The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

It was already very late at night, but Xavier still made the decision to leave the mansion.

Before he left, he decided to take one last look at Winnie.

Nonetheless, when he arrived at the door, he found that it had been locked from the inside.

Twisting the door knob, Xavier knitted his brows.

I guess I must have really frighten her this time.

Meanwhile, behind the locked door, Winnie was huddled in bed. It wasn't until she heard Xavier leaving that she heaved a sigh of relief.

Apart from the soreness of her body, the only emotion she was feeling right then was regret.

Why the hell did I think I could tame him? I should have let a doctor handle a drugged man! I'm just asking to be tortured by offering myself to a man in his prime that's a hundred and ninety centimeters tall! D*mn that man! I can't believe he's well-proportioned down there as well! He had only entered halfway, and I was already on the verge of dying!

Afraid that some traces of the drug were left in Xavier's system and that he would come to torture her again in the dead of night, Winnie decided to lock the door before she went to bed.

Unbeknownst to her, it would be a long time before she saw the man again.

Since that passionate night, Winnie hadn't seen Xavier for several days.

However, the latter would always send over some delectable sweets and toys that Winnie mentioned she liked before.

He would also give Mary a call to inquire whether Winnie had eaten the candy or if she liked the toys that he gave her.

Even so, not once had he asked those questions to Winnie directly.

Naturally, Winnie knew this was his way of apologizing for that night's incident.

Because he was rather rough with her at the time, her body had patches of bruises all over as a result.

Although she wasn't able to have a good night's sleep, she reckoned they were even after she left countless scratch marks on Xavier's back and arm. Not to mention she even bit his shoulder. Besides, she clearly remembered a stitch mark on his arm that was left after the previous car accident. He had protected her at that time and had shed a lot of blood because of her. Thinking of all this, Winnie decided to forgive him.

After all, he was quite the gentleman when he wasn't drugged. Apart from that, there is one thing that I was very satisfied with about how Xavier handled it. And that is the fate that had befallen Kylie. Although no one told her what happened in Xavier's office that day, Winnie was able to put two and two together based on the video that she saw circulating on the internet.

As it turned out, Xavier wasn't the only person that was drugged that day. Kylie, too, suffered the same ordeal.

It was unknown whether she had drugged herself or if she was drugged by Xavier as his way of payback, but in the end, she was thrown into an intersection with a huge flow of people. Under the influence of the drug, Kylie lost all sense of reason as lust overwhelmed her. She even pounced on a young and handsome passerby before flirting with him.

As a result, the young man's girlfriend tore at her clothes and gave her a harsh slap. The crowd took videos of the incident and uploaded them to the internet, where it became viral just moments later. After the incident, Hamish and Yara tried to apologize to Xavier, but the man had no intention of meeting them. In the end, the couple could only look for Winnie for help by paying Lagune Mansion a visit. Unexpectedly, Xavier had guessed their intention and had instructed Mary to bar anyone from the Garland family from entering the mansion.

Because of this, Winnie was able to make plans with Nathaniel with peace of mind.

After the humiliating video went viral, Kylie was identified rather quickly. Owing to this, she cried herself to sleep for the past few days, causing her face to swell to an exaggerated proportion. After learning what his daughter did, Hamish taught her a hard lesson and wanted to make amends to Xavier.

However, since they were barred from entering Lagune Mansion, Hamish and Yara could only stand guard at Fairchild Corporation, thinking they could try to chance a meeting with Xavier. One day, the couple was doing the same thing as they did before-standing at the entrance of Fairchild Corporation.

However, this time around, they had attracted Stuart's attention.

"Mr. and Mrs. Garland, why don't we find a place to have a talk?"

Hamish asked, "May I know what would you like to talk about, Mr. Fairchild?"

Stuart replied, "I just wanted to tell you to stop wasting your time here. Do you really think Xavier would agree to meet with you? I doubt he'd forgive you even if you kneel before him. I do have to say, though, you Garlands are a gutsy bunch. Not only did you offer up a mentally challenged woman to be his wife, but you did something like this, utterly humiliating him. Judging by his vindictive nature, I don't think he will forgive you, ever. If he does, I'll change my surname to Garland."

Hearing that, Hamish started to panic. "Well... I didn't expect him to wake up from his coma so soon. What should I do now? What can I do to appease his anger?"

Stuart scoffed, "Appease his anger? I'd advise you to scrap that thought from your head. The new quarter is coming soon, and to tell you the truth, Xavier has already halted several projects Fairchild Corporation has with Garland Group. I reckoned his anger would only dissipate after Garland Group goes bankrupt. Since you've been forced into a corner, why don't you cooperate with me instead?" A doubtful look crossed Hamish's face. "Is it really that serious?"

He proceeded to give the person in charge of the project a call to ask about the situation. After the person in charge liaised with Fairchild Corporation, the answer Hamish got was consistent with what Stuart told him.

Hamish's face fell at the news. "He's trying to ruin the whole Garland Group! Mr. Fairchild, what exactly do you mean by cooperating with you?"

Meanwhile, Winnie was conversing with someone.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

"Gator, have you ever heard of Fairchild Corporation? It's a company based in Avenport."

"I have. Why?"

"The current CEO of Fairchild Corporation is the definition of a miracle happening. I heard he was in a vegetative state after a car accident. Because of this, the Garland family looked down on him and offered up their mentally challenged daughter to be his wife. No one expected that he would wake up just a few days after the daughter was married into the Fairchild family. The whole thing just seems so dramatic." Winnie knitted her brows. Although what Nathaniel said was indeed the truth, displeasure gnawed at her because it sounded like he was making fun of her.

"So, what does this have to do with the plan? Why are you telling me all this?"

"My dear Gator, it sounds to me like you're angry. Mind telling me why? Don't you know that your thinking process will be affected if you're angry?"

"Oh? Is that so?"

"All right, I'll stop messing with you. I was only telling you all this because the CEO of Fairchild Corporation has done us a great favor. He seems to hate the Garland family, which probably explains why he halted several projects Fairchild Corporation had with Garland Group. He even put out word to prevent other companies from collaborating with them. The Garland family will certainly lose a lot of money because of this fiasco."

Of course, Winnie knew about all this. I guess my emotions really got the better of me earlier.

"That's right, Xavier had dealt the Garland family a huge blow. With this, Hamish will put his focus solely on investment. This means that he'll probably slip up sooner or later since he's panicking. I think it's time for you to pay Avenport a visit."

"Oh, my dear Gator, I've already bought the plane ticket. I have also renovated the new company. Anyway, are you really not going to come and meet me?"

Winnie rolled her eyes. Not this again... She then said, "I don't plan on meeting you anytime soon. If that's all you wanted to say, I'll be hanging up now." "Wait!" Nathaniel's tone turned serious, and he uttered, "I almost forgot to tell you something important."

Winnie frowned. "What is it?"