Chapter 269

Chapter 269

Zephyr woke to the sting of a slap across his face.

He'd been sleeping soundly, his last memory being Sophia following the ambulance to the hospital. Still groggy, he murmured, "Melda, don't be naughty."

Despite repeatedly telling her that he and Sophia were just putting on an act—and despite Victoria herself agreeing to be patient—people's words and actions don't always align. No matter how well she promised, the moment Sophia was involved, Victoria instantly lost all reason.

"How far have things gone between you and that bitch?"

Zephyr opened his eyes to a twisted, contorted face. His brain couldn't immediately recognize it as belonging to the woman he'd loved for over a decade.

Seeing no response from Zephyr, Victoria grew angrier. She raised her hand toward his other cheek. "Say something!"

This slap landed even harder than the first, finally jolting Zephyr fully awake.

Looking at the nearly unhinged Victoria, thinking about what she'd just done, Zephyr couldn't suppress his own anger. "Victoria, are you out of your fucking mind? I got beaten up like this and you don't have a single word of concern—instead you slap me? Do you even have a heart?"

The more Zephyr spoke, the less he could contain his fury. By the end, he was practically roaring. "Goddammit! The people who beat me up didn't even touch my face, and you can't even leave me that much dignity? Are you trying to die?"

He'd lost his temper with Victoria before, but back then he'd still been thinking about using her to steal from the Howard Group—his anger had been controlled. Now Zephyr truly couldn't tolerate this idiot anymore.

Victoria stumbled back two steps, staring at Zephyr in disbelief. "You... you..."

Setting aside Zephyr's crude language, his accusations left her somewhat guilty. But for someone as proud as Victoria—a spoiled heiress through and through—admitting fault was harder than climbing to heaven. She stuck her neck out stubbornly. "You deserve it! Who told you to mess around with that bitch Sophia? You even let her answer my call—what are you trying to pull?"

Zephyr fell silent. Not because Victoria's words made him feel guilty, but because he was seriously considering cutting ties with her completely.

This wasn't the first time Zephyr had this thought, but today the impulse was particularly strong—so strong he didn't want to keep playing games with Victoria anymore.

Perhaps sensing that Zephyr's gaze had suddenly turned hostile, Victoria instinctively stopped her accusations and asked instead, "Why are you looking at me like that? Am I... am I wrong?"

By this point, Victoria felt somewhat wronged.

Robert was the man she'd fallen for at first sight, the man she'd loved most in her first thirty years. But his heart had never held her—even after she'd schemed her way into marriage with him, he'd only ever thought about Sophia.

Zephyr was the man who'd secretly loved her for over a decade. To Victoria, Zephyr was her emotional backup plan, her safe harbor. But now even the man she'd considered her fallback option was leaning toward Sophia too.

The more Victoria thought about it, the sadder she became. Tears spilled from her eyes, landing on the white hospital sheets.

She hadn't cried this vulnerably in a long time. Zephyr watched her silently. The cruel words circling his lips transformed after a moment into a simple question: "How's Ori doing lately?"

Victoria threw herself straight into Zephyr's arms. The impact made him grunt, but she seemed not to hear, clutching his arm desperately as she choked out, "Do you still care about Ori as your son? Do you think once you're with Sophia, she'll be able to give you more children? Don't be stupid, Zephyr—she can't have kids at all!"

Victoria's original intent was to smear Sophia, so she delivered this lie with absolute conviction.

For Zephyr, this was genuinely shocking news. Enduring the pain, he pulled Victoria out of his embrace and asked seriously, "How do you know? Is it really true?"

This concerned his future plans. Zephyr couldn't even be bothered to keep up the act with Victoria.

Victoria hadn't expected her spontaneous lie to matter so much to Zephyr. Her heart sank again, but her lying expression grew much firmer. "That's right. I did it myself—how would I not know? Forget having children—she's probably ruined down there completely!"

Victoria's words grew increasingly vicious. Though not a single word was true, she felt a rush of satisfaction from this unrestrained slander.

Zephyr's mind was in turmoil.

To legally possess a company that wasn't originally yours, marrying the heir was only the first step. Having a child with blood from both families was the most important and effective means—the fundamental logic behind all business marriages.

If Sophia couldn't have children, what was he even working toward?

Wait.

Something didn't add up.

Zephyr's head snapped up, his gaze turning ice-cold as he stared at Victoria. "You're playing me. You're lying! Victoria, I don't want to turn on you, but you'd better tell me the truth!"

Victoria was genuinely frightened. Which part of her story had tipped him off?

But the flaw wasn't hard to figure out—after all, Sophia had brought back those two kids, who'd even gotten into a conflict with her precious son.

Victoria's lies came instantly. "I went after her in the first place because I found out she was pregnant with Robert's child. The drug I gave her was meant to make her miscarry and never be able to conceive again. Those two little bastards surviving was pure luck on her part, but I'm certain she'll never have more children. Her body's probably torn up so badly down there it's useless! A woman like that—why waste so much effort on her?"

In Victoria's view, Sophia was a fox spirit who'd mastered the art of seduction. Probably no woman on earth was better at tempting men.

So even though this lie wasn't particularly clever, she had to tell it. After all, men—especially wealthy men—cared deeply about having heirs. Zephyr would be no exception. Maybe he'd fall for it.

Zephyr fell silent again.

When both stopped talking, the hospital room became frighteningly quiet.

Victoria looked at Zephyr, and suddenly a wave of desolation rose in her heart.

After all these years, she'd never had a man who truly loved and understood her, let alone someone whose heart was in sync with hers, who supported her. How tragic.

Just as Victoria was drowning in sorrow, Zephyr spoke. "Who's the real father of those two kids?"

His tone was deadly serious. This concerned his next moves. He had no intention of trying to figure out whether Victoria was lying. He added another threat: "I want the truth and concrete proof. Otherwise, I'd rather give up the Howard Group entirely than let you off easy!"

Victoria couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could such cold, ruthless words come from Zephyr's mouth?