Silly Bride

Chapter 190

In just a few seconds, multiple conflicting thoughts flashed across Xavier’s mind, but he was the only one who knew about all that.Winnie was utterly oblivious to his considerations.She glanced at him dejectedly and replied, “My hubby’s heart will not ache for me because he has some problem here.”Winnie pointed at her own head as she spoke while wearing a poker face.At that sight, Josiah chimed in sarcastically, “That’s right. There’s something wrong with his husband’s brain. His condition has been unstable and cannot be fully cured. I can’t even bring myself to describe how awful it is. At times, he even acted no different from an insane person!”“Exactly.” Winnie curled her lips into a fake smile and raised her hand in Josiah’s direction.Josiah fathomed her intention and gave her a high- five.The corner of Xavier’s mouth twitched imperceptibly as he took in his wife and his best friend collaborating to mock him.He stared at Josiah’s hand, which came into contact with Winnie’s palm, and thought to himself. I think it’s time for someone to lose a hand now.“Let’s get down to business. I thought that’s why you two are here looking for me,” Xavier uttered impassively.“That’s right. I was asking you a question, but you interrupted me. I answered your question about the origin of the hypnotic incense. It should be your turn to answer my question now, right?”Xavier frowned. “Okay. I don’t remember. I’m not sure if someone hypnotized me.”“All right then.” Josiah nodded. “This is within our expectation. However, we suspect this to be the reason. Besides, from our investigation, we found out Yolanda studied the art of hypnosis. Since you do not remember anything, we’ll skip interviewing you. Let me talk about my—”“Hold on!” Winnie interjected Josiah’s speech.She turned to look at Xavier. “At that time, you remained unconscious for a long time after the needles were removed. This situation had never occurred during the previous acupuncture sessions. What happened that day? Were you feeling extra sleepy or what? Or did you hear a special sound in the end that instantaneously awakened you?”“She’s right! Did you wake up because you heard or sensed something? This is very important. How could I have forgotten about this?” Josiah urged Xavier to answer the question.Initially, Xavier was reluctant to tell, as the uncertainties regarding his situation were piling up.Besides, he had planned to maintain his current condition in order to fool Yolanda.Having said that, after witnessing howMaterial © NôvelDrama.Org.

much Winnie had done for him, he could not bring himself to cause her more trouble and waste her time on irrelevant matters.Therefore, after giving it some thought, he decided to divulge some information.“I have the slightest recollection in this regard. At that time, I tried my best to open my eyes, but I could not control my body as if I was experiencing sleep paralysis. This lasted until I heard a series of ticking sounds, prompting me to jolt awake.”“Ticking sounds…” Winnie mumbled that phrase repeatedly while taking off her wristwatch with her head lowered. She placed the watch beside Xavier’s ear and asked, “Try to recall your memories. Is this the ticking sound you heard?”“The sound is similar, but the ticking sound I heard previously was louder.”“The sound is similar, but the ticking sound I heard previously was louder.”She nodded. “That is most likely a pocket watch. A pocket watch is a usual and convenient hypnotic tool to carry around.” Winnie kept her wristwatch and added, “I think it is highly possible Yolande had hypnotized you. Nevertheless, I could not think of her motive in doing this.”Josiah knitted his brows. “You’re right. Yolanda is very discreet and will never tell the truth, regardless of how we interrogated her. Now, I even have the feeling that she will not provide us with the answer we need even if we catch her red-handed and torment her.”“In that case, we shouldn’t alarm her. We can just play along with her scheme,” Xavier suggested.Winnie furrowed her brows. “That is plausible, but we need to think of a way to counter her hypnosis because we cannot predict what instructions she’ll be giving next time. Your brain should not and cannot be manipulated further.”Xavier nodded. Nonetheless, he did not want his wife to overwork. “We’ll let Josiah handle this since he’s a modern medicine practitioner. He should be more familiar with hypnosis. As for you, a traditional medicine practitioner, I think there’s no need for you to take part in these issues.”Winnie could not be bothered to argue with Xavier regarding that matter. However, she could never rest assured letting Josiah deal with everything.Josiah agreed with Xavier’s statement. “Okay. I will consult a professional when I return. Perhaps I can reply to you two by tomorrow morning.”“Okay.” Xavier got to his feet. “It’s getting late. Let me see you out.”“No, it’s okay…” Josiah was dumbfounded. What the heck? He’s chasing me away without even trying to be polite or subtle.Still, he did not call Xavier out for his uncourteous behavior. “I know the way around here, so I can leave on my own.”With that, he picked up his car keys from the table and stood up.Josiah took two steps forward before realizing Winnie was still sitting on the

couch.He turned his head around and glanced at her. “Aren’t you coming?”She remained motionless on the couch. “You can depart first. I have a few things I need to speak with Mr. Fairchild about.”Josiah nodded. “Oh! In that case, you two should carry on. I shall take my leave now.”Without needing Xavier to walk him to the door, Josiah directly strode toward the exit.Xavier waited until Josiah closed the door before turning around and shifting his pensive and calm gaze onto Winnie.“What else do we have to talk about, Dr. Garland? Why can’t we discuss it with Josiah around?”She bore her eyes into him. “That’s not possible. This is a personal matter between us, so Josiah’s presence would not be appropriate.”Xavier curled his lips into a faint smile while staring at her.“Oh? What personal matter could that be?”Winnie reached out and gently patted the spot next to her. “Take a seat here, and I’ll tell you, Mr. Fairchild.”Xavier arched his brow. “Are you sure? Aren’t you afraid your husband will get mad if he knows that I sit so close to you?”“As a doctor, is there any issue if I request my patient to sit next to me so that I can interview him more effectively?”In fact, Xavier was already facing a difficult time resisting her seduction.He wanted to go over. Even if she did not ask him to sit beside her, he had the urge to do so anyway.Xavier yearned to wrap his arm around her waist and press the back of her head with his other hand. He wanted to let Winnie know just how much her “mentally-ill husband” cared for her right there on the couch.Still, he did not succumb to that impulse. Instead, he carefully contained the eager beast within him and slowly stepped toward her.Xavier deliberately left the space of an arm’s length between them when sitting on the couch.However, when he caught whiffs of her body’s fragrance, he felt a surge of desire within him, and that strong feeling was forcefully amplified by the lingering toxin in his body.Things would spiral out of control if he were overwhelmed by his desire, and that was an outcome he did not wish to see.“What do you want to say to me, Dr. Garland?”“It’s nothing.” Winnie took out her phone and launched the camera application. Then, she took a selfie of them together.After that, only did she spare him a glance and uttered nonchalantly, “I’m afraid you’ll forget me, so I am creating a proof.”Xavier chuckled. He seized the opportunity to greedily appreciate the sight of her while she lowered her head and focused on editing the picture. What a dumbo. She doesn’t have to waste her effort to create proof because I will never forget her, even if I fail to remember everyone else. Even if the virus takes control of my brain one day and causes me to forget

everything, I believe I will still fall unconditionally in love with her if I meet her. This is something I am very certain about.Winnie was absorbed in editing the picture, so she was oblivious to Xavier’s passionate gaze that was fixed on her.She merely added some descriptions to the image. Due to the simplicity of the task, she was done with it in no time.“I’ll send the picture to you. Remember to save it.”Xavier’s phone rang right after Winnie uttered those words. Evidently, he had received her message.He clicked into the message and saw the picture was taken from an excellent angle. As a result, the duo appeared exceptionally at ease in the photo.However, he thought the captions she added were extremely redundant.Winnie added the words “Xavier Fairchild, the patient” beside his face and “Winnie Garland, the doctor” next to hers.He had the urge to laugh after seeing that picture.“Very well. I’ve kept you in my mind, Dr. Garland.”“Thank you.”Xavier sensed that Winnie was about to go after she expressed her gratitude, but he was reluctant for her to take her leave so soon.He wanted to say something but hesitated at that instant after parting his lips as he was too embarrassed to speak.Nevertheless, when he was reminded of how Winnie used to act like a fool in front of him, he made peace with the situation. All I have to do is pretend to be amnesic. If she could pretend to be a fool, why couldn’t I put on the pretense of someone who had lost his memories?He raised his brow at her. “Why do you have my contact information, and why did I save your number under the name ‘Dumbo?’”Winnie looked up at him. “What do you think? In your opinion, what could be the reason?”Xavier laughed. “Hmph! I must have wrongly saved your contact because you have the same name as my wife.”“Is that so? In that case, aren’t you smart to have done something like that? Why don’t you change the contact name now?”“I should. I should do it now.” Xavier acted as if he was going to change the contact name as he spoke, but he could not bring himself to do it even after a long while.Xavier pondered briefly before asking, “How do I spell your name? Why don’t you do it yourself?”“Sure!” Winnie accepted his suggestion. She received his phone and amended the contact name from “Dumbo” to “Winnie.”After changing the contact name, she did not return the device to him immediately.She fell silent for a few moments and directly set the picture earlier as the wallpaper of Xavier’s phone.He arched his brow at her. “What are you doing? Are you trying to entice me?”Winnie narrowed her eyes. “You call this enticing? I’ll show you what a real seduction feels like today.”With

that, she suddenly knelt on the couch, pinned Xavier down, and kissed him.She never showed her skills in the past because she had been indulging in pleasure most of the time. Perhaps a more accurate saying would be that she had been playing under Xavier’s rules.However, that day, she told him she would show him the true art of seduction.In fact, he was already tantalized by her, but being caught in that state was actually quite dangerous for him at that moment.Pandemonium reigned in his mind, and the intense lust that overwhelmed his sanity prompted him to turn into a savage instantaneously.He even lifted Winnie’s legs and pinned her against the coffee table in front of them without warning.Xavier did not do that on purpose. He swore it was not his intention to exert so much force, but he simply could not control himself.Winnie yelped as her back collided with the tabletop.He knew she must be experiencing significant pain due to the injury. Otherwise, she would not have reacted in that manner.His eyes started to redden again.“Get lost! I will not touch any woman other than my wife. Get lost now!”Discomfort rose within Winnie at the sight of Xavier’s red eyes. Not daring to provoke him further, she picked up her phone and got to her feet.“Take good care of yourself.”Xavier could only gradually calm his burning desire down after Winnie left.When Winnie arrived home, she saw Rachel and Jacinta sitting on the couch while browsing short videos on the phone together.Rachel seemed to have seen something that piqued her interest, so she kept asking Jacinta to replay the video.Winnie walked over and realized Rachel wanted to rewatch a video about a cat.Taking in Rachel’s overjoyed demeanor, Winnie could not help cursing Xavier inwardly.D*mn you, Xavier. As I expected. You adopted that cat because Rachel likes cats.However, Winnie found the circumstances to be amusing after realizing she was getting jealous.Xavier shares Rachel’s interest because he thinks Rachel is me. In addition, I cuckolded myself by kissing Xavier on the couch earlier and subsequently feels envious of myself.That ridiculously complicated relationship rendered Winnie speechless.“Granny, Rach, it’s getting late. It’s time to sleep now,” Winnie said to them after glancing at the time.“All right. We are going to sleep now.” Jacinta put the phone down as she spoke and brought Rachel to the guest room.When Jacinta returned to the living room, she saw Winnie sipping on a glass of water there, so she asked, “How was the discussion? When will Xavier recover, and when can Rach return to her father’s side?”“We can’t be sure yet.”“What did you all discuss then?”Winnie would never deliberately

hide anything Jacinta wished to know from the latter. “We suspect someone orchestrated Xavier’s amnesia, so we decided to address this matter first. Otherwise, even if he starts to recover, the culprit can still mess up his recuperation at the final, crucial moment.”“Oh. That is true. I can understand your point of view. This is like treating a pool of dirty water. We cannot merely focus on purifying the water, but we need to first deal with those people polluting the water source.”Winnie nodded. “That’s quite right. I’m going to sleep now. You should rest earlier too.”“I got it. You should quickly take a bath and go to bed soon.”Winnie went to shower at once. After exiting the bathroom, she made a phone call to ask about Yolanda’s movements.Winnie had asked someone to keep an eye on Yolanda previously.However, Winnie’s informant told her Yolanda did not go anywhere except to take out the trash.On the first day, Yolanda had gone out to have her meal, but from the second day onward, she began ordering food delivery from restaurants.Winnie was caught in a tight spot because of that, as her investigation would be hindered if Yolanda remained idle and inactive.“All right. In that case, I need you to continue to monitor her and update me as soon as anything unusual happens.”After she hung up the call, someone knocked on her door all of a sudden.A second later, Jacinta’s voice sounded. “Winnie, can I come in? I made you a cup of warm milk.”Winnie glanced behind her and saw that the door was unlocked.“Come in, Granny. The door is open.”“Have you showered and changed?”“Yes. I’m drying my face now.”“Okay. I’m coming in then.”It was midnight and everyone was already sound asleep.At that moment, Yolanda was awakened by her phone’s ringtone.“Hello. Who is this?” Yolanda’s tone was unfriendly as she felt annoyed for being interrupted during her sleep.“You don’t have to know my identity. You only have to know that someone is following you and tracking all your call history. You must be careful no matter where you go, what you do, or who you speak with over the phone from now on.”“Who exactly are you?”However, this time, Yolanda merely heard the beeping sounds that suggested the other party had hung up the call.