Silly Bride

Chapter 196

Josiah shrugged. “I don’t know about this. But if that’s the case, then it makes sense. I always felt that Yolanda was hostile to us, but I still have no idea why. If she really knows Yulissa and they are good friends, then it is possible that she wants to avenge Yulissa.”Xavier frowned. “If that’s true, then we have really underestimated Yulissa. She actually set this up and planted the venom in the hands of others.”“That’s right.” Josiah put down his cup. “As you said, it is truly amazing of Yulissa to see so far ahead.”As Josiah spoke, he noticed Winnie was lost in thought from the corner of his eye.He lifted his hand and waved it in front of Winnie’s face.“Are you okay, Ms. Garland? Are you with us?”Josiah’s waving of his hand in front of Winnie brought her back to her senses. “What did you say?”“I was asking you what your opinion is concerning all the goings-on.”Winnie frowned hard. “I was wondering about the truth about these incidents.”“What’s the matter?” Josiah asked Winnie. Even Xavier cast her a suspicious glance.Winnie lifted her hands and massaged her temples, trying to recall some details of what had happened.“Yulissa’s death. I am now beginning to feel that there is something odd about her death. I remember that Xavier was sent to your hospital that night, and I went to the police station for the recording of my statement. I was at the scene then and I had checked to confirm that Yulissa’s heart had stopped beating. Her breathing, too, had ceased. It was because of that, coupled with Xavier’s sudden cognitive impairment, I stopped paying attention to Yulissa. Consequently, I was not aware of who took her body away or what happened to it.”Josiah frowned. “It’s normal. After all, you’re not her relative, so there was no need for you to worry about what happened to her after that. Besides, the police have already confirmed her death, so how could there be a problem? Ms. Garland, this is not like you. What you are saying now is too vague.”“No,” Winnie said. “Actually, this was not a small case, but no information was leaked afterward, not even a little bit. This makes it unusual.”Feeling a little distressed, Xavier held Winnie’s hand and said, “Winnie, Yulissa’s death is tightly linked to me, and my condition was not good at that time. So Grandpa blocked the news completely. Otherwise, it would have a negative impact on me and the Fairchild family. Don’t worry about this matter anymore. You have worked so hard to learn traditional medicine and acupuncture for my sake. Leave the rest to me

and Josiah. I don’t want to see you so worn out because of me.”“So you don’t believe me? You think it’s just my imagination?” Winnie glanced at them, then closed her eyes, trying to recall the details of that night. “Yes, my intuition at this moment is correct. I must have overlooked some details at that time. Christopher told me that Yulissa was dead. Yes, it was Christopher.”When she recalled this detail, she abruptly opened her eyes.Xavier remained perfectly still as he looked at her. “What is it?”“The problem lies in this detail that I can recall,” Winnie said firmly. “Yulissa had given Christopher valuable information about drugs. At that time, I thought she was dead, and Christopher said so as well. So I expressed regret for the progress of his work because Yulissa was a very important link. With her death, the link will lead to a dead end. However, at that time, he reacted very calmly to her death as if it had no effect on his case. How could her death not affect his case?”“So you suspect that Yulissa is still alive, and the police helped her to fake her death?” Xavier spoke out what was on Winnie’s mind.“Yes!”“Why would they do that?” For a moment, Josiah was unable to follow their conversation.“The police need informants,” Winnie said. “This type of informant who does not exist is even better.”“Oh! That’s right.” Josiah nodded. “I can understand it when you explain it this way. However, you must know that none of this can be proven, and it’s all your speculation.”“I know!” Winnie took out her phone. “If you have any questions, just ask them, and then verify them directly. As for the truth, you will know after verification.”As she spoke, she had already dialed Christopher’s number.Xavier and Josiah noticed what she was doing, and they both breathed quietly in order to let her make the call without any unnecessary noises in the background.However, the only response Winnie received was the automated message. “The number you have dialed is not in service. Please try again later.”She tried several times but to no avail.She even suspected that there was a problem with her phone and wanted to try again with the landline on Josiah’s desk, but Xavier stopped her.He pulled her hand over and held her small, delicate one in his warm hands.“Stop calling him. He is the captain of the Narcotics Enforcement Department. It is a common thing to go out on missions. You should know that they don’t bring their phones when they do that. Even if they need to use communication tools, they will definitely not use their own numbers. Before the mission is over, he cannot be contacted except by the personnel involved from the police station.”“That’s right,” JosiahContent from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

chipped in. “You must not be so anxious. Even if Yulissa is really alive and is acting as an informant, he might not tell you the truth.”“I know. I only wanted to test him. I wasn’t going to ask him directly.” At this point, Winnie had already decided to give up on trying to contact Christopher. She knew it would be a wasted effort. After giving it some thought, she added, “The source of this venom is Yulissa. If she’s really alive, maybe we can find her to get the antidote.”“Then should we go look for Yolanda again?” Josiah suggested.Xavier grunted in reply. “That’s all that we can do for now.” With that, she took Winnie’s hand and stood up. “We’ll make a move first, then,” he said to Josiah.“Wait a minute!” Josiah hurriedly stopped Xavier. “You can leave, but you have to leave me a few cylinders of blood first. Why else did I insist that you come over in person? Come and draw some blood with me.”“All right.” Xavier gritted his teeth. “It’s a good thing you’re drawing some of my blood. Otherwise, you’d be dead for sure.”“What’s the matter?” Josiah glanced at Winnie for a moment. “Did I interrupt your good time?”Xavier cast him a sidelong glance. “Just watch it next time.”“All right, are you done?” Winnie clenched Xavier’s hand. “You can’t even figure out what is important or urgent after getting poison, now can you?” That night, Xavier kept going on and on.Winnie felt like a fish out of water and had a dire need for air.The first time was fine and she could feel it.The second time was acceptable.But after that, it was tiring.“Is this the after-effect of poisoning? Isn’t it almost like the blue pill?” Winnie had thought of just kicking him out of the bed.However, she was physically weaker than the man and was easily overpowered.She was arrogant and refused to surrender. When she looked at the time again, it was already three in the morning.“Go to sleep. Take a long rest. I’ll make sure that no one and nothing will disturb you tomorrow.” Xavier’s voice was hoarse, low, and needy.Held in his arms, Winnie hummed comfortably.She lifted her hand and stroked his face. “Then switch off my phone and wake me up at noon for lunch.”Xavier held her hand and chuckled. “Noon? You want to sleep for so long?”Winnie chuckled too. “Of course. Someone promised to do me so hard that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. Wouldn’t he be embarrassed if I got up before noon?”“Winnie!” Xavier lifted her chin and bit it softly. “How could you say that?”“Why not? Stop touching me!”“No. It’s too late to resist now.”Winnie smiled and nestled in his arms like a lazy cat. “By the way, you haven’t promised me.”“What?”“Wake me up at twelve noon.”“Must I wake you up?”“Hmm?” Winnie frowned and decided to open her eyes wide. “What

do you mean? Aren’t you sleeping together with me? You haven’t been resting well, have you?”Xavier gave an irrelevant answer. “I’m not tired.”Winnie twisted Xavier’s ear. “I know. You are thinking of meeting Yolanda on your own, aren’t you?”Xavier’s eyes widened a little. “You can read my mind. Do you live in my mind?”“Hmph, why do you want to leave me and go alone?”“You should know the reason since you are so smart.” Xavier held her in his embrace. “You have been exhausted lately. I want you to rest more. It’s okay for me to meet her alone.”“Don’t underestimate her. Her needles are very powerful, and Josiah suffered from them in the past. But you know what I’ve done for you, and you’re considerate of me. That’s good. Please keep it up in the days to come.”“Certainly.”“Good. Let’s sleep.”The next day, after confirming that Yolanda was at home, Winnie and Xavier drove to the Xander residence.Winnie knew that Yolanda was precious to Sebastian and, at the same time, he was worried that she might harm Yolanda in some manner. Therefore, she invited him to be present when she talked to her.However, Yolanda did not want her grandfather to know about the things that she had done.A bottle of the venom that Nate had given her was missing from her room, but she did not mention it. Nor did she want Winnie and Xavier to let her grandfather know.Hence, she wanted to talk to Winnie and Xavier outside.However, Winnie insisted on not going out and went straight into Yolanda’s room instead.Yolanda frowned. Seeing that Sebastian was watching them, she had no choice but to enter her own room and lock the door.Xavier cut to the chase and said in a cold voice, “Ms. Xander, I want to know about your relationship with Yulissa. I hope you can answer me truthfully. If you reply honestly and turn over a new leaf, I can let bygones be bygones.”Yolanda was, by nature, not a cooperative character. Furthermore, there was nothing between her and Yulissa.If she had to talk about any relationship with Yulissa, it was only through Nate.Yolanda snorted. “What a joke! What if I don’t tell the truth? Besides, I don’t know this person you call Yulissa. If you want to find someone, I suggest you hack the police system. This way, the entire population of Chanaea will be under your control.”“Yolanda”—Winnie frowned—”you should know that we haven’t treated you as you deserve because you are Old Mr. Xander’s granddaughter. If you’re not his granddaughter, I won’t be so gentle to you now.”“What? Are you threatening me? Are you oppressing me because I have no one in Avenport?” Undaunted, Yolanda took out her phone, turned on the voice recorder, and placed it on the

table. “I am recording everything that we will say. If you dare threaten me, I don’t mind sharing this voice recording online with the whole of Chanaea so that everyone can judge for themselves.”“I am not threatening you. Every word I say is the truth. Let me ask you again. Are there any dealings between you and Yulissa? Where did the bottle of venom in your room come from?”Yolanda had never thought of betraying Nate. “I found it by the roadside.”This answer was obviously perfunctory.Winnie was beginning to feel angry. Xavier’s brows were furrowed tightly, and it even crossed his mind to kill Yolanda.For a while, the two sides were deadlocked, and neither side spoke. The whole room seemed to be filled with the tension of an invisible war.Right then, the ringing of a phone broke the unnatural silence in the room.Strangely, it was not Winnie’s or Xavier’s phone that rang, nor was it the phone Yolanda had placed on the table.None of the three phones showed any incoming calls, but the room was filled with the sound of a phone ringing.Winnie had suspected that Yolanda had another phone on her, and now it was revealed.Yolanda realized that something was wrong.This second phone was only used to communicate with Nate alone. Now that the two visitors had discovered it, Nate would be exposed.Nate and Xavier were cousins. The ties that bound the Fairchild family and the Fraser family were myriad and complex. Yolanda did not want to expose Nate.So, she sprang up in an instant.Unfortunately, she was alone.Xavier and Winnie were together.Winnie followed the source of the sound and searched the closet for the phone while Xavier blocked Yolanda’s path.He was big and tall. As he stood in front of Yolanda, he was like a fence that Yolanda could not break through.In no time, Winnie found Yolanda’s second phone.Xavier caught Yolanda by her cheeks so that she could not speak.Winnie accepted the call on the phone.Before she said anything, a youthful male voice came from the phone.“Yolanda, have you finished using the medicine? If you have, I’ll get another bottle for you.”Xavier’s expression darkened when he heard that voice.With a smirk, he said, “Nate, my good cousin. What medicine is this that you cannot give me directly but have to go through Yolanda with so much trouble?”