Chapter 157 He Left in the Dead of Night, and Victoria Swallowed Sleeping Pills.

When Zachary finished the meeting, it was already 8 p.m.

He didn't immediately return to the bedroom but went to the study, where he quietly smoked two cigarettes.

The smoke filled the room with a hint of blue.

The window was covered in mist, and when he wiped it, he noticed that around 0.1 meters of snow had accumulated on the ground outside.

This seemed to be a snowy winter.

Zachary, with his slender fingers, took a drag on his cigarette, his gaze deep and unfathomable. After finishing his smoke, he extinguished it and left the study.

Entering the bedroom, he noticed the yearbook prominently displayed.

Flipping through it, he saw a picture of himself and Melissa, their closeness seemingly ambiguous.

Zachary believed Victoria had seen it, but she didn't react.

He closed the publication and entered the bedroom.

Victoria was by the window, gently coaxing Joseph to drink milk.

Zachary unbuttoned his shirt and asked coldly, "Why not breastfeed?"

Actually it had been half a month since Victoria resorted formula, but Zachary didn't know that.

Victoria softly replied, "I've been taking sleeping pills and can't breastfeed."

Depressed individuals often send signals to those around them, and Victoria was doing just that.

However, Zachary's indifference made him dismiss her concerns. He touched Joseph and said, "It's not bad to feed formula."

Victoria blinked in a trance and didn't say anything.

He walked into the bathroom, his mind filled with thoughts of their failing marriage. Perhaps, as Victoria suggested, it was best for them to part ways.

He needed time to think.

It's rare that he slept in the master bedroom in the evening.

Zachary, a man in his prime, was admired by a younger woman, which only added to Victoria's sense of insecurity.

They lay in the same bed, seemingly able to hear the snow falling outside, the world enveloped in silence.

Victoria, unable to sleep, asked in a soft voice, "Zachary, when are we getting a divorce? You have someone else to love, don't you?"

In the darkness, Zachary remained silent for a long time before responding. "Just because of that photo?"

Victoria pursed her lips, choosing not to argue, as men always had their excuses and reasons. Zachary might say their marriage was failing so that having a gentlewoman by his side didn't mean anything, or perhaps he would claim he hadn't slept with anyone else.

Victoria didn't want to hear any of it.

She buried her face in the pillow, her voice barely audible. "I heard you've been targeting Mr. Lee recently. I guess you're making things difficult for Gates!"

Zachary looked up at the crystal chandelier.

After a while, he turned to her and asked, "Did Secretary Thomas tell you?"

She didn't give a direct answer, so he continued, "Are you pleading for Gates?"

Since Gates had helped her when she needed it most, she didn't want Zachary to be angry with Gates because of Mr. Van.

In fact, Gates was already having a hard time!

She looked at him and said softly, "You don't need to suppress Gates. She doesn't mean any harm!"

Just as he was about to speak, his phone, placed on the bedside table, rang. He glanced at it, which was Melissa calling.

Normally, he wouldn't have answered, but perhaps due to the storm, or perhaps because Victoria had pleaded for Gates, he picked up the phone and said, "I'll take the call in the study."

He got out of bed without hesitation.

As he opened the door, a gust of cold wind blew in, and Joseph in the crib made a sound. Victoria got up, gently patting Joseph, trying to soothe him back to sleep.

After a while, he returned.

He glanced at her and went into the walk-in closet to change his clothes, his voice coming from inside. "I need to go out for a while. You and the child go to sleep first."

She walked to the door of the walk-in closet, holding the child.

He was changing from a bathrobe into a shirt and casual pants.

Even in the midst of a snowstorm, he still dressed meticulously for his late-night meeting with the young woman.

Looking at her, Zachary said, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

She lowered her head, looked at Joseph, and said, "Joseph is restless! Zachary, since you care so much about her, why not give her a proper status?"

She no longer cared. As she couldn't compete with Zachary, she just wanted to be free.

Under the crystal chandelier, he slowly adjusted his clothes.

Late at night, he looked immaculate, which made her look extremely haggard.

After a while, he chuckled, "Then why don't you ask me not to go out?"

She wouldn't ask him.

She didn't say a word, just held Joseph, and returned to the bedroom, still gently soothing him.

She sang a gentle lullaby to Joseph, her gaze on the child unusually soft.

Zachary stood quietly.

He thought, ‘if she could give him even a fraction of the tenderness she gave Joseph, how could they have ended up like this? They could have been very happy.’

Zachary left, heading to another woman on a dark, snowy night.

Downstairs, the sound of his car starting could be heard.

Victoria stood quietly by the French window, watching the black Bentley slowly leave the villa. Suddenly, her heart raced, and she put Joseph in the crib.

The snow continued to fall.

Lying on the bed, she could faintly hear the voices of the bodyguards downstairs and the faint sound of snow falling on the glass.

She couldn't sleep as her heart was pounding.

Tonight, she had turned to Zachary for help, saying she was sick.

But he looked the other way.

Victoria had never had such thoughts before, but at this moment, her terrifying thoughts suddenly appeared in her mind, and she couldn't control herself!

She couldn't control herself.

She sat up and opened the bottle of sleeping pills in the darkness, pouring out about twenty of them, one by one, swallowing them dry.

She slowly lay back on the bed.

Before her consciousness faded, she seemed to return to Emerald Valley, back to her childhood, her mother holding her, watching a small car drive through the black wrought-iron gate. The car stopped, and her father got out of the car, calling her name with affection.

"Victoria, come over here. Victoria, is your servant okay? Is Joseph okay? Victoria, have you seen Mason?"

Victoria's eyes were filled with tears, and she struggled in pain. She didn't want to fall into the abyss. Could anyone save her?

No one could save her!

Zachary drove away from the villa, and after about half an hour, his right eyelid kept twitching.

He suddenly felt uneasy.

He thought for a moment and called the bodyguards, asking if there was anything wrong at home.

The bodyguard looked up in the direction of the upstairs and replied, "Don't worry, Zachary, Victoria has already turned off the lights and should be asleep!"

Zachary hung up the phone expressionlessly.

His black Land Rover, braving the snow, drove in the opposite direction of the villa, farther and farther away.