Silly Bride

Chapter 149
Winnie neither retaliated nor resisted and in spite of those exceptional circumstances, she was able to maintain her extraordinary
sense of composure.“May I know what offense I am guilty of, officer? Why go to all that trouble to prevent me from boarding the
plane?”“Are you Winnie Garland, the chairperson of Garland Group? Were you planning to depart Chanaea for Yartran?” asked
the police officer sternly.Winnie affirmed that with a nod, “I am. But I don’t think that is the reason I’m being detained now, is
it?”Astounded by that young woman’s poise at first, the officer promptly followed up, “We’ve received a tip-off accusing you of
possession and transportation of illegal substances, so we must ask for your cooperation with our investigations.”That yielded a
frown from Winnie, for the fact that she was bringing samples of drugs across the borders to Yartran was a matter of great
discretion. The only ones who were in the know about that were Josiah, Louis, and herself. Even Xavier had been kept out of the
loop.Thus, it was puzzling to her that the police had received a tip-off from the public about that. Who is it, exactly? And what
grudge does that person have against me? Surely, it can’t be Josiah or Louis, right?“Thank you for sharing the facts with me,
officer. I am, however, a cautious person, so I must insist on seeing some form of identification. Otherwise, I would be inclined to
believe that someone might be looking to set me up.”“Certainly!” This time, there were a total of five police officers present. The
group consisted of the two who were restraining her arms from either side and the three others who stood apart from them.The
one who she assumed to be their captain duly produced his identification card as requested, and the verification of the card’s
authenticity got Winnie’s brow bunched up into an even tighter furrow.“Satisfied now? Take her away!”“Very well. I’ll come with
you.”The police acted quickly to remove her from the scene in a bid to minimize disruption to the public.Someone was
documenting the entire sequence as it was happening, including the conversation between Winnie and the police officers.Apart
from the small briefcase, Winnie had no consignments or any other luggage to her name along on that trip, as she was only
delivering some samples.That small piece of luggage in question was now in the custody of the police officer in charge.He
opened up the briefcase in front of Winnie to reveal the two vials of drugs inside.“Would you care to explain this, Ms.
Garland?”Winnie was sandwiched between two officers at the back of the patrol car.“I’m not an expert on the nature of these two
samples, so allow me to contact my lawyer and doctor friends when we arrive at your station. I’m sure they’ll be able to provide
you with a reasonable explanation then,” she replied blandly.Half an hour later, Winnie was brought to the police station in
Avenport’s Northern District alongside her briefcase.Over ten minutes passed when Josiah and her lawyer also joined her there,
arriving one after another.While the two of them were liaising with the police, Winnie drank coffee inside the reception area.It was
only until she had patiently downed the last drop from her cup that the police captain from earlier walked out alongside her
lawyer.“You’re free to go now, Ms. Garland. Please excuse us for this disruption to your schedule,” said the police captain
amicably.In spite of those delays to an important undertaking, Winnie proved to be understanding of his position and thus did not
vent her frustrations on those officers.Instead, she took the initiative to shake the captain’s hand.“You’re too kind, officer.
Assisting your investigations is my duty as a citizen. We can take pride in the fact that we have responsible policemen such as

yourself serving us in this city. Quite to the contrary, it was I who had caused you much inconvenience.” The police captain did
not expect such magnanimity from Winnie. With this level of ability to keep things in perspective, it’s no wonder she’s able to take
charge of the entire Garland Group at her tender age.As a man who was nearly a decade older, he could not help but be
impressed by her.“We are grateful for your understanding, Ms. Garland. If only there were more people like yourself in society,
then there wouldn’t be a need for paranoid people like us. Please. Allow me to see you out.”“After you then!” Winnie let the
captain to lead the way.After some consideration, she half-jokingly asked, “That reminds me. I kind of wonder who filed the
report. Surely it couldn’t have been someone who’s out to get me?”“We are sorry, Ms. Garland, but the source is anonymous.
Even if we knew anything about him, we are not at liberty to share this information, so we hope you’ll be able to understand
where we’re coming from.”“Of course!” Winnie only casually asked, being quite aware of their concerns about the potential
revenge their informant might seek against them.Previously, Josiah had already explained that those samples had received
authorization from the state, and Winnie was transporting them abroad expressly for use in an academic exchange program with
Yartran’s First Institute of Applied Toxicology.After the police captain had clarified the situation, he, too, had his suspicions that
Winnie could very well have been the target of malicious intent.This young Ms. Garland had been riding on a high recently. With
her background and marital status a constant feature in all the major headlines every single day, she is a hotter commodity than
even the most popular celebrities in the country. Given such circumstances, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she managed to
unknowingly draw the ire of one or two enemies along the way.“Tell you what, Ms. Garland. Should you ever come across
anything suspicious in the future or encounter someone who means you harm, please don’t hesitate to come to us.”“Here’s
hoping that such a day never comes,” Winnie replied smilingly.When she exited the gates to the police station, Josiah’s car was
already waiting outside by the entrance.With that tiny briefcase in hand, Winnie opened the door to the backseat and hopped
in.Josiah could not refrain from turning back to glance at her. “Seriously? Are you really going to treat me as though I’m your
driver? Is the privilege of being my co-driver not good enough for you?”Winnie observed Josiah’s eyes through the reflection in
the rearview mirror while she replied indifferently, “It’s far too dangerous for me to ride shotgun, as I’m worried someone might be
waiting in ambush by the side of the road and looking to suddenly ram into us. My odds of dying while seated next to you would
be much greater than if I were to sit behind you.”The two of them exchanged looks briefly through the rearview mirror, but Josiah
quickly rescinded his gaze.His lips lifted in a somewhat self-deprecating fashion while he started up the engine. “What? Don’t tell
me that you’re suspecting me of reporting you. Do you think I’ve lost my mind?”“I wouldn’t say that. Turning me in and preventing
me from leaving wouldn’t exactly work in your interest. But I have to ask, did you share information about my flight schedule
today with anyone else?” Winnie asked in a business-like manner.Without even pausing to think about it, Josiah responded
strongly, “Of course not. Why would I want to do that? Do you think I’m crazy?”“In that case, do you think it could have been
Louis?” Winnie pressed further.Josiah remained as steadfast as ever. “That would be even less likely. He doesn’t even have any
plausible motive for it. Besides, he’s been busy as heck; he probably won’t even be able to remember your flight number.”Winnie

nodded in agreement. “I don’t suppose that either one of you could be responsible for it as well. Who else do you think it could
be?”