"Alright, it's not good for us to keep meeting like this so frequently. I think we should wait until there's definite news, then I'll call you, and we can meet again to talk." After composing himself, Charles stood up first, preparing to leave.
"But how much longer do we have to wait?" Victoria's expression was one of deep pain. "I think about my daughter every day. Every time I think of her, my heart aches so much. I feel like I can't wait any longer!"
"Just a little more patience. Wait a bit longer. As long as we keep searching and never give up, we will definitely find our daughter." Charles could only comfort her in this way.
Victoria rested her forehead on her hand and closed her eyes.
"I'm leaving now. I'll go to the front desk first to check out. Aren't you leaving?" Charles walked straight to the door of the room.
"I'll leave in a little while." Victoria stared at the floor and murmured her reply. She sat on the sofa in a daze for a while before finally leaving the room and going downstairs to exit the hotel.
When leaving the hotel, Charles went to the parking lot to get his car, while Victoria put on her sunglasses and walked directly out of the hotel lobby to wait for him.
As Charles's car drove up the hotel driveway, it passed a black Mercedes-Benz van.
After exiting the driveway, Charles parked the car not far in front of the hotel, waiting for Victoria to get in. The black Mercedes-Benz van, however, continued driving forward...
"Wait a moment. Pull over on the side of the road," Jonathan suddenly said to the driver. "I think I just saw Charles's car! But why would his car be coming out of a hotel like this?"
The driver's car had already been moving very slowly after passing the hotel. "Do you mean Mr. Cadogan's car, sir? Could you have mistaken it?" the driver asked.
"How could I be mistaken? We've been playing golf together quite often lately—I recognize his car. I'm not so old that my eyes are failing me! Pull over first."
"But..." The driver hesitated.
"What's wrong? If you have something to say, say it."
"Uh..." The driver dragged his feet and still didn't stop the car.
"What's going on? Why aren't you stopping?"
"Well—alright, I'll pull over to the side of the road." The driver reluctantly parked the car.
"Really, I told you to stop the car just now—why did you drive so far?" Jonathan muttered under his breath, then turned to look back.
As soon as Jonathan turned his head, he saw Charles's car passing right beside his own. In the passenger seat of Charles's car sat a woman wearing sunglasses, looking very elegant and refined.
But even though the woman was wearing sunglasses, Jonathan recognized her at a glance. That elegant lady was none other than his wife of over thirty years—Victoria.
"You—hurry up and follow him! Follow that car!" Jonathan pointed at Charles's car ahead, his face suddenly changing as he barked the order at the driver in a harsh, commanding tone.
"Yes, boss." Although the driver looked troubled, he didn't dare disobey his boss's command.
It turned out the driver had already known the reason for his boss's sudden agitation...
Because just moments earlier, when their van had driven past the hotel—
The driver had seen Victoria walking out of the hotel. Then, through the rearview mirror, he had personally witnessed Victoria getting into Charles's car!
After dropping Victoria off in a lane near the Harrington family villa, Charles drove down the mountain road.
Victoria, meanwhile, walked out of the lane and headed alone toward the main road leading to their home...
Just as she was about to reach the lawn in front of the villa, Jonathan told his driver to stop the car. He got out alone and caught up with his wife.
"Stop! Stop right there!" Victoria had just opened the villa gate and was stepping inside when Jonathan reached her.
Victoria's raised foot froze mid-air. She tried hard to remain calm. In that instant, she recognized her husband's voice. "When... when did you get back?" After a moment of stunned silence, she turned around. "Where's your driver? How come I didn't hear the car—"
"Explain yourself! How did you come to get out of Charles's car? Why did he go out of his way to drive you home?" Jonathan demanded, not even listening to his wife's words.
"What are you doing? Yelling at me like this the moment you see me? What do you want?!" Victoria avoided her husband's gaze, refusing to answer his question directly.
"I asked you first—answer me properly!" Jonathan's expression was stern.
Victoria knew she couldn't evade it, so she deflected: "Why are you being so aggressive? I happened to run into Charles driving by down the mountain. He was kind enough to give me a ride up. Isn't that just too much of a coincidence—"
"Lies! You're still lying?!" Jonathan's face turned livid.
Startled by his roar, Victoria's shoulders flinched. "Why are you shouting at me like this? He just gave me a ride home—is that not allowed? Where did I lie?"
"You still have the nerve to say you ran into each other down the mountain?" Jonathan asked through gritted teeth, his chest heaving.
If his wife hadn't lied, he might have been willing to hear whatever excuse she came up with to explain why the two of them had come out of that kind of small hotel together.
"It was... it really was like that!" Victoria stubbornly insisted. Having already told the lie, she absolutely could not back down from her own words.
"You!" Jonathan was so furious that his hands shook. "You're still trying to lie! As soon as Charles's car drove out of the hotel, you came out of the hotel too, and then got into his car! And you still have the audacity to deceive me, saying you just happened to run into each other down the mountain?!"
Victoria's eyes widened in disbelief...
He knew?
"Keep making it up! Go on, why aren't you making up more excuses?!" Jonathan clenched his fists tightly. "What exactly have you been doing behind my back that you're too ashamed to tell me?!"
Victoria's lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a sound.
The more silent she remained, the more Jonathan's rage became uncontrollable. "I never imagined you were this kind of woman!" His eyes bulged as he glared at his wife, filled with pure hatred. "Do you have no shame at all? Don't you realize that your son could be humiliated because of your disgraceful behavior?!"
"You're actually accusing me?" Faced with her husband's accusations, Victoria suddenly felt a surge of indignation. All the old and new grudges between them were reignited. "More than twenty years ago, when you betrayed your wife and had a child with some shady woman outside—did you have any shame then?! Did you ever think about how I, your wife, felt?" Abandoning all the decorum of a lady, she roared back at her accusing husband right at their doorstep, without holding anything back.
Jonathan froze for a moment, then suppressed the raging storm in his chest and asked his wife darkly, "What did you say?! Are you saying that because I made a mistake more than twenty years ago, you're now getting revenge by cheating on me too?!"
"Revenge? Revenge on you now?" Hearing Jonathan's words, Victoria laughed until tears streamed down her face. "Who do you think you are? For a heartless man like you, would I need to endure bitterly for over twenty years, waiting until my youth was gone, just to get revenge now?!"
"What do you mean? What exactly do you mean by that? Explain yourself clearly!" Jonathan's eyes nearly popped out of his head; his face turned from livid to a furious reddish-brown.
"Fine! Since you want me to make it clear, today I'll spell everything out right here!" She no longer wanted to hide it!
Since their marriage had long been in name only—she'd rather lay everything bare! Once the truth was out, she could openly search for her daughter!
Jonathan couldn't help but tremble; his whole body shook uncontrollably!
He hadn't expected that, after exposing his wife's lies, not only would she refuse to deny them, but she would turn around and accuse him—and even threaten to reveal some truth. Was she planning to expose the truth about Sophie?
Filled with resentment and hatred, Victoria demanded of her husband, word by word: "In all these years of marriage, what have I ever done wrong? You betrayed me, betrayed our marriage—you kept a mistress outside and had a child with her! Don't you have a wife? On what grounds did you betray me? Why should I have to keep enduring it forever? I've truly had enough of you!"
She suddenly burst into manic laughter, tears flowing as she laughed. "On what grounds do you trample and humiliate me like this?! Do you think you're the only one with desires and emotions, while others—especially me, your lawful wife—have to tolerate your lack of love and your betrayal?"