Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)
Chapter 287

The phone was ringing, and Xavier couldn't help furrowing his brows when he noticed the caller ID on the screen.

Why did I furrow my brows? I should be happy, shouldn't I? In fact, it's perfectly normal for me to be wild with joy in this situation.

Yet, I seem to have a bad feeling about this. She's calling me all of a sudden, and perhaps she might even say some things I'm not too keen on hearing.

If that's the case then I'd rather not hear her out at all.

A moment of hesitation later, Xavier eventually picked up the call.

He decided to make the first move and piped up first.

"I've decided to go to where you are, Winnie. No matter what happened, we have to get through this together. I've already booked a flight for tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be able to meet soon."

However, never in his wildest dreams did Xavier expect to hear a man's cold and indifferent voice coming from the other end of the line.

The man spoke in a foreign language. "Mr. Fairchild, is it? I'm sorry, but you're not welcome here. Save yourself the trouble and cancel your ticket."

Xavier instantly rose to his feet when he heard the unfamiliar male voice.

He, too, replied in the same foreign language, "Who is this? Why do you have my wife's phone? Let her speak to me herself!"

The man on the other end of the line simply sneered in response. "Stop being delusional, Mr. Fairchild. Who's your wife, and who acknowledged the fact that you two are married?"

His words enraged Xavier, who promptly threatened through gritted teeth, "Who the f*ck are you? Where on earth is Winnie? I swear, if you dare to lay a single finger on her, I will not let you off!" "Hmph. You sure know how to talk big, Mr. Fairchild." The man was not amused, his voice laced with disdain as he continued, "But you don't have to worry about that. Winnie will be far safer with me than with you, and the reason why I called you is to tell you to stay away from her. Are we clear, Mr. Fairchild?"

"No way! No one else has the right to tell me to stay away from Winnie except for Winnie herself! Answer me! Are you Nathaniel? Let me talk to Winnie!"

Unfortunately, what Xavier heard next was the beeping tone that followed after a call was disconnected.

When he tried to call the number back, the phone had already been switched off.

"D*mn it!" Xavier's emotions were a jumbled mess as he didn't know what happened to Winnie. He had no idea if she was safe, nor did he know who was the man on the phone earlier.

Unable to wait any longer, he swiftly gave his assistant a call. "I won't be attending the meeting that's scheduled for tomorrow morning. Also, cancel the ticket for tomorrow's flight, and get me a ticket for the earliest flight to Yartran."

Louis had been paying attention to the outgoing flights from Avenport to Yartran. Having remembered the details, he instantly replied, "The earliest flight is tomorrow morning, and it's a transit flight. I booked the one in the afternoon because it's a direct flight and will arrive in Yartran first."

"That's too late! What about private planes? Is it too late to arrange for one?"

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Fairchild. We have to book a private flight in advance, and there's no time even if we are to go through the process now." "D*mn it!" Xavier couldn't help cussing under his breath.

Meanwhile, in a tiny motel at the foot of Mount Albeise, Winnie walked out of the bathroom with a handkerchief covering the wound on her hand. Ten minutes ago, Nathaniel told her everything that happened while she was on Mount Albeise.

She figured Xavier must have seen the fake news about her engagement with Nathaniel, so she intended to give him a call to explain everything.

Unfortunately, both her phone and her power bank were out of battery. Since Winnie was in a hurry to make the call, she didn't bother waiting for Nathaniel, who had gone to buy coffee, to come back. Instead, she went back to her room by herself with the intention of charging her phone.

She had just plugged her phone in when she heard a knock on the door.

Initially, Winnie thought it was Nathaniel, but when the person spoke, she realized it was Wilhelm who was on the other side of the door.

Winnie opened the door to let her brother in, but she didn't have time to speak to him and quickly went to turn on her phone.

As she was in a hurry, Winnie's movements were clumsy, causing her to accidentally knock over a drinking glass that was on the table.

She instinctively went to pick up the broken pieces, but Wilhelm stopped her from doing so.

"It's okay. I'll take care of this. Why don't you go ahead and continue what you were doing?"

Wilhelm could tell Winnie was anxious, so he stepped up to help her without hesitation.

Winnie immediately allowed her brother to help, and upon seeing Wilhelm needing some space to clean the mess up, she retreated to the bed.

That was when the incident began.

Transparent glass shards were hard to spot with the naked eye, especially when they were on white-colored bedsheets. Hence, when Winnie sat down, she unknowingly pressed her hand against a piece of glass shard.

Her hand was instantly cut, and before long, the white bedsheets were stained scarlet by her blood.

Seeing this, Wilhelm instantly asked her to go to the bathroom and run some water over her wound while he called the front desk for a first-aid kit.

After he hung up the call, Wilhelm's gaze subconsciously fell on Winnie's phone screen which indicated she was planning on calling Xavier.

Wilhelm took the liberty to make the call in her stead and had the opportunity to speak to Xavier.

Once he had said what was necessary, he turned Winnie's phone off.

Thus, when Winnie stepped out of the bathroom, the first thing she saw was Wilhelm holding her phone.

"Wilhelm..." Winnie eyed her brother, frowning slightly. "Why are you holding my phone? Were you on a call?"

I thought I heard Wilhelm talking earlier, but the sound of running water had drowned out his voice, so I wasn't able to hear what he said.

Wilhelm gently placed her phone back on the table and addressed her queries with a half-truth. "Yeah, I called the front desk for a first-aid kit. The wound on your hand needs to be taken care of."

As if to prove Wilhelm wasn't lying, the motel staff arrived with the first-aid kit as soon as Wilhelm was done speaking.

He took over the first-aid kit and began taking care of Winnie's wound, starting with disinfecting it.

While he was disinfecting the wound, Wilhelm glanced at his sister. "Does it hurt?"

Winnie was busy fiddling with her phone at that moment. "I remember turning on my phone. Why did it turn off again? Wilhelm, you haven't answered me. Why did you take my phone earlier?" After tossing the cotton bud away, Wilhelm responded without lifting his head, "I made a call with your phone."

"You used my phone? Who did you call?" Winnie was slightly taken aback.

Wilhelm didn't answer her questions right away, but he wasn't planning on hiding the truth from her either.

"Xavier," he answered.

"What?" Winnie was utterly dumbfounded. "You two don't know each other. Wilhelm, how could you do something like this?"

She didn't need to ask to roughly guess what her brother had said to Xavier.

Winnie felt rather irate and pulled her wounded hand away from Wilhelm before turning on her phone once more.

After that, she quickly gave Xavier a call.

The call got through almost instantly, but Xavier's tone was less than kind. "Who are you? What the f*ck do you want? Where's Winnie? Is she all right?" he thundered.

"Xavier..." Upon hearing the familiar voice, Winnie instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. "It's me. I'm fine. I was in the bathroom earlier, and the person who spoke to you on the phone is my brother. I don't know what he said to you, but no matter what he said, his words do not reflect mine," she stressed.

After a brief pause, Winnie continued to assure the man on the other end of the line, "You have to understand something. No matter what it's about, unless I tell you myself, you shouldn't believe anything that others have said or written! Engagement, arranged marriage, and all that are nothing but baseless rumors. I just got to the foot of the mountain and found out about the news regarding my engagement with Nathaniel. That is all fake."

"I knew it..." Upon hearing her explanation, Xavier couldn't help curling his lips into a smile, and his tone also became much gentler. "I knew it was all complete nonsense. I won't believe it unless you tell me about it yourself."

"That's good, then." Similarly, Winnie also broke into a smile as she threatened with her usual sweet and gentle tone, "You're dead if you dare to doubt me. I'll chop you up into pieces when I get back." Xavier didn't pay attention to her threats at all as he was completely fixated on her last four words.

Does this mean she's coming back to me?

He tried his best to suppress the glee that was welling up in him and pretended to be calm when he asked, "Are you done relaxing now? When are you planning on coming back?" Although he tried not to sound too excited, Xavier was ultimately betrayed by the eagerness in his voice.

Sure enough, Winnie noticed, but she didn't expose him. A beautiful smile hung on her lips as she said, "Soon. I'll probably head back in a day or two."

Meanwhile, Wilhelm, who was observing his sister the whole time, couldn't help wondering if she had been bewitched by Xavier.

What's so great about that man? Is he even worthy of all the things Winnie does for him? She hasn't even been home for half a month, yet she's already eager to return.

Wilhelm was ticked off and pulled Winnie's injured hand back.

"Don't move. Your wound needs to be dressed! Winnie, I know you want to leave, but have you asked Grandpa and Grandma for their opinion on the matter? I think you should stay home and accompany them more often. Besides, our family doesn't acknowledge your relationship with this Mr. Fairchild. Don't you think you should carefully reconsider this relationship?" he scolded.

Wilhelm didn't bother lowering his voice. He knew Xavier would be able to hear him through the phone, and he meant for the latter to hear all of the things he said.

"Wilhelm!" Once again, Winnie pulled her hand away from her brother. "You using my phone and calling Xavier without my permission is highly inappropriate! I'm still upset about that." She then said to Xavier, "I have to go and take care of something, but I'll call you later."

"No need!" Wilhelm bellowed. "Let him listen. I can also tell you every single word I said to him if that's what you want."

On the other end of the line, Xavier suggested, "Why don't you put me on speaker, Winnie? Besides, Mr. Speiser is your brother, and I'd like to have a discussion with him, too." Winnie mulled over it for a couple of seconds and came to the conclusion that Xavier's suggestion wasn't a big ask. Hence, she put him on speaker and placed her phone aside. Winnie then spoke to her brother. "Let's talk, Wilhelm. If my memory serves me right, I told you I have a partner a couple of months ago and that I'd replace a suitable time to bring him here to meet you all." Here, she paused before continuing, "I know Helen's behind the whole ordeal with the Huxley family, and I don't blame you for that, but what's up with your statement? How could you publicly announce that my marriage to Xavier is invalid? And without my permission? Don't you forget this, Wilhelm, I might be a part of the Speiser family, but I'm a Chanaean, through and through. I chose my Chanaean nationality when I became an adult, and both my identification card and my passport back this up. Although Xavier and I have yet to register our marriage in Yartran, we have a marriage certificate that's issued in Chanaea, and our union is acknowledged by the Chanaean law."

"Your actions truly disappointed me, Wilhelm," concluded Winnie.

Wilhelm had tried to reason with his sister in the past, but those instances involved other matters.

This was the first time their argument concerned a man.

Feeling an uncomfortable sensation in his heart, Wilhelm drew a deep breath before saying, "That's because I'm disappointed in Xavier Fairchild. Winnie, you're outstanding and capable, so your partner should be just like you. Not to mention his peculiar illness, Mr. Fairchild can't even protect you. If he was capable, then your escape from Manchernius wouldn't have been so difficult. If he can't even guarantee your safety, then I don't think he's fit to be your husband!"

"Besides, your union is nothing but a farce. Your marriage should be grand, romantic, and happy, not some kind of child's play. This is why I object to your marriage. Grandpa and Grandma will not feel at ease leaving you in the hands of a man who can't even ensure your safety," he added.

A crease formed between Winnie's eyebrows after she listened to her brother's reasoning. Nonetheless, she stood her ground.

"There's no use objecting now. If you put it this way, then I have no choice but to refute everything you've just said. You said he's plagued by a peculiar illness, but do you know why he ended up like this in the first place? That's because he saved me. If it hadn't been for him, I would be the one who's being endlessly tormented. Furthermore, you said he couldn't keep me safe while I was in Manchernius, but who was the one who sent me on that mission, and who was the one who put his life in danger to go with me? You were the one who tasked me with infiltrating the drug den, and Xavier was the one who was willing to live and die with me!"

An emotional Winnie continued, "I never once resented you for sending me on those life-threatening missions, but this is the truth, and you have no right to criticize Xavier for all of it! Also, I won't change my mind after making a decision. I'm going back to Chanaea."

Wilhelm's expression turned sullen when he saw how resolute the woman was. "Vivian Speiser! Don't forget you still have this identity. You can't just do things your way and refuse to listen to your family's opinion!"

Seeing how Winnie and Wilhelm were about to get into an argument with one another, Xavier hurriedly called out to the former, "Winnie, why don't you go back with your brother for now? Spend some time with your grandparents. I'll come and replace you instead. Besides, it's about time I pay a visit to your family."

Xavier didn't want to put his wife in a tight spot, nor did he want her to return to his side while everyone was strongly objecting to their union.

Instead, he wanted to take her hand in his and bring her back to their home, openly and brazenly.

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