Silly Bride

Chapter 274

Winnie and Christopher would have been together.She also told him that everything Christopher did was to separate him and Winnie and that Christopher wanted him gone from this world.That was not all. In the end, she even told him that as long as he pushed Christopher off the building and killed him, Winnie would be his alone.Those were the things he could remember Yulissa telling him. What happened after that was something he could not remember at all.“I think I took a look at the video at that time. I saw Dumbo hugging Christopher, and Christopher wasn’t wearing any clothes. I was really…” Xavier could not continue as he tightened his fists. Seconds of silence later, he suddenly said to Josiah, “I’ll turn myself in.”“What?” Josiah, who was still reeling in from the shock, was snapped back to reality by Xavier’s words.“Why would you turn yourself in?” Regardless of everything, Josiah was on Xavier’s side. “I told you that you were a victim too. You can’t be legally prosecuted for what happened while you were mentally unstable. If we go by the books, even if you want to turn yourself in, you can’t do it in Avenport. You’ll have to go to Yeringham in Manchernius instead.”“Is… that so?” Xavier stiffened for a second before curling his lips into a bitter smile. “Do me a favor and ask Professor White whether or not the drug Yulissa injected me will affect my intellect.”Josiah’s jaw dropped. “I don’t think there’s any issues with your intellect if you can say that. Still, what prompted you to think that? Do you know how serious things will be if you turn yourself in?”“What prompted me to think that?” Xavier wondered out loud. “It’s because it’s very likely that I was the one who pushed him. If that’s the truth, I’ll have to bear the responsibility for that. Even Christopher himself said my name.”“Then maybe…” Josiah did not wish to suspect Christopher’s involvement, but he could not truly dismiss that possibility either. “Maybe he said that on purpose. As Yulissa said, he wanted to sow discord between you and Winnie. That’s not completely impossible, is it?”Xavier fell silent. He did not know the answer to that. Christopher was dead, and the dead could not prove his innocence.Josiah fell silent as well. Truth be told, he did not wish to do mindless guessing, but Xavier being the culprit was a genuine possibility.All of a sudden, a firm female voice rang out, breaking the silence in the air.“That’s impossible. He would never do that. I have faith in him!”Xavier recognized the voice even before the owner of the voice entered. He quickly got out of bed and hurried to the doorway.“Winnie!” Xavier pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. “You’re finally here. I miss you so much.”Winnie, however, did not respond to the hug.She looked past Xavier’s shoulders and met Josiah’s eyes.As she stared at him, she hissed, “He’s dead, so can you stop the mindless guessing?”Josiah did not see her scolding coming, and he frowned in response.“I just refuse to believe that Xavier was the one who pushed Christopher off. I don’t mean to tarnish Captain Bennett’s reputation; I’m only mentioning one of the many possibilities.”Winnie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Then I’ll tell you one more time that it is impossible.”Josiah tried to hold himself back, but he failed. “So you’re telling me that Christopher is the only one who speaks the truth? Am I not even allowed to point out a possibility? If you believe in Christopher’s words, that means you think Xavier was the one who pushed him off. Is that what it is?”Rage suddenly crashed into Josiah like a tidal wave as he continued, “I know you’ve experienced some things with Christopher—even life-and-death moments. But here’s the thing, Winnie. You, Xavier, and I have been through life-and-death moments too. When you wanted to head to that place to save your granny, Xavier and I went without a word of complaint. Do the perilous situations we’ve been through and the injuries Xavier and I sustained mean nothing to you? Are we not worthy of your trust? Xavier’s head hasn’t properly recovered, and I’m still in a wheelchair. Yes, Christopher’s dead, but can only the dead gain your unwavering trust?” Winnie had been overwhelmed with fury earlier when she heard Josiah’s harsh words toward Christopher despite the latter’s tragic death. That was why she had been equally harsh with Josiah.She did not consider the consequences and did not expect Josiah’s response to be that bad.Taking in a deep breath, she said, “I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just feel bad. I can’t help the negative emotions from seeping out of me.”Josiah, too, felt that he had made a mountain out of a molehill, as Xavier did not even say anything.A pause later, Josiah said, “Enjoy your talk. I’ll excuse myself now. Anything I say is wrong anyway.”With that, he wheeled himself out of the ward.Winnie turned to look at him. There were some things she wanted to say to him to diffuse the tension between them, but she was not in the mood to do that just yet.After Josiah left, Xavier and Winnie were the only ones left in the ward.Xavier had already let go of Winnie when Winnie began arguing with Josiah.Now that Josiah was gone, Xavier did not hold himself back from staring at Winnie in silence.Winnie lifted her head to glance at Xavier before helping him sit up from the bed.However, Winnie remained standing.Seeing that, Xavier held her hand to guide her to sit down beside him.Winnie continued to stay quiet, her silence fueled by guilt.Not long after she returned, the police had come to get a statement from her.She and Christopher had sent important information back to the government when they were at Harold’s place, but Christopher had been missing in action since then. That was why the police had come to her.Her time with the police was not only to authenticate the information they had given to them, but they also ended up talking about Christopher’s missing status as well.Winnie chose to be selfish about the matter.She lied to the police, saying that she saw Christopher falling off the building, and didn’t tell them what Jacinta said.She said she knew nothing and heard nothing. All she knew was that the scene on the rooftop had been chaotic and that many people had died at that time. She was uncertain how Christopher had ended up falling off the building.As the incident happened overseas, the local police could not file an investigation in Avenport, and that was how Winnie removed Xavier’s involvement from the incident.Winnie could not deny that she was selfish. She wanted to keep her loved ones safe.