Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)
Chapter 280

Needless to say, Helen was shocked by Wilhelm's sudden appearance.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wilhelm," she said as her brows furrowed. "However, I was asking for Ms. Vivian's opinion, so don't you think you were too hasty in making that decision?"

Wilhelm glanced at Helen and frowned. "I apologize for my abruptness, but my decision is also that of Vivian's."

Not wanting to give up her golden opportunity so easily, Helen turned to Winnie for confirmation. "Is that so?"

Winnie immediately nodded. "Yes, that's indeed my decision. Thank you for your invitation, but I'm afraid I'll have to turn it down. We'll be heading off now if you and Margaret have no other questions." Since Winnie had already made herself clear, Helen knew there was nothing more she could do. "Very well, then. Have a good day. I'd also like to apologize to you on Margaret's behalf."

Winnie merely gave a silent nod of acknowledgment before taking Emily by the arm and following V upstairs.

As soon as everyone was in the VIP lounge, Wilhelm suddenly turned to Winnie and burst out laughing.

Bewildered, Winnie shot him a glance and raised her brow. "Why are you laughing at me? Do I look like a joke to you?"

To her surprise, Wilhelm's smile grew wider. "My, my. You've been hiding your light under a bushel, Vivian. I can't believe you're the boss of Champes! Say, what other identities do you have that we don't know of?"

"Oh, there are so many I can't even count them on my fingers," Winnie replied half-jokingly. "I've even forgotten some of them. I suppose I'll only recall them when I have another chance encounter."

Wilhelm instantly guffawed at that. "If I didn't know you better, I'd have pegged you as a snob after hearing what you just said. No wonder Grandma always receives the best treatment when she's here to order her clothes. Well, I'm glad I finally know the reason, but when will it be my turn to enjoy such treatment too?"

"My goodness, Wilhelm. Champes is a women's clothing brand," Winnie said with a hint of annoyance. "If you replace yourself a wife worthy of my respect, I'll also make sure to give her the VIP treatment." "Are you taking me for a joke too?" Wilhelm grumbled as he lightly smacked her head.

Winnie knew the man would never be heavy-handed on her, so she didn't even bother ducking.

"Speaking of which, I think that journalist, Helen, looked at you rather oddly earlier," she suddenly remarked. "She seems to hate you, but I'm sure it's not just because you turned her down on my behalf. Fess up, Wilhelm. Did something happen between the two of you?"

Without thinking twice, Wilhelm replied, "No!"

"Oh, Wilhelm!" Emily exclaimed, looking rather shocked. "How could you deny it? Have you forgotten that you rejected her before in public?"

Upon hearing that, Wilhelm looked utterly confused. "Grandma, are you sure? Why don't I have any recollection?"

"Yes, of course," Emily said, a deep-set frown on her face. "I'm sure it was her."

Before Wilhelm could reply, she turned to Winnie and added, "Do you know why I told you I know this particular journalist? Not only did she expose the royal family's scandal, but she was also the only lady brave enough to profess her love for Wilhelm in public. On top of that, she even got rejected by him."

"That's impossible," Wilhelm retorted. "I do remember someone professing her love to me, but that was at a birthday party three years ago and by a very young lady. I'm sure it wasn't that journalist."

"Oh, my dear Wilhelm..." Winnie muttered. "Three years have passed since then. Don't you know that appearances change as people grow?"

"You didn't, though. I think you look the same as you did three years ago. The only thing different about you is that your skills have improved."

"Fine. It seems you never cared much for the lady," Winnie reasoned. "You know, if she's someone with high self-esteem, there's a chance she's still holding grudges."

The moment she finished speaking, V and his assistant walked into the room with the tailor-made gown and various haute couture dresses.

Dazzled by the beautiful clothes, Emily immediately ordered Winnie and Wilhelm to quieten down.

"Hurry up and get changed, Winnie," she urged. "I'll need your help too, Wilhelm. I plan on gifting one of these dresses to my friend, but I can't make up my mind. Take a look and give me your opinion, will you?"

Just like that, the afternoon went by in the blink of an eye. Emily was more than satisfied with the current batch of tailor-made dresses. She especially loved Winnie's gown.

As luck would have it, the group was leaving the lounge when they bumped into Helen and Margaret walking out of another room.

This time around, because of Wilhelm, Winnie intentionally paid more attention to the journalist.

To her surprise, she realized that Helen's eyes were always on Wilhelm as though she still hadn't gotten over the man who once made her heart flutter.

With the dress fitting all done, Emily suggested that Winnie return to Speiser Manor with her.

The latter, however, turned her down. "I still have to go to the hospital tomorrow, and it'd be more convenient to head there from my condominium than from the manor. My place is only a stone's throw away from the hospital."

Upon hearing that, Emily and Wilhelm both exclaimed, "What? Are you seriously going back to your condominium?"

Before Winnie could reply, the two of them began shaking their heads.

"You'll be alone in your condominium, and there won't be anyone to take care of you," Emily said. "Since it isn't appropriate for you to stay at Wilhelm's either, why not stay with me?" "Exactly. If that's the case, I'll return to the manor too," Wilhelm hurriedly chimed in. "I can take you to the hospital in a while. There's no difference whether you go today or tomorrow anyway."

Winnie, who was at a loss for words, had no choice but to oblige. "Fine... Let's go with that arrangement, then.”

As a result, she headed to the hospital to remove her bandages and followed the Speisers back to their manor. Unsurprisingly, the news of her return excited their cousins so much that they threw a huge welcoming party for her. If it weren't for the fact that she needed to rest and recuperate, there was no doubt they'd have plied her with wine.

It was nine at night in Yartran by the time Winnie managed to check her phone.

Because of the time difference, it was around four in the morning in Chanaea, when the sun had yet to rise, and everyone was still sound asleep.

She looked at the long list of messages that Xavier had sent, not knowing what she should reply.

Xavier had asked various questions, such as what she was doing, if she had eaten, and if everything was settled.

As much as Winnie wanted to answer each question individually, she was more worried that her flood of messages might wake Xavier up.

In the end, she consolidated her replies into a single long message and sent it to the latter.

When Winnie failed to receive any response after waiting for ten minutes, she concluded that Xavier must still be sleeping and decided to keep her phone away.

Not long after, she was invited to dance, to which she agreed out of courtesy.

Just as Winnie was dancing, however, Xavier's call came through. Alas, the music in the hall was so loud that it drowned out her ringtone completely, and not a single person noticed the blinking notification light.

Due to the significant time difference and the fact that Winnie had many social events to attend over the next few days, she could barely replace the time to talk to Xavier.

Their phone conversations were often interrupted, and even text messages were left unanswered for a long while.

Winnie was so busy that she didn't have time to mope around, but Xavier, on the other hand, found it to be an agonizing ordeal.

Soon, it was the day for Emily's interview with Helen, and she had Winnie vet her scripts before the journalist arrived.

Wilhelm was also present when Winnie skimmed through the script. The latter's expression instantly slid into a frown when she was done reading.

"Grandma, are you sure you want to share these old stories? Wouldn't they affect Steffen and the family's reputation?" Winnie asked. "Steffen is poised to become the youngest member of parliament. If his future gets affected because of my background, I'll feel very guilty."

"Don't worry, Winnie. I've already discussed this with Steffen and even had him vet the script," Emily reassured. "Both your grandfather and eldest brother have no problems with it, so you shouldn't let it bother you either."

"Really?" Winnie asked, still frowning slightly. I'm more than aware that Grandma only agreed to do this interview because she dotes on me and wants to give me a proper acknowledgment. However, I honestly don't care about the title. It doesn't matter whether I'm blood-related or adopted, so long as I know Grandpa and Grandma are good to me. I don't want to drag the other Speiser family members into my

mess...

"That's right, Winnie," Wilhelm replied. "I've thought it through and agree that this is the best approach. The previous mission we entrusted you with has put your life in danger, but your enemies only know you as Vivian and not your real identity. If we reveal your family background, I'm sure they won't do anything reckless when they run into you again. Besides, since Grandpa and Steffen are on board, you have nothing to worry about."

After getting persuaded by Emily and Wilhelm, Winnie finally nodded.

"Okay. I'll go along with it, but I don't wish to be interviewed. I don't want to show my face," she said sternly.

Wilhelm furrowed his brows at that. "You don't have to participate in the interview, but I think you should reveal your face. I know you don't want the media snapping photos of you, so I've chosen this family photo taken last Christmas. Will that be all right with you?"

Winnie promptly took the photo and scrutinized it. Everyone was smiling beautifully in it, but a brunette like her still stood out like a sore thumb among the rest of her blond-haired family members. Oh, well, I suppose this is better than publishing a solo photo of me.

"Okay," Winnie said with a nod. "Let's do as you say, Wilhelm. I think it's a good idea to have all of you in the photo with me."

Very soon, Helen published an article with the eye-catching headline: After Fifteen Years, The Speiser Family's Adopted Aplothian Daughter Is Revealed To Be Their Biological Daughter!

The news went viral overnight in Yartran and gradually spread to the rest of the world.

Then again, it was hardly surprising that the news made the rounds so quickly. After all, not only did the article provide an in-depth explanation of Winnie's background, but it also exposed the scandals of the Speiser family's seventh generation.

In reality, Joshua Speiser, the current duke, was the eighth duke of his family. The seventh duke was his elder brother, who turned out to be Winnie's maternal grandfather.

How, then, did the seventh duke have a granddaughter in Chanaea?

As it turned out, the seventh duke's marriage life was anything but smooth sailing. He had agreed to an arranged marriage for the sole purpose of aiding his family politically and financially.

After the wedding, however, he gradually fell in love with his wife and looked forward to building a family with her. Unfortunately, his wife cheated on him with another woman, which prompted him to leave Yartran and travel around Chanaea under a hidden identity.

During his travels, he met Winnie's biological maternal grandmother and slowly realized he had fallen head over heels in love with the beautiful Chanaean woman.

The couple's love continued to blossom, and it wasn't long before she gave birth to Winnie's mother. But sadly, Lady Luck did not smile upon them.

Shortly after the birth of their child, Winnie's biological maternal grandparents perished in a tragic boat accident, leaving her mother behind as the sole survivor. Later, after much back and forth, Jacinta Sumner finally adopted Winnie's mother, who subsequently gave birth to Winnie in her adulthood.

Due to the passing of Winnie's maternal grandfather, the title of duke was then inherited by the current eighth duke.

As such, there was nothing wrong with Emily claiming Winnie to be related to the Speiser family by blood. If the latter's maternal grandfather hadn't passed away, Joshua would never have inherited the title of duke.

In short, the wife of the seventh duke had an affair, and he ran away heartbroken, only to have an illegitimate daughter with a Chanaean woman.

No matter how well the story was written, one couldn't deny that it was still a scandal through and through.

However, the current duke and duchess were determined to acknowledge Winnie as their granddaughter, so it was no wonder the news spread like wildfire and became one of the most talked about topics. Naturally, Xavier was no exception.

By the time the article was published, he had already been discharged from the hospital and returned to Fairchild Corporation.

Not only did he and all his employees read the news, but he also heard them gossiping among themselves.

"When Mrs. Fairchild was playing dumb, we all thought she wasn't good enough for Mr. Fairchild. Who can blame us, though? She's an attractive woman, but that doesn't make her worthy of him. We only became impressed when it was revealed that she became the biggest shareholder of Garland Group. Even though Garland Group can't hold a candle to Fairchild Corporation, it's still a pretty powerful company."

"That's right! Then, when it was reported that Mrs. Fairchild had been donating to Hope Elementary Schools all over the country, we were even more amazed by her and finally found her to be a good fit for Mr. Fairchild. Later, when news began going around that she was the Speiser family's adopted daughter, I made it a point to read up on the family and was utterly blown away! I did think her social status had become a little better than Mr. Fairchild's, but then again, she was only said to be an adopted daughter. Now, the tables have turned completely! I can't believe she's the seventh duke's only granddaughter! If the seventh duke were still alive, I'm sure she'd be at the top of the social ranks!"

"The current duke and duchess have acknowledged her, haven't they? Did you see where she stood in that published family photo? She was virtually the center of attraction. They must love her to bits! Oh, on top of that, the journalist also said she's the boss of Champes! Even the most famous designer, V, is her student. From what I heard, the name 'V' is derived from her name 'Vivian.' Can you think of anyone more impressive than her?"

"To be honest, I think it's Mr. Fairchild's fortune to have married her."

"Hush! Keep your voice down. Then again, I have to say I share the same sentiments too. Haha! You know, Mr. Fairchild has been moping around ever since Mrs. Fairchild returned to Yartran. I bet it has something to do with this matter, and they probably had an argument over it. Here, take a look at this article. It never even once mentioned their marriage! Who knows? A prince or aristocrat might soon enter the picture and propose to Mrs. Fairchild. When that happens, and Mr. Fairchild loses out to them, there's a good chance Mrs. Fairchild will become a princess!"

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