Silly Bride

Chapter 218

hadn’t been anything unusual about the pilot’s actions. For that reason, she didn’t notice anything off.It wasn’t until she had boarded the helicopter that she noticed something amiss.A man was tied to the cockpit, and he was also dressed in a pilot’s uniform.Cursing inwardly, Winnie braced herself to leap down with her luggage in hand.But at that precise moment, a bandaged hand shot out before her without warning.As Winnie scrutinized the reddish blood stain on the snow-white bandage, she suddenly found that injured arm particularly familiar.She slowly turned her head and looked at the man behind her.“Xavier? Why are you here?” Winnie’s eyes went wide in surprise.Xavier snorted coldly, his handsome face emerging from the darkness slowly, devoid of expression.“Before I answer your question, shouldn’t you explain why you’re here in such a place in the middle of the night?”At that, Winnie frowned. “So, you’ve been monitoring my phone and whereabouts?”Xavier pinned his eyes on her, not bothering to deny that.“You broke our agreement first. You promised to never keep any secrets from me henceforth and even swore an oath. But what’s this? If I hadn’t taken any precautions, you would’ve long since flown off. And by the time I woke up, I wouldn’t even know where to go to collect your body!”A frown marred Winnie’s countenance. “Collect my body? Are you that eager for me to die? Can’t you say something nice instead?”In response, Xavier sneered, “I wouldn’t have rushed over if I were eager for you to die. Are you heartless, Winnie? You promised to never keep me in the dark again.”“Well, that’s…” In the face of his justified accusations, Winnie ultimately chose to twist logic.She asserted, “I left a note for you! I never thought of keeping you in the dark. I only left while you were sleeping, so there was only a time difference between us.”Xavier’s brows creased deeply to the point that they might leave permanent marks. “Why don’t I record everything you’re saying so that you can listen to it for yourself?”“You still want to record me, huh? Why are you so high and mighty now?”“Okay, that’s enough. Can you both stop bickering in the middle of the night?” Just when things were about to escalate into a row, Josiah’s voice abruptly rang out from another dark corner of the helicopter.Never having expected him to be there as well, Winnie jumped in fright.Fury blazed within her. “Josiah? You still dare come, huh? What did you promise me last afternoon? It turned out that you were playing me for a fool! You must have been the one who told him, yes?”Before Josiah could even defend himself in the face of her interrogation, Xavier’s disgruntled voice drifted into the air.“What right do you have to censure him for breaking his promise? Didn’t you do the same yourself?”Promptly left with no retort, Winnie could only choose to zip her mouth.Seeing that, Josiah apologized to her. “I’m sorry for lying to you. There won’t be a second time.”“The two of you can get out now,” Winnie huffed.However, Xavier slammed the helicopter door shut instead.“If you’re going to Manchernius, I’m going with you as well. I told you this long ago, and you also tacitly agreed. Now, I’m following you while he’s following me. Is there a problem with that?”Winnie shot him a glare. “I’m not going there for fun. Stop messing around, okay?”Seizing her neck with his injured hand, Xavier gritted his teeth furiously as he hissed, “Do you think we’d be afraid when even you are not afraid?”With her eyes spitting fire, Winnie struggled wildly. “What exactly do you want right now? I told you to get out, yet you shut the door? Hurry up and let go of me!”“Never! If you want to see me bleeding profusely, just continue struggling. Don’t stop.”“Are you threatening me?”“Yes, I’m threatening you with myself! I can’t do anything either if you don’t care about me!”“You’re just being so high-handed because I like you, no?” Winnie clenched her jaw hard, but she could already scent the coppery smell of blood.As she roared, she stopped struggling.Thanks to that action of hers, Xavier relaxed completely. His eyes glowed brightly like glittering obsidians.“You’ve got two options now. One is to go back with me—”“Never mind. I choose the second option!” Winnie cut him off mid-utterance. “Okay.” Xavier then continued his unfinished statement, saying, “We’ll use my pilot, then.”“Are you kidding me?” Winnie couldn’t help rolling her eyes at him. “Am I to watch helplessly as your pilot brings the helicopter to a stop in front of your mansion later? I choose the third option!”“All right, then. We’ll use the initial pilot.”“That’s more like it.”“So, it’s a deal? We’re setting off together?” Josiah made the final confirmation.“If not? Am I to remain unmoved as you both use your lives to threaten me? I’ve already made up my mind now. At worse, we’ll die together. Then, I can have two people keeping me company in the afterlife,” Winnie snapped.Xavier lifted his hand and clapped it over her mouth. “Don’t worry. I won’t allow you to die.”At once, Winnie yanked his hand off. “That’s my line! Hurry up and untie the pilot in the front.”Soon, the helicopter braced for takeoff.The few of them put on headphones. Winnie didn’t want to speak for the time being, so she reclined against the seat and closed her eyes in rest.Several times, Xavier furtively hooked his finger around hers, but she smacked it away.After brooding over the matter, she still felt mystified, so she questioned, “Xavier, you left after me, but how did you two get to the top of the mountain before me? How did you arrive so quickly?”Xavier lifted his hand and stroked her head. “It was because we took the cable car up, Dumbo.”Unbidden, Winnie’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “What? There are cable cars here? Who operated it for you at this hour?”Josiah couldn’t help letting out a bark of laughter. “Haha, that was nothing. Didn’t you know that this entire mountain belongs to Xavier?”Likewise, Xavier queried, “Do you like it? If you do, I’ll gift it to you.”“D*mn it! What loathsome rich people!” Winnie cursed lowly.“You’re really a ruthless woman that you even loathe yourself,” Josiah lamented.“You’re similarly loathsome!” Winnie snarled.“Not as much as you both. Compared to you two, I’m not rich at all.”Winnie didn’t bother entertaining him further. Frowning, she asked Xavier, “Does Grandpa Rufus know you’re going with me?”“I learned from you, acting first and seeking forgiveness later.”“What about your company, then?”“Why do you think I had Louis stay so late last night?”“Is it worth it?”“It depends on you.”“In that case, I don’t think it’s worth it. You don’t need to go to such lengths because of me—”“It’s not just because of you.” Xavier never expected her to be still troubled over the issue of whether it was worth it. But if she felt burdened because of it, he didn’t mind telling a white lie to appease her.He fibbed, “I’m also selfish, for I want to live. You might be able to find the antidote if you find Yulissa, but this venom had already undergone pathological changes in my body several times. If we can’t bring back the person who created the venom, I can only go there personally