Silly Bride

Chapter 267
Xavier slammed on the brake pedal and yelled, “What’s going on? What happened to you guys?”The side collision had caused
the door on Josiah’s side to be dented inward. Thankfully, the passengers in the back seats seemed to be fine.However, the
impact was so powerful that Rachel almost fell off her seat. Winnie helped her up while asking Josiah, “Are you okay? Are you
injured?”Josiah had managed to stop the car, but his head had still slammed on the steering wheel.“D*mn it! What on earth is
going on?” he cursed under his breath, feeling the massive bump on his head.Their situation was so chaotic that no one
bothered to reply to Xavier.Subsequently, Xavier panicked more when he did not know what was going on.Soon, his anxious
voice rang out again. “Talk to me! What happened to you guys? Did Harold’s men catch up to you?”Still, no one responded to
him.Xavier felt he had been waiting for a response for ages when, in truth, everything happened in the blink of an eye.Winnie
and Josiah did not answer him because they, too, had the same concern as Xavier.They feared the person who crashed into
them was Harold. Thus, they had no time to answer his questions.Josiah was ready to drive the car away, but the collision had
caused the entire car to be stuck in between a row of trees and the other car.On top of that, the right tire had fallen into a pit by
the side of the road. It was impossible for him to drive it away, and that realization left him livid.Meanwhile, Winnie was
momentarily stunned when she looked out of the car windows. Immediately after that, she knitted her brows and called out
urgently, “Josiah! Josiah, calm down!”Without turning to look at her, Josiah snapped, “How am I supposed to calm down?”Xavier,
on the other hand, gave up on waiting for an answer. “I’m going back to look for you guys!”Winnie hurriedly stopped him.
“There’s no need for that! It’s Mason and Greta. It’s their car!”Before Xavier could even react, Josiah had already lost his cool.
“What? Why did they knock into our car? Have they lost their minds?”With that, he lifted his head and looked out of the
window.Just then, Greta had already gotten out of the car.She had never met Josiah before, nor did she know Winnie was in that
car when the vehicles collided.It was not until she walked over to the other car that she realized who was in it. She exclaimed,
“Ms. Garland? Why are you here?”Winnie stared at Greta, her frown deepening. “I was about to ask you the same. Why did you
ram into us?”Greta did not know how to respond. “We didn’t do it on purpose. We encountered Harold’s men outside the
hospital, and our car got shot, which caused problems with our brakes. Then, we received an order from Mr. Fairchild telling us
to take this road to Yeringham. We didn’t want to cause you guys any delay, so we sped all the way here. Who would’ve known
your car would be here the moment we exited the junction? I swear, Mason really did hit the brakes, but we were speeding so
fast that we didn’t manage to stop in time. We would’ve slowed down if we knew you were ahead of us. Man... This is such a
huge misunderstanding. You won’t cut our pay, will you, Ms. Garland?”Winnie rolled her eyes at Greta. “Well, you should
consider yourself lucky for not killing me. Otherwise, you two won’t get a single cent.”When she finished her sentence, she
turned to the phone and said, “There you go, Xavier. You better not come over. We should hurry on. There’s no time to lose.”“All
right. Actually, I just wanted to tell you they’ve caught up to you. You guys should hurry up,” Xavier said grimly.“Okay,” responded
Winnie.Josiah, too, promised, “Don’t worry. We won’t fall behind.”He hung up as soon as he finished speaking because holding

the device while driving was a hassle.The moment he put away the phone, he heard Winnie opening the car door.He quickly
turned around to look at her. “What are you doing?”As Winnie got out of the car, she said, “I’m going to have a word with them.
Your forehead’s bleeding, by the way. You might want to clean it up.”With that, she walked toward the other car.Seeing Winnie
getting out of the car, Greta quickly followed after her. “What’s wrong, Ms. Garland?”“I’m going to check on my friend. Is he all
right?” answered Winnie while striding forward.“Yep! We’ve protected him well and made sure he’s not the slightest bit injured,”
Greta said proudly.Winnie nodded. “I’m going to have a word with him. Can you check on the rest to see if they need your
help?”Once Greta was dismissed, the window beside Christopher rolled down.He stuck his head out of the window and asked,
“Everything all right?”“Yep.” Pausing briefly, Winnie frowned while gazing at him. “Are you coming back with us this time, or are
you going to wait for the organization’s arrangements?”Christopher paused momentarily before speaking. “That depends if
there’s a space for me. From what I know, Xavier has arranged for a chopper. Will there be enough space for me, too?”Winnie
was relieved to hear that from Christopher. “Of course, there’s a spot for you.”Christopher grinned. “That’s great.”As soon as he
finished speaking, Josiah urged, “Ms. Garland, we’re ready. Shall we leave?”Winnie quickly turned around and replied with
“coming” before turning back to look at Christopher, uttering, “I’ll get going, then.”Christopher nodded. “See you later.”Right then,
Greta walked over while dusting off the dirt on her hands, saying to Winnie, “I’ve placed some rocks under your car tire. It should
be able to move later.”Winnie patted Greta on the shoulder. “Thank you so much. Tell Mason to drive carefully. Safety first.”“Don’t
worry, Ms. Garland. Here. Let me open the door for you.”Winnie stopped Greta. “It’s okay. You guys should get going. Let’s not
waste any time.”Hearing that, Greta quickly got into the passenger seat without any further ado.In the meantime, Winnie watched
their car leave before getting into hers.Josiah, who had been waiting by the door for her, helped her to close the door.After
getting into the driver’s seat, he could not help but complain, “This car is horrible on unpaved roads. See. They’re almost out of
our sight.”“Just make do with it. We’re already lucky that this car isn’t broken even after that collision,” replied Winnie.As she said
that, Josiah’s phone suddenly rang.He took it out and answered it as soon as he saw Xavier’s name on the screen.Once the call
was connected, Xavier’s voice came through. “I found a GPS tracker in my car. I’ve gotten rid of it. Do you have one in yours?
You should quickly get rid of it.”“Huh?” Josiah scanned the interior and asked with a frown, “Yours is a wired tracker, right? Was it
placed in an obvious spot? I see nothing in this car except for a few decorations. I can’t find it without help from any equipment.”If
there’s really a tracker in the car, that means Harold has access to our whereabouts at any time. This is bad.With that thought in
mind, Winnie said to Josiah, “Focus on driving. I’ll look for it.” Josiah turned around subconsciously. “Don’t move! Can’t you see
your arm is injured? You’re going to be disabled for life if you move it. Besides, it’s just a tracker. There might not be one in this
lousy car. Even if there’s one, Harold might not have the guts to come after us. Moreover, it’ll take some time for them to catch
up with us. We might even be on the plane by the time he’s done gathering his men to chase after us.”Xavier did not want Winnie
to get hurt, either. Hence, he advised, “Don’t look for it, Winnie. Josiah’s right. Your arm is injured, so you should listen to
him.”“All right. The majority wins. I shall listen to you two,” Winnie answered half-heartedly, not wanting to argue with them.Once
the call ended, she began searching around the car.It did not take long for her to find a magnetic tracker under her seat.She

pulled it out in a flash and said to Josiah, “I found it!”Josiah could not turn around due to the bumpy road ahead. Instead, he
glanced at her through the rearview mirror and said exasperatedly, “No one can stop you from doing anything once you’ve put
your mind to it, eh? Aren’t you worried something will happen to your arm?”Winnie grinned. “How can I do anything if I’m such a
coward? I wouldn’t be alive today if I couldn’t endure a tiny injury like this.”Having said that, she tossed the tracker into the
woods.Josiah could not help but look at her through the rearview mirror and smile. “Thanks to you, I feel much relieved. Do you
remember the octopus that crawled into my shirt during the explosion at the dock? Guess what? I kept it. I wonder how it’s doing
now. Once we get back, I’ll invite you and Xavier to my house for a meal. You can have a look at my little octopus then.”Winnie
raised her brow. “I thought you were going to talk about turning it into one of the dishes.”“Nonsense! I would’ve eaten it long ago
if that’s what I wanted. Why would I be rearing it? Besides, you were the one who suggested I keep it as a pet. So, you have the
obligation to visit it.”Winnie was at a loss for words. “You kept it just because I told you so?”“Of course. You’re Ms. Garland, after
all. I’m just an employee.”“Wow. Ordinary people won’t be able to hire an elite worker like you,” commented Winnie.“Haha! Elite
worker, eh? That’s an interesting way to put it.”The two of them continued making small talk. Just like that, three hours soon
came to pass.They had also switched from a dirt road to a paved one.The dirt road was windy and surrounded by trees. Thus, it
gave them a poor field of vision. Now that they were on a paved road, they could finally get a clear view of the car in front of
them.Josiah said, “I knew it. Our lousy car is the slowest. Look. The two cars are way ahead of us. You’d better sit tight. It’s time I
show you my overtaking skills.”Winnie responded, “Forget it. There’s no need for that. The car Mason is driving has faulty
brakes. He might be taken aback if you suddenly overtake him. Let’s not cause trouble for ourselves.”“Okay. Looks like I won’t
have the chance to show off my driving skills to you. Oh, do you see that building in front of us? The tallest one? That’s our
destination.”Winnie peered out of the window. “It’s so conspicuous. It must be the tallest building in the city, right?”“Exactly. The
economy here isn’t well developed, so there are very few buildings that have over twenty stories. That is already the tallest in the
city.”Winnie nodded. “I see. It looks quite near to us. How long more till we arrive?”“Ten minutes or so, if the traffic is smooth. But
we definitely won’t be experiencing smooth traffic like this when we enter the city. Let’s give Xavier a call and ask about their
whereabouts. I lost sight of them when a truck suddenly overtook me.” As Josiah spoke, he pulled out his phone to give Xavier a
call.It was inevitable for him to be slightly distracted while making the call. However, the truck in front of them suddenly stopped,
causing them to almost crash into one another.Josiah panicked. “What’s going on? Why did the truck suddenly stop?”Winnie
looked out of the window and quickly drew a conclusion. “Something must’ve suddenly happened to the truck. Look. The driver
has stepped out.”Josiah had noticed it as well. The driver was even waving his hand to signal them to leave first.Taking a deep
breath, Josiah turned around and handed Winnie the phone. “Here. You can give Xavier a call. I’ll focus on driving.”“Okay.”
Winnie took the phone from him.The screen lit up automatically when the phone was lifted from Josiah’s hand, revealing his
wallpaper.Winnie could not help but chortle when she saw it.“What’s wrong?” asked Josiah.With a smile, she said, “Your
wallpaper. It’s the group photo of the three of us and the octopus at the dock. Why did you pick this picture as your
wallpaper?”Adjusting his glasses, Josiah said, “Why not? It’s a picture of us after avoiding a disaster. Isn’t it meaningful? Look at

the blue sky, the white clouds, the vast sea, and the ruins. Doesn’t it look like we’re filming a movie?”“It does!” Winnie’s smile
widened. She would never forget the way the three of them smiled and helped each other up in the midst of the ruins.She could
not help but stare a little longer at the picture. However, she did not forget about her task—to call Xavier.“Your phone’s still
locked. What’s your passcode?”“It’s nine, five, zero, seven, zero, seven.”“Huh?” Upon hearing the string of numbers, Winnie
could not help but glance at Josiah.Confused, Josiah asked, “What?”“Nothing.” Winnie quickly unlocked the phone and
commented, “Your passcode is your birthday, isn’t it? Won’t it be easy for others to guess a password like that?”“I’m used to
it.”“All right, then.” Winnie said nothing else and dialed Xavier’s number.This time, however, Xavier did not pick up right away. It
took several rings before the call was connected.Xavier asked immediately, “Where are you guys? Why aren’t you here yet? I’m
already in the elevator.”Winnie was shocked. “So fast? You guys were in front of us just now. How did you reach so soon?”Josiah
piped up with a chuckle, “What do you mean, just now? It was about eight minutes since we last saw their car. It makes sense for
them to have arrived.”Xavier grunted in acknowledgment. “We’ll wait for you two at the roof, then. We’ve got to carry Granny and
Professor White up since their legs are injured.”Winnie reminded, “Got it. Stay safe! We’ll be there soon. Where’s Christopher, by
the way? Has he arrived?”“Yes. You three are the only ones left, but don’t rush as the road ahead is under maintenance. Drive
slowly and be safe.”Josiah answered, “Got it. Since when did Mr. Fairchild become so long-winded?”Winnie chimed in, “All right,
then. I’m going to hang up now. Josiah’s phone is running out of battery.”After ending the call, Josiah drove forward a little. As
expected, there were a few barricades placed on the road, but they did not stop the flow of traffic.To their surprise, just as they
were slowing down, three cars approached and surrounded their vehicle.Winnie and Josiah were perplexed.Josiah knitted his
brows and turned around to glance at Winnie. “I’m tired of asking this, but what on earth is going on?”Saying nothing, Winnie
squinted while eyeing the person who was stepping out of the car. She was instantly filled with disbelief when she saw who it
was.Meanwhile, Josiah followed her gaze and fell speechless at what he saw. “Why is he here? Am I dreaming?”