Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)
Chapter 283

Xavier was so startled that his heart skipped a beat.

He immediately turned his head to look out the window and let out a long breath after that, for the person whose face was pressed against his car window was none other than Nate, the person he was looking for!

Xavier lowered his car window before asking Nate, "Why are you here, and when did you come back? Do your parents know you're back?"

Nate looked pale, his hair disheveled. Instead of answering Xavier's question, he asked urgently, "Do you have water? I'm so thirsty!"

Xavier glanced at Nate's chapped lips and frowned.

"Wait a moment. I'll replace some for you. Get in the car first."

"No! I don't want to get in!" Nate was currently traumatized by dark and cramped spaces, so he needed an open area and fresh air at that moment.

Xavier noticed that Nate looked a little off, so he did not force him.

Quickly, he took out an unopened bottle of soda and handed it to Nate.

The latter took it from him and downed the entire bottle in one gulp.

Despite finishing the drink, he still felt that it was not enough. "Do you have more, Xavier?"

Xavier was stunned for a moment. If I'm not mistaken, Nate said my name politely just now. I haven't heard him address me in such a manner for many years.

Finding it a little strange, he raised his eyebrows and said to Nate, "There is none left in the car. You'll have to go upstairs to my office to get a drink. Do you want to go there?" "Yes. Right now! Do you have any food in your office?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's go there now."

Xavier nodded before unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car.

He did not detect it in the car earlier, but as soon as he got close to Nate, he could smell the foul odor emanating from the latter's body.

Judging from the dirt on Nate's clothes, Xavier discerned that the other man probably had not taken a bath for many days.

He frowned and strode ahead, with Nate following closely behind.

However, they had just taken a few steps when they heard the sound of a bike honking behind them.

As the two looked back at the same time, Xavier immediately recognized that it was Josiah's bike.

Seeing that Nate looked a little nervous, he said casually, "It's Josiah."

Josiah noticed Xavier waiting for him at the same spot, so he immediately found the nearest place to park his bike.

After that, he ran over and stopped right in front of Nate.

"You're back? What happened to you? How did you end up in such a state?"

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Nate's face as he mumbled, "Let's head over to Xavier's office first. I want water."

"Okay," Josiah mumbled, then turned to look at Xavier.

They exchanged looks, and Xavier said, "Come up with us."

Soon after the three of them entered Xavier's office, Nate hurried inside to hunt for water.

Taking in his frantic behavior, Josiah could not help but slap Xavier's arm.

"Why is he acting this way? Did he just come back from begging in Alendor? Must he make himself look so pitiful being this thirsty?"

While taking snacks and pastries from the cabinet in the pantry, Xavier said, "I don't know. He didn't say anything. As for you, why did you come over all of a sudden?"

"Because I care about you!" Josiah said. "I asked Louis, and he said you might still be working overtime. I just happened to pass by and noticed that the lights in your office were still on, so I came over. Oh, by the way, does your aunt know that he has returned?"

Xavier furrowed his brows slightly. "It looks like she doesn't know yet."

While they were conversing, Nate had already finished his second bottle of water.

Xavier pushed the food beside him in front of Nate when he noticed that. "Eat," he said curtly.

"No, thanks." Nate was already full from drinking so much water. "I remember you have a lounge here. I want to go wash up first."

Before Xavier could speak, Josiah pointed him in a direction, as he could not tolerate the smell.

"Go on! Hurry up! It's over there. Your cousin's clothes are in the room. Remember to change into them after cleaning yourself up." Twenty minutes later, Nate finally came out.

He was wearing Xavier's clothes that looked a little ill-fitting on him, as they were one size larger.

Contrary to him, Xavier and Josiah were well-groomed, and even the ties around their necks looked neat.

As Nate observed the two smartly dressed men in front of him, a strong sense of shame suddenly surfaced in his heart.

He stood in front of Xavier and cleared his throat before saying in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, Xavier. I know I was wrong. I should have been able to discriminate between right and wrong. I shouldn't have been stubborn and aided Yulissa in harming our family."

Xavier sat in front of Nate, crossed his long legs, and scrutinized the latter wordlessly. After a moment, he slowly furrowed his brows.

"Have you truly realized your mistake? If you make the same mistake again, Nate, I'll never forgive you even if Aunt Beatrice cries and begs me to."

Nate clenched his fists and nodded. "I have! This time, I've truly ascertained Yulissa's character. I helped her in any way in the past, hoping to get her love. But after this trip to Manchernius, I've finally seen right through her. She has no love for me, not even a hint of affection!"

Nate's eyes turned red as he spoke. "She had been putting on an act and using me entirely. I regret it so much for not realizing it earlier. Now, let everything return to dust following her death."

Josiah still did not quite believe him. "You're not acting this time around, are you?"

"I swear!" Nate quickly raised his hand. "If anything I say today proves to be false, I shall die a horrible death, and that includes my entire family!"

"Stop, stop!" When Nate mentioned "entire family," Josiah hurriedly stopped him. "That's a little too extreme! The practice of guilt by association is long gone!"

"That's because I'm serious this time." Nate became agitated. "I'm not lying this time, absolutely not!"

"That's enough. Sit down." Xavier did not express his opinion on whether or not Nate was lying. He was more interested in other matters. "Tell me, what exactly happened to you in Yeringham later, and how did you come back?"

"I..." Nate's expression immediately changed when he heard the question. Even until that moment, he was still terrified.

"Harold abducted me. He's truly inhumane and crazy! It felt as if I was living in a nightmare during those days when I was being held captive. I don't want to mention him anymore. Can you stop asking about him?"

"All right. Let's not mention him, then. How did you escape afterward?"

Nate clenched his fists with tears of resentment and humiliation in his eyes. "Because of gang fights! The situation was chaotic, so I escaped. But I was penniless at that time with no money or phone. I couldn't contact anyone in the country, so I got on a stowaway boat. I spent seven days on it with nothing to eat and drink. I became so thin. I regret leaving behind a good life and going over there to suffer so much. I was blind."

Seeing that Nate was nearly in tears, Josiah could not help but glance at Xavier. "I think he's truly learned his lesson this time."

Xavier stared at Josiah upon hearing his words, but just as he was about to speak, Nate suddenly asked anxiously, "By the way, where's Winnie? Wasn't she called Vivian when she was in Manchernius? Did she set fire to those people's warehouses? Where is she now?"

Xavier frowned. "Why are you asking this?"

Nate suddenly remembered the gun Winnie had thrown to him for self-defense on the rooftop before she left that day.

She could've chosen not to do it, but she still left the gun for me, which means she didn't want to watch me die, so I won't wish the same for her.

"Tell me first, Xavier. Did everything I said just now really happened?"

Taking in Nate's serious look, Xavier could not help but mirror his expression. "Yes. What did you hear? What happened?"

Nate immediately told them what he had overheard at that time. "I overheard Harold talking to another person. I think his name was Leandro. From what they said, it seems that both their warehouses were burned down by a woman named Vivian. At that time, I already guessed that person was most likely Winnie. They already regarded her as a common enemy and planned to take revenge. But for some reason, their negotiation fell through later, and they started fighting."

He paused before continuing, "But Harold is truly terrifying. I heard him saying through gritted teeth that he must seek revenge on Vivian, and he won't let her off even it means looking for her in Chanaea. I'm sure he meant what he said. He already knew that Vivian had returned to Chanaea. If he didn't die in the previous scuffle, I'm sure he will come back. He's ruthless, and there's nothing he can't do, so now I'm a little concerned about Winnie's safety. You must quickly tell her about this, Xavier, so that you both can be mentally prepared."

Xavier's frown grew deeper. "All right. I got it. I'll send you home first."

"You don't have to, Xavier. I can go back on my own. It's late. You should get some rest."

"It's fine." Nate had managed to replace him with great difficulty. Xavier felt that he had to send his cousin back to his aunt's house himself. "Why don't you let your family know that you're safe first?"

As he said that, he took out his phone and dialed Beatrice's number.

"Okay." Nate immediately took the phone, and the call was soon picked up. "Mom," he choked out.

Nate had probably suffered a lot this time as he could not help crying when he was on the phone with his mother.

Xavier and Josiah did not want to embarrass Nate, so they got up and left, leaving the room for the latter.

The two walked to the desk and chatted about the topic they had just discussed.

"It's possible that Harold won't be able to replace Winnie's information in Manchernius because of how underdeveloped the country is. But if he's persistent, it won't be difficult for him to replace her information through our domestic network. After all, she did hold multiple press conferences when she took over Garland Group in the past, so there should be a ton of pictures of her online with her status and position clearly stated. There's a great risk from this standpoint," Josiah analyzed.

Xavier knew what the other man was saying. While turning on his computer, he replied, "It's hard to guard against secret conspiracies. The good thing is that she's not in the country at the moment. I was initially hoping for her to come back to me sooner, but now, it seems that it's better for her to stay abroad."

"Exactly. This is called succeeding by a lucky stroke! Didn't you have people on standby in Manchernius when you were looking for Nate previously? Get them to replace out what Harold is up to first and we'll see what to do next."

Xavier hummed in agreement while opening the browser on his computer.

Josiah glanced at his computer screen and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking at what pictures of her are on the internet." Xavier typed Winnie's full name in the search engine. "I'll delete everything that can be deleted. I don't know what Harold is up to now, but maybe there's a time lag between us. If we can delete all the information about Winnie on the internet within this period, then the risk will be reduced."

Josiah nodded. "Makes sense. Although some people may have saved her photos, Harold can't simply kidnap every person and ask about her. Chanaea is huge. It'll take forever."

As he spoke, he stared at Xavier's computer screen, and the search results took him by surprise.

He was not the only one, as Xavier, too, felt the same.

Be it typing "Winnie" or "Vivian" in the search engine, he could not replace any news about her.

All that was left was information about strangers sharing the same name as her.

"What's going on?" Xavier looked at Josiah.

Josiah widened his eyes in disbelief. "You tell me. Why can't we replace anything?" He took out his phone. "I remember sharing a link with Winnie in a private chat previously. Let me look for it." However, when he finally managed to replace the link, he discovered that the web address was no longer valid.

"Who did this?" Josiah wondered out loud. "All of them are blocked. Not a single one was left behind. This is no small feat. Who is so powerful? It's certainly not you, judging from your expression." "Yes, it's not me." Xavier took his hand off the mouse and was about to grab his phone when he discovered that it was still with Nate. He immediately stood up and strode toward Nate. "So, what did Aunt Beatrice say?"

Nate hung up before handing the phone back to his cousin. "My mom insisted on coming to pick me up, so I'll just wait here."

Xavier hummed in acknowledgment and opened the chat interface after taking the phone from him.

He wanted to ask Winnie if she had deleted all her information in the country, but when he opened the chat window, he found that she had sent him a message a few hours ago.

However, he had been busy with an international video conference then, so he had put his phone on airplane mode.

Winnie had left him a message saying that she would be climbing Mount Albeise and probably would not have a good phone signal that week, so she might have trouble contacting him. Spread the love