Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)
Chapter 84

"Yes," Xavier replied. "Speaking of that, I remembered you said you were looking for a toy in my car, but the thing you were actually looking for was this badge, was it?" "Yeah, you even brought Yulissa along that day." Winnie scrunched her brows at the mention of Yulissa, feeling a deep sense of loath for the latter.

Xavier caught the undisguised disgust in her eyes at the mention of Yulissa.

"You seem to hate her a lot. Jealous much?" Xavier asked.

"You have an overactive imagination. I don't feel possessive over you at that time. Who you brought back to sleep with was not my concern because in the future—"

Before Winnie could finish, Xavier urgently cut her off, "I never slept with her before!" Xavier knew he had to explain before she misunderstood him. "I have never touched her from the day she was back, including that night. I still couldn't help but look for you. You have no idea how much I missed you, how much I wanted to look at your silly face. I truly thought I went crazy. I even asked Josiah whether I needed to consult a psychologist. He suggested I replace a normal woman. The only one I've ever felt something for was Yulissa. I was so troubled then. I didn't want to spend any time or effort looking for another woman, so I thought of her. But you have to believe me, Winnie. I wasn't the one who brought her back. I just met her at a charity gala. She was the one who decided to return to the country, and you knew about the rest. I was such a joke. I thought I could win the fight against my heart but suffered a crushing defeat instead."

When he finished, Winnie nodded. "I believe you. I trust you have never touched her, or she wouldn't have been so mad on that day when she pushed me down the hill."

"What?" Xavier frowned. "Didn't you say Kylie was the one who pushed you? How did Yulissa get involved?"

"Woah!" Winnie exclaimed exaggeratedly. "This is another story. I'll tell you in a minute. For now, I want to continue the discussion about my badge. Now that you've mentioned you saw it, where is it? Can you return it to me when you go back?"

"Sure." After a brief hesitation, Xavier added, "But I forgot where I left it. It could be at home or in the office."

"I've searched every corner of your house except for the safety deposit box. It's not there."

"Then it might be in the office. I'll help you look for it when I return. Oh, by the way, is that badge your family heirloom? Is it important to you?"

"Something like that. It's very important to me," Winnie stated gravely. "I have to get it back as soon as possible."

Nodding, Xavier decided not to tell Winnie about how he had mistakenly returned the badge to Yulissa.

I'll take it back from her once I return to Avenport, then give it back to Winnie.

He then changed the topic. "I recall I was already intentionally putting distance between us then. How did you lose that badge in my car? Could it be..." Xavier trailed off, letting out a chuckle. "You were the one who stole my car that night? You even knocked me out?"

Rubbing her nose, the woman cleared her throat a couple of times before explaining, "It was a coincidence that day. I just coincidentally crashed into your car."

As Xavier heard her admitting to it, his gaze darkened. "So it really was you. Do you know how dangerous that was? What in the world were you doing? Why did you have people chasing after you? Have you ever thought of the consequence if it wasn't my car you got on that night?"

"I had no choice. It was an emergency. What's wrong? Why are you angry? Were you mad that I knocked you out?"

"Of course I am! I was so furious that I wanted to catch you and soak you in a pool filled with diethyl ether for three days straight."

"Haha, nice one!" Winnie laughed. "What about now? Are you still mad?"

Xavier leveled his gaze at her for a while before his eyes softened. "Yes, I am. I'm mad about how careless you are. You don't take your safety seriously. What in the world are you doing the dark? Could you tell me?"

"What's the rush? You haven't passed my test yet. Besides, this whole thing is a huge mess. I don't even know where to start. I think we should still keep some distance between us for now. Even real married couples have privacies, let alone a fake one like us."

"All right. I'll give you some time and freedom. I trust that you'll open your heart to me one day." Xavier stared at her intently. "I have a condition, though. You have to stay by my side."

"You're so bossy!" Winnie's eyes sparkled. "That'll have to depend on your performance. I have legs, so I can leave whenever I want to."

Suddenly, Winnie's phone pinged, indicating she had received a message.

Looking at the screen, she turned to Xavier with a grave expression.

Xavier arched his brow at her. "What?"

"Let's talk about Yulissa next. Has she used drugs before?"

Mulling over it for a bit, Xavier responded, "No. Well, at least she wasn't when I met her."

"Did you notice there was something strange about her kidnapping?"

Xavier nodded. "That did cross my mind."

Winnie continued her barrage of questions. "Would you believe me if I say she was the one who threw the smoke bomb and injected herself with drugs?"

"I would," Xavier replied without a second of hesitation.

Stunned at his reply, Winnie asked, "You don't even have the slightest hesitation?"

"Yeah, it's suspicious how she chose to return to the country out of the blue. I suspect she might have some relation with Zyon, so I had someone to keep a watch out for her. Are you investigating her too?" Xavier queried.

"Not really. I wanted to ignore her at first, but she kept targeting me. I'm not a benevolent person. I can't feign ignorance about what had happened. Okay, let me tell you what happened that day."

Winnie only told him about the crucial parts. By the time she finished, Xavier's eyes had completely dimmed.

"Seems like Zyon's addicted to drugs, too-I seriously never expected that. Murder and arson. Is there anything else he doesn't dare to do?"

"He's a desperado." Winnie snickered. "He's most likely the culprit behind your car accident a year ago."

"Yeah."

"I heard you've been looking for evidence the whole time?"

"That's right. He's a direct descendent of the Fairchild family line. I don't want to repay his favor in secret. Even though I have a lot of ways I can make disappear from this world, I'm different from him. I'm not that foul. I can't do what he does underneath the table."

Hearing Xavier's words, Winnie chuckled. "It looks like we have another similarity. We do things upfront, different from the scums who hide in dark corners. So, what are you planning to do next?"