Silly Bride

Chapter 188

on the bed, the fully-opened windows, and the slightly offset couch remained in the exact same position as yesterday.All these details proved that nobody had cleaned up the room since they left yesterday.However, in such a situation, Winnie found an exception.It was the calming incense in the incense burner.The inside of the incense burner was unexpectedly clean, without a trace of dust.Something felt strange. Obviously, someone had deliberately cleaned it up.Winnie immediately asked Sebastian about it.She did so subtly, without showing her suspicion of Yolanda.Sebastian said, “I was the one who made the calming incense, but Yolanda was the one who burned it. She was also the one who decorated the office. I’m old now, so she would help me with many things.”“So, she was the one who cleaned the doctor’s office?”“No,” Sebastian replied. He didn’t know Winnie was getting suspicious of Yolanda, so he told her everything. “Yolanda hired someone online to clean up the place. But it isn’t time for that person to come yet. Thus, the office has yet to get cleaned.”Winnie grew even more suspicious of the incense burner after she heard what Sebastian said.After she found out that Yolanda went to throw away trash just a few hours ago, Winnie immediately found an excuse and left the Xander residence.She endured the foul smell and searched all the trash cans near the Xander residence. Eventually, she found some leftovers of the calming incense.Then, she carefully examined the leftovers and found some unknown substance in them other than the herbs that Sebastian prescribed.Left without a choice, Winnie had to send them to the laboratory for further inspection since she didn’t know what it was.Something trivial like this could be arranged by Josiah easily.Meanwhile, Josiah was already back at the hospital.He spoke to Winnie over the phone while browsing through a form on his computer. “Don’t worry. I’ve sent Rachel to your granny safely. Louis came over and went to Xavier’s place to discuss something with him. I think he’ll go to the Fairchild residence later, but I’m not sure about his arrangements. You can be at ease. He won’t do anything to Rachel.”“Okay. I have something I need you to check. I need to use the laboratory of your hospital,” Winnie said as she drove. “I’m in a rush. Can you ask them to prepare the place for me now? I’ll be there in about half an hour.”Winnie arrived at the hospital in thirty minutes.As soon as Josiah saw Winnie, he brought her to the laboratory. In less than an hour, the test report came out.The test report showed a string of chemical compositions that Winnie did not understand.Josiah kindly explained to her, “In layman’s terms, this substance is a kind of hypnotic incense.”“But Old Mr. Xander’s prescription for the calming incense does not contain something like that. Moreover, this is a pill. Old Mr. Xander only used medicinal herbs.”Josiah felt something was off as well after he heard what Winnie said.Then, he asked two other doctors’ opinions. They both gave the same answer.The unknown pill was a hypnotic incense used specifically by psychotherapists.“Hypnosis?” Winnie furrowed her brows. “I don’t think Old Mr. Xander knows how to perform a hypnosis.”“So, it’s Yolanda?” Josiah made a speculation without care.After a moment of silence, Winnie took out her phone and sent a text to someone.Soon after, she received a text containing Yolanda’s details.Josiah leaned in to take a look.While Winnie read the text thoroughly, Josiah skimmed cursorily through it.Almost immediately, he found something and pointed at it.“Look, this woman studied psychology previously. She even did a thesis related to hypnosis. That means she was the one who put the hypnotic incense in the burner. Let me ask you something. Did she spend some time alone with Xavier that day?”“I’m not sure. But Yolanda did go out alone for quite some time. She said she was hungry and craved some mac and cheese. However, I noticed she barely touched her food when Old Mr. Xander and I went out.”“That must be it! It must be her.” Josiah had always had a prejudice against Yolanda.He frowned. “This woman has been hostile to us from the start. It makes sense for her to tamper with Xavier’s treatment. What do you plan to do next?”“Well—” Winnie scowled before she continued, “We did take turns to ask her why she was so hostile toward us, but she never told us the truth. We only have one way to deal with someone like her. And it’s to catch her red-handedly.”“It’s too risky for Xavier if we were to catch her red-handedly. We can’t risk his physical condition. We have to plan it out carefully.”Winnie nodded in agreement. “That’s right. We can’t act impulsively. Let’s think it through.”“Yes. I think it’s best to discuss this with Xavier. The three of us should free up some time tonight to discuss this matter.”“All right. You can make arrangements for it. Inform me after you set the time. I’ll be going now.”“Wait!” Josiah suddenly thought of something. “I almost forgot this. Your granny said she made your favorite dishes and asked you to go back for dinner.”“Really? Why didn’t she call me herself?”“Well, you’re such a busy person. Your line was busy when your granny called you. So, she asked me to convey this message to you. She was afraid you’ll forget to eat since you’re so busy.”“Okay. I’ll go see her right away. Here is your car key.”Winnie handed over the car key to Josiah as she said that.“Keep it. You can drive the car since you don’t have your car here.” Josiah did not take the key.Winnie stuffed the key into Josiah’s hand and said, “I got tired of driving. So, I’m calling a taxi. Bye!”Then, she hailed a taxi and got back to Aqua Moana.The taxi was not allowed to enter the residential area as it wasn’t the car of a resident and thus wasn’t registered.It wasn’t impossible for the taxi to enter the residential area if Winnie talked to the security guard about it.However, Winnie couldn’t be bothered to do so. She would rather get down from the taxi and walk in herself.Winnie had traveled this road several times before.She remembered the last time was when Christopher sent her back. At that time, Xavier was supposed to be feigning death on the island.However, he took the risk and rushed back in the middle of the night as he feared for her safety.Back then, Xavier got furious when he saw Christopher send Winnie home and even lent her his jacket.That was the exact spot where Xavier threw away his crutches and pinned Winnie to the tree to kiss her.That was also the first time Winnie saw Xavier showing his possessiveness, and that was also when they had their first fight.Now that she thought about it, she felt that they were quarreling over such trivial matters.Along the way, there was a bench.On the bench sat a tall and sturdy man in black and a cat with snow-white fur.It only took Winnie a glance to recognize that man. It was Xavier.Why is he here? He’s even petting a cat.Winnie hurriedly walked over and sat beside Xavier.There was only a cat between them. Winnie looked at the cat and took another look at Xavier.“Where did this cat come from?” she asked casually.Xavier looked puzzled. He then frowned and asked, “Do I know you?”Winnie widened her eyes and wondered what was wrong with this guy in front of her.She lied to him that she was a traditional medicine practitioner just yesterday. How could he forget it today?Winnie was furious. However, after mulling it over, she became disheartened and upset.Slowly, she became dejected and her pretty face was full of worry.Xavier’s frown grew deeper as he took note of the change in her expression.“What’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”Winnie went silent for a few moments before she looked at Xavier.“Yes. Something bad did happen.” She nodded.Xavier fell silent for a moment as well. Then, he merely replied, “Oh. Things will get better.”Winnie was surprised. I can’t believe he still tries to console me even though he has lost his memories. But, so what if he consoled me? That did nothing to help his situation!“It won’t necessarily get better.” She sighed.“Why? Is this about your family? Are they treating you badly?” Xavier asked.“No. They treat me well.” Then, Winnie took another glance at Xavier and let out a long sigh. “Actually, I only have one family member in this city, and that’s my husband. But he got sick.”Xavier stopped petting the cat and said, “Oh. Well, get him treated then. He’ll be fine.”Winnie was nonplussed after she heard what Xavier said. She didn’t know how to respond to that. Thus, she merely flashed him a smile and petted the white cat between them.After that, she stood up and looked straight into Xavier’s eyes.“You won’t be able to say that if you know who my husband is. I’ll get going. See you when I see you!”“Goodbye.” Xavier lowered his head and continued petting the cat.He looked up after Winnie walked away.With the cat in his arms, he stood up and stared at Winnie’s retreating figure for a long while until she was out of sight.Then, he lowered his head and looked at the cat as he mumbled to