Silly Bride

Chapter 230

soon, and everything will be okay. Trust me. It won’t be long before you see your father and brother again!”With that, Winnie pulled out a dagger from her military boot and began cutting the grass near her.The woman knew she had to get ready to fight because Zyon and the others were still around. On top of that, she had no idea if Jacinta and Xavier were even alive.Since she could not leave Rachel exposed like that, she decided to cover her with grass.After that, Winnie quickly removed the thatch in front of her to see what was going on on the road.However, as soon as she revealed half of her head, a bullet flew past her cheek.Winnie instantly felt as if the side of her face had been set on fire. Unsurprisingly, she found blood all over her hand after touching the wound.“D*mn it!” the woman could not help but curse as she stared at the crimson blood on her hand. They got my face!Still, she did not have the luxury of worrying about her appearance. She intended to move to the side where the ground was lower and the bushes thicker. That spot would be more suitable for stealth and sneak attacks.Just when she was about to get into a half-squat position and make a move, two people suddenly jumped down to her side.With her quick reflexes, Winnie instantly reacted by pressing the barrel of her gun against one of the mysterious people.The other party had decent reflexes as well. She spoke the second Winnie’s gun was pointed at her. “Don’t shoot, Ms. Garland! It’s me.”Winnie immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Greta’s voice, so she looked up and realized that the two people who landed beside her were none other than Greta and Jacinta.Looking at her unscathed grandmother, Winnie was rid of half her worries.The woman then quickly pressed Jacinta down on the ground, afraid her grandmother would get hurt by a bullet. “Keep your head down, Granny. We’re not out of the woods yet.”“Okay!” responded Jacinta with a nod. However, she got anxious as soon as she noticed the blood on Winnie’s face. “You’re bleeding, Winnie! You’re hurt!”“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. Rach is safe as well because I’ve already hidden her. What about…” Winnie sounded calm, but the concern in her eyes clearly showed otherwise. “What about Xavier? Did you see him when you jumped out of the car?”“I don’t think I did…” Greta thought for a while before continuing, “I was closer to your grandmother back then, so I jumped out with her. As for the others, I didn’t pay much attention. However, I know my man and the others are fighting Zyon’s men now.”“What about Xavier? Is he in the shootout?”“I don’t think so!” replied Greta while shaking her head. “It’s too bad we don’t have our earpiece anymore. Otherwise, we could’ve contacted him. Hey, don’t you have your phone on you, Ms. Garland? Maybe you should try calling him.”“I don’t have it; I left it in the car,” responded Winnie with knitted eyebrows and clenched fists.“Maybe he’s hiding in a bush somewhere like us. He’s probably just unconscious.”Greta wanted to comfort Winnie, but she regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Why the heck did I suggest that he could be unconscious? How’s that a good thing?The woman was so upset with her carelessness that she felt like slapping herself, so she hurriedly added, “That’s not what I meant, Ms. Garland. What I was trying to say—”However, Winnie stood up before Greta could finish.Greta and Jacinta then swiftly reached out to grab Winnie and questioned in unison, “What are you doing?”With two people grasping her arm, Winnie could not go anywhere even if she wanted to.Instead of struggling to break free immediately, Winnie frowned at the two and demanded calmly, “Let go of me. I need to find Xavier. If he’s unconscious or injured like Greta said, I have to save him.”“Are you out of your mind?” Jacinta objected to the plan straight away. “Do you know how dangerous it is out there? You can’t risk your life just because of an emotional impulse!”“I’m not emotional,” uttered Winnie, knitting her eyebrows even tighter. “Granny, I’m more than calm right now. You should be able to tell by my tone. I have to find Xavier now. I have no idea how he is, so I can’t waste another second. For all we know, he’s probably running out of time!” stated the woman in an even firmer tone.Still, Jacinta tightened her grip on Winnie instead of letting her granddaughter go. “You might be shot dead if you go out! Don’t you see that you’re already hurt? Please don’t go, Winnie. I’m begging you! You’re worried about him getting killed, but what about yourself? Do you really want me to mourn your death?”Winnie shook her head in response. “No, I don’t want to break your heart, but I can’t just stand by idly and let him die!”“There are still others out there, aren’t there?” Jacinta refused to let Winnie leave her side. “They’ll save Xavier. You don’t have to trade your life for his!”Frowning, Winnie removed Jacinta’s hand from her arm. “Granny, I could’ve hired others to save you, but I came anyway because I love and care about you. I simply couldn’t leave your fate to others. I didn’t want you to panic because I wasn’t with you. I knew you’d wish for nothing more than to see me when you’re feeling hopeless. Xavier is a living and breathing human being just like you, and he’s put his life in my hands more than once. That’s why my life belongs to him, and his me. How can I sit by idly while my life is in danger? Can I still call myself a human being if I do?” With that said, Winnie rushed out of the bush despite Jacinta’s disapproval.“Cover me!” the woman ordered Greta before heading out.“Copy that!” Greta then immediately readied her weapon.On the other side, the tires on Zyon’s car had been punctured, so he and his men were forced to stop and attack while taking cover in the vehicle.In comparison, Winnie and Greta could act more proactively because they had more freedom of movement on the wide terrain. Hence, it did not take long for Winnie to reach Mason and the others with Greta covering her.Winnie’s goal was clear—to find Xavier as soon as possible. “Have you guys seen my man?”One of the men quickly responded by pointing to the left side. “I think he jumped into the bushes over there during the explosion!”The second Winnie heard that, she dived into the overgrown plants mentioned without hesitation.She could not care less about the sharp blade-like grass cutting her cheeks because minor wounds like that were nothing compared to Xavier’s safety.The weeds were so thick that they almost blocked Winnie’s vision completely. She could only see what was directly in front of her.Fortunately, she soon found a long and large arm covered with blood in the grass.Her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw how much blood there was. “Xavier? Is that you?”The person lying on the ground said nothing in response, but his fingers twitched.Winnie knew she did not have the time to be cautious, so she instinctively took that slight movement as a signal from Xavier and rushed through the weeds to get to the man.His black shirt was riddled with holes because of how sharp the grass was, revealing bleeding wounds.The blood-soaked bandage on the man’s left hand suggested he had torn himself a new one.Looking at the severely injured man, Winnie was instantly filled with guilt.“Xavier, I’m here now,” uttered the woman as she quickly put her gun away and knelt beside the man.Winnie then reached out to flip the person over, only to learn she had made a mistake.It turned out the man in her arms was not Xavier after all.The person, who happened to be wearing a black shirt and had a bandaged left hand, simply looked like Xavier from behind.Winnie immediately figured out what was going on when she got a good look at the stranger. If this person is neither my people nor Xavier’s, he must be Zyon’s.At that moment, Winnie wanted to draw her weapon, but the stranger was quicker than her. He probably planned this because he didn’t take action until I got close enough.Before Winnie could react, the stranger had already gotten her pinned to the ground.He wrapped his hands tightly around Winnie’s throat with