The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

After putting on her disguise as a caretaker, Winnie took a cab back to Aqua Moana and started planning her next move along the way.

Christopher said the guy taking pictures earlier could be a criminal spying on him, but it's also possible that Xavier had sent him to spy on me. I was originally planning on sneaking into Xavier's house to recover my badge without alerting him, but it looks like things aren't going to be that simple. I don't even know where the badge is, so I'll need to ask Xavier about it...

Meanwhile, Xavier was sitting in his wheelchair as he went through the pictures he received from the private investigator.

He then called the private investigator on his other phone and asked in dissatisfaction, "Is this all you managed to get? Where did she go afterward?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fairchild. I wasn't able to get any more pictures of her. That man noticed me halfway through and gave chase all of a sudden. He was incredibly fit and would've caught me if I didn't run a couple of red lights," the private investigator replied nervously.

Not wanting to hear his pointless explanation, Xavier cut him off impatiently, "Enough with the excuses! What does that guy do for a living? Did you manage to find out?"

"Yes, I looked him up earlier. His name is Christopher Bennett. He's the captain of Avenport's Narcotics Enforcement Department. Paulina handed him something stored inside an ice box. I'm not sure what it is, though. I wasn't able to hear their conversation either, but they seemed to be meeting each other for the first time. I don't think they're close friends or anything."Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Oh? How mysterious."

Xavier frowned slightly as he stared at the two in the pictures.

A "caretaker" secretly meeting up with the captain of the Narcotics Enforcement Department to hand him something mysterious? What is that thing? What is this woman trying to do? Why would she put on a disguise just to get close to me? Paulina, or whoever this woman may be, sure is an interesting one...

With that in mind, he put his phone down and wheeled himself out of the study.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall revealed that it was almost time for "Paulina" to come home.

Sure enough, he had just opened a bottle of water from the refrigerator when he heard the front door being opened.

"Paulina" came in shortly after, looking neatly dressed and wearing a face mask.

"Are you having a cold drink, Mr. Fairchild? You should cut down on cold drinks for the time being," Winnie said in a professional tone when she saw Xavier with the bottle of water in hand. Xavier did as told and put it down.

"Are you done with your private affair?" he asked coldly.

"Yes. Thank you for the time off, Mr. Fairchild. It went rather smoothly."

Winnie had returned to her condominium on the thirty-first floor to fix her disguise before coming upstairs.

However, she couldn't get every detail down perfectly as she was in a hurry.

I can't let Xavier stare at me for too long, or he might see through my disguise. I need to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Are you free to have a little chat, Mr. Fairchild?"

Xavier flashed her a faint smile. "Of course. I've got nothing but time right now. What would you like to talk about?"

"All right, I'll get straight to the point, then. Have you ever picked up a—"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Winnie was about to get her question out when someone pounded on the door all of a sudden.

It was so loud that even Xavier froze in shock.

This was the first time anyone had dared knock on his door like that.

"Go check it out," he ordered with a gloomy look on his face.

"Yes, sir!" Winnie replied with a nod and made her way to the front door. She, too, wanted to see who had interrupted her conversation.

However, a quick glance at the surveillance camera footage showed that there was nobody at the door.

All she saw was a tiny paper box on the floor.

The box was small enough to fit a palm, and one of its corners looked like it was stained red by blood.

"The person is gone, Mr. Fairchild. All that's left is a tiny box with a note that says, 'Fairchild."

Those words had barely left her mouth when Xavier's phone started ringing.

He answered the call without any hesitation, and a robotic voice could be heard saying, "Open the door and bring that box in, Xavier."

With a slight frown on his face, Xavier put the phone on speaker.

The robotic voice continued, "This is a little gift I prepared for you. Don't worry; it's not a bomb. All I want is your money. I have no interest in taking your life, so I'm not going to kill you." Xavier pursed his lips and gave it some thought before saying, "Open the door and bring me that box."

Winnie did as told and handed him the paper box.

As Xavier had put the phone on speaker, she could clearly hear everything the person said.

This sounds like a tactic used by kidnappers. Maybe they kidnapped someone important to Xavier and sent him something to make a threat.

"Go ahead and open it, Mr. Fairchild. This is something I took from the woman you love. I'm sure you'll like it," the person continued.

Xavier frowned upon hearing that as it reminded him of Winnie.

Judging by the bloodstains on the box, it wasn't hard to guess what it could contain.

"Open it!" Xavier ordered "Paulina" anxiously.

Having realized the seriousness of the situation, Winnie quickly cut the box open with a pair of scissors.

A bloody severed finger came falling out of the box seconds later.

Although Winnie kind of expected something like that, the sight of the severed finger still sent chills down her spine.

Xavier, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the nail polish on the fingernail.

Dumbo never paints her nails, so this finger isn't hers!

However, he soon felt uneasy as another thought formed in his head.

If someone has kidnapped Dumbo, then I would at least be able to confirm that she's still alive. The problem is, the person being held hostage isn't Dumbo, so I still don't know where she is! The look on his face turned icy-cold as he asked, "Who are you? Whose finger is this?"