Silly Bride

Chapter 247

squeezed Winnie’s hand and mentioned nothing about trusting Christopher.As a man, Christopher understood what Xavier was thinking. However, he knew he was not at fault for having feelings for Winnie, and he did not feel the need to explain himself to anyone.Since the beginning, he had not done, nor forced anyone to do anything that was against their own will.He looked at Xavier and said in a low voice, “Just brief us on your responsibilities. You’re mainly in charge of backup. If anything untoward happens to my men, I can expect you to back them up. Is that correct?”“Of course,” Xavier said as he shot Christopher a fiery look.Of course I will deal with any problems that come up. I will not sit here and concede defeat!Even though Christopher did not reciprocate Xavier’s hostile gaze, he did not back down as well. The two men merely looked at each other, saying nothing as tension sizzled in the air.Winnie was worried that Xavier was not doing so well, so she tried to reassure him with her actions.She got up and took the initiative to hold Xavier’s arm. “I’ve briefed Mason and Greta. They will listen to your arrangements for the time being. I will protect myself, and you have to take good care of yourself too.”“I know.” Xavier visibly relaxed when Winnie approached him. He even lowered his head to kiss Winnie on her cheek.It was just a light peck, but he deliberately paused for quite some time.It went without question that he only did it to make his mark, and it was quite a childish attempt.Winnie was amused by his action. Nevertheless, she felt the need to reassure him as she had already regarded him as her soulmate. She lifted her head and kissed him on the lips.“That’s how you do it, silly.”Xavier was stunned. Did she just call me silly in front of another man? But who cares, right? She kissed me in front of Christopher!Xavier suppressed the urge to reciprocate her fervent kiss right then and there. When he looked at Christopher, he could not help but smile smugly as he asked, “Do you have anything else you’d like to confirm?”Christopher remained impassive and gave Xavier a smile. “No. It’s getting late now. I think the driver’s about to be back soon. I hope all of us can go back to our respective positions.”After about an hour, Winnie and Christopher left the place.Winnie decided to go through with her acting and be a more difficult person.She purposely asked the driver to chauffeur her somewhere quite far for dinner.Reluctant to do so, the driver turned to look at Christopher.To his dismay, Christopher merely said, “Do as she says.”When they were on the way to the restaurant, Christopher suddenly received a call.Upon hanging up the call, he immediately ordered the driver, “Make a U-turn and head back home right now.”Winnie knew that the phone call had something to do with Christopher’s sudden decision to return to the Horton residence.She immediately turned around and questioned him in an unpleasant tone, “What does this mean? You’ve agreed to take me to that restaurant. Why are you turning back right now? Are you taking me for a fool? Do I have to ask Mr. Horton himself to give you orders to make you listen?”Christopher shot her a look and said icily, “We are to head back home on Mr. Horton’s order. You’re right, Ms. Vivian. We only listen to Mr. Horton.”Winnie snickered. “He’s not even giving me time to have dinner now, huh? Why? Is it really that urgent?”Christopher furrowed his brows and shook his head slightly as he looked at Winnie. Then he said indifferently, “Ms. Vivian, I’m afraid that is not a question you should be asking. We have the best cook in all of Lightspring back home. Mr. Horton will surely treat you to the best food then. Now stop with the nonsense.”After that, he urged the driver again, “Hurry up. We don’t have all the time in the world!”“Right! We’re in a hurry to meet our doom!” Winnie rolled her eyes and leaned back against her seat in a huff.The driver was infuriated by her rude remarks and wished he could make her swallow her words.He shot Winnie a glare through the rearview mirror.Noticing that the woman had shut her mouth and eyes, he cursed silently to himself.Meanwhile, Winnie and Christopher were already communicating with each other using Morse code.Christopher tapped Winnie’s arm lightly: I don’t know what happened. We’ll have to see how it goes. Winnie frowned and replied: I know. You be careful.Her right eyelid started to twitch right then, prompting her to tap Christopher twice on the back of his hand.However, she immediately retracted her hand without conveying anything clearly.Confounded, Christopher asked: What’s wrong?Instead of answering his question, Winnie replied: You have to be extra careful.She did not tell Christopher that she had a hunch that something was going to happen that night.However, it was only her intuition, and she did not wish to unnerve Christopher with that.Before closing her eyes, she added: I’m going to get some rest first.After about an hour, the two of them arrived at the Horton residence.Even though Winnie had not stayed at the Horton residence for long and was not too familiar with the place, she could sense that something was amiss that night.The security was unusually tight, and there were even a few unknown faces present.Winnie immediately pulled Christopher aside and asked in a low voice, “Is someone here? I saw a few unfamiliar faces out in the front. They’re not very friendly toward the security guards. It’s obvious that they’re not from the same family.”“They are indeed new faces.” Christopher frowned. “I’ve never seen them before as well.”Winnie narrowed her eyes. “Did Harold ask me to come back because we didn’t reach an agreement from the discussion today? Is he trying to sell me off?”Christopher’s frown deepened. “That shouldn’t be it. He doesn’t stand to benefit from it in any way, and it’s not his style of doing things. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”“Don’t!” Winnie’s eyelid was still twitching like crazy. In an extremely serious tone, she added, “If anything happens to me, don’t come forward and protect me. You cannot be exposed under any circumstances.”Christopher went silent for some time. He pursed his thin lips and eventually nodded.“That’s more like it.” Winnie flashed him a smile, her eyes brighter than the stars. “Let’s go and see what Harold is up to.”Soon, the duo came before Harold.Winnie was right. Someone was there that night, and it was a foreigner.The man’s eyes were practically glued on Winnie the moment he set his eyes on her.He scrutinized her with a frown, and there was no telling what his inquisitive and serious gaze meant.In response, Winnie, too, furrowed her brows.She had no idea who the foreigner was. The man was obviously full of questions as he looked at Winnie intently. Even Harold, who was sitting across the man, was wearing a solemn look on his face.A thought suddenly popped up in Winnie’s head.Could this foreigner be the real Big Black Bear? Did they call me over to fight him?Nonetheless, even if the man was Big Black Bear, Winnie was not afraid of him.She approached Harold step by step, pulled out the chair beside him, and took a seat.“Why did you summon me back so urgently, Mr. Horton? I haven’t even had my dinner.”An Aplothian man beside the foreigner whispered into the latter’s ear right after Winnie said that.Looks like this Aplothian man is the interpreter of this foreigner.When the interpreter was talking to the foreigner, Harold inched closer to Winnie and talked to her as well.“Here comes business. That’s why I summoned you back urgently. It’s just dinner. If we manage to get the deal, I can get you whatever you want to eat,” Harold said.Winnie looked askance at Harold. “I just came out of your lab this afternoon, and you managed to find a buyer already in just a few hours’ time?”Pleased with the surprised look on Winnie’s face, Harold smiled.“Yes, that’s right. That’s how capable I am, and I’m the only one who is capable of doing that around here. You choosing to collaborate with me is the wisest choice you’ve ever made.”Winnie’s lips curled into a slight smile as she looked at Harold. “It seems that you’ve already made a deal with the client.”“You’re right. They will pay the deposit once they see you.”Taking in the excitement on his face, Winnie asked impassively, “How big of a deal are we talking about?”Harold lowered his voice so that only Winnie could hear him. “One hundred million.”It’s only a hundred million? Winnie arched a brow. However, she kept a straight face and said, “Wow. That’s a big deal. But what if we can’t deliver and have to violate the agreement? What consequences are we going to face?”Harold’s expression turned grim as he said, “Don’t even consider that. We have to make it by hook or by crook. Otherwise, both of us are going to die!”“Sure…” Winnie pursed her lips. “That sounds exciting. But you’re the one in charge of cementing deals. I’m not going to interfere in that. You wanted to see me, and I showed up. I guess I have no business here anymore. Can I leave now?”“Of course.” Harold patted Winnie’s head gently. “Greet our guest before you go. You have nothing to lose by being more courteous.”Winnie nodded and bade the foreigner opposite her goodbye.“You have such a good eye to have found Mr. Horton. I believe our collaboration will be a great one. I have a private matter to take care of, so I’ll excuse myself now.”Winnie left afterward. Seeing that Christopher did not catch up to her, she turned around to gesture to him to keep up.As she did that, she overheard the foreigner talking to the interpreter in his native language.He