don't know. Winona's phone is off, and I can't reach her. Think about where she usually goes or any other way to contact her."
Rebecca was furious. Winona was missing, and Zachary didn't even know if it was because he had upset her.
So, what's the point of a woman having a man around? Just to create trouble for herself.
"Losing your wife, Mr. Bailey, you must be the first in history."
After her sarcastic remark, she wanted to curse him further, but finding Winona was more important. Instead of wasting time on Zachary, she decided to make more calls and hung up, thinking carefully about where else she could find Winona.
Zachary called Dylan, asking him and Richard to check the surveillance around the museum to trace Winona's whereabouts.
Then he called Matthew. Among his friends, Winona was most likely to contact Matthew.
If Winona was just upset about those photos, finding her wouldn't be difficult. His biggest worry was that someone had taken her.
While doing all this, Zachary pressed his forehead hard, feeling as if a drill was churning inside his head. The pain, accompanied by a loud buzzing, swept over him. His head hurt, his body hurt, and the previously healed wounds seemed to be tearing open again.
Cold sweat glistened on his forehead, and the veins on his arms and neck bulged. Everything he saw spun and twisted, forming various lines and patterns.
His mind went blank, and for a moment, it felt like all his memories had vanished.
He stared at the ceiling, dazed for a few seconds. As the pain subsided, his chaotic thoughts slowly returned.
His phone rang.
Zachary glanced at it. The caller was Maeve. He squinted at the name on the screen in the glaring white light.
Why was she calling now? Was it about the person behind this or about Winona?
Zachary answered the call, his tone calm, revealing nothing unusual. "What's up?"
Maeve said, "Mr. Bailey, he changed his plans."
She had lied about that person returning today to make him anxious and come to her. But after waiting all afternoon without a call from Zachary, she couldn't hold back any longer.
"When did he change it to?" Zachary had no interest in anything else right now. He answered Maeve's call only because he feared Winona might be with her.
Maeve didn't answer his question but said, "I can help you."
"Are you trying to use his return time to negotiate with me? Do you understand your own worth when you say that?"
"I don't have much skill," Maeve admitted, knowing few dared to claim otherwise in front of Zachary, "but I can help you lure him out. He's in hiding now, and to deal with you, he might target those around you."
Maeve didn't know Winona was missing, nor did she realize her supposedly considerate words now sounded like a veiled threat.
Seeing Zachary's silence, she thought she had him cornered and added another bargaining chip, "Your headaches, only I can cure them, Zachary. I want..."
She tightened her grip on the phone, about to state her terms, when Zachary coldly interrupted, "Is Winona with you?"
Just as he asked, Dylan's call came through. Seeing the caller ID, Zachary immediately hung up on Maeve and answered Dylan's call.
Dylan's voice was cheerful, "Mr. Bailey, we found Mrs. Bailey."
At that moment, Winona was at Frank's villa, having a late-night snack with him, unaware that Zachary thought she was missing and was searching for her everywhere.
Frank asked, "What's the deal with that massage girl who was in the news with Zachary?"
He was referring to the incident at the café where Maeve had given Zachary a massage. The video had briefly gone viral but was quickly suppressed. Frank had stumbled upon it today and had rushed from Mode City to Dreamopolis, picking up Winona from work at the museum.
Winona didn't want him to worry and casually replied, "That girl is a nurse. Zachary wasn't feeling well, and she happened to be there, so she helped him with a massage."
That was mostly true; she just omitted the part where they knew each other.
"A nurse?" Frank's eyes widened. "I pay for hospital visits and never get a nurse to massage me. He just happens to run into one who does? I think he's shameless, picking up some shameless woman and lying to you about her being a nurse."
Frank viewed Zachary with the typical disapproving fatherly attitude towards his daughter's boyfriend, growing more dissatisfied the more he looked.
During their marriage, Zachary had been ambiguous with Fiona, treated Winona poorly, and during the divorce, not only did he leave her penniless, but he also demanded she repay debts before agreeing to the divorce. It forced his precious daughter to juggle multiple jobs. If he hadn't helped her back then, she would have suffered even longer.
But Winona liked Zachary, and after all the twists and turns, she still chose him. Frank had to give up on introducing her to other promising young men.
"Be honest, is it because that massage girl looks a bit like Fiona, and he got ideas?"
"Dad," Winona called out helplessly, "No."
"Don't be afraid, tell me the truth. I can help you. Even if I can't outmatch him in Dreamopolis, if he has any funny ideas, I'll take you back to Mode City and gather all the promising young men there for you to choose from."
Winona pulled out her phone from her bag to turn it on. When Frank had picked her up, she had been on a work call for quite a while. Frank had then complained that she wasn't close to him, her father, anymore.
After finally reuniting with his daughter, she had grown into an independent woman, and now even a meal together had to compete for her time.
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