Silly Bride

Chapter 378

nor the senior executives could solve it, so he asked if Xavier could go over to the office to check it out.Xavier was dog-tired, but he couldn’t ignore the issue his company was facing.He said to Winnie, “I’ll send you back to the mansion first so that you can rest. If I can’t make it home for lunch, I’ll definitely be back for dinner.”“Go on.” Winnie nodded in acknowledgment. “It’s all right if you can’t make it back in time for dinner. But come home as soon as you finish your work, okay? You need to rest as well.”“Okay.” Xavier hugged Winnie tightly and kissed her forehead. After that, he instructed the driver to drive faster and proceeded to talk to Louis about work.Around ten minutes later, they arrived at the compound of the mansion.Xavier wanted to send Winnie to the entrance of the mansion, but she rejected him, saying, “Here is fine. You guys should turn around and go to the office. I’ll have Josiah walk me in.”Xavier held her hand and frowned in response. “Are you not tired?”Winnie shook her head. “I got into the car right after I got off the plane. I want to walk and stretch my limbs.”Josiah had a feeling Winnie had something to tell him, so he said, “Go on, Xavier. You can’t possibly be worried about leaving Ms. Garland with me, right?”Josiah was joking around, but Xavier wasn’t in the mood to bicker with him. “All right, I’ll go to the office first. Call me if anything crops up.”“Sure.” Josiah flashed a smile and said to the driver, “Stop here.”After the driver stopped the car, Josiah immediately got out of the car to assist Winnie.Once Winnie had gotten out of the car as well, Josiah went to close the car door.Before Josiah could close it, Xavier blocked it with his hand.Xavier glanced at Winnie and alighted from the car as well.He couldn’t help but embrace her and put his head on her shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”Winnie smiled. “You’re still here, though.”“Yes, but I’ll miss you. Will you miss me?” Xavier asked.“Of course.” Winnie cocked her head to the side and kissed Xavier on the cheek.Xavier only turned around to leave after he caressed Winnie’s head.After they left, Winnie turned back to Josiah and said, “Let’s go.”“All right. Where should we go?”Winnie stood rooted to the spot and gave it some thought. “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”“Sure. I’ll lead the way. But stay here and wait for me for a while. I’ll be right back.”“Okay. Be quick.”“I know. I’ll be back in two minutes. Wait for me.”A few moments later, Winnie heard the sound of branches rattling.Feeling curious, she asked, “What are you doing, Josiah?”Josiah kept her in suspense by saying, “It’s a surprise!”“Oh,” responded Winnie.She wasn’t sure if it was because of a gust of wind or if Josiah had shaken the branches, but she caught a whiff of the sweet smell of osmanthus.She seemed to be in a good mood when she said, “What a nice smell! Is osmanthus already in bloom at this time? Isn’t it a bit too soon?” Josiah’s voice rang out from a distance away. “Not really. It’s almost Thanksgiving. Isn’t it the time osmanthus blooms?”“Is it? When is Thanksgiving?” Winnie had been in and out of hospitals over the past month, and she had totally forgotten about Thanksgiving.“In a week’s time, I think. I’ll have to check the calendar to be sure.” Josiah’s voice was getting closer because he was making his way back to Winnie.As he was approaching, the sweet smell of osmanthus became more intense.“Here you go.” Josiah gave the flowers to Winnie. “Hold them.”Winnie reached out her hand to grab the flowers and waved at Josiah. “Thank you. They smell so nice. Why would you think of giving me flowers?”“So that I can lead the way by holding the flowers!” Josiah laughed.Winnie let out a hum of realization and said, “You’re rather caring, Dr. Houghton.”“You flatter me.”“Haha! You’re too humble!”Josiah then led Winnie to a bench, and they both sat down.While Winnie was smelling the flowers, Josiah asked, “Were you hiding something from me when we were in the car just now?”Winnie froze and kept mum.Seeing that, Josiah grew anxious and immediately rose to his feet before squatting down in front of her. He stared into her eyes and asked, “What exactly is the matter? Did something happen and you’re not supposed to talk about it? Does Xavier not know about it as well?”Winnie leaned against the bench and gradually closed her eyes. “Yeah. I haven’t told him. Something