Silly Bride

Chapter 286
“Nathaniel?” Winnie was extremely shocked to see the man in the motel at the foot of the mountain.“Why are you here? Aren’t
you on a business trip abroad?” she queried.There was a look of shock on Winnie’s face, but on the other hand, Nathaniel
seemed pleasantly surprised to see her.He walked over to her with a smile hanging on his lips. “The project has been temporarily
canceled, so I flew back here shortly after. I’ve already settled a bunch of things in advance because of the project, and since the
schedule that’s already set in stone can’t be altered, I decided to just give myself a break.”After a brief pause, the man continued
to explain, “When I thought of a holiday, the first place that popped into my mind was Mount Albeise. I didn’t expect to meet you
here either, but I suppose that’s fate, huh?”“Yeah.” At that point, Winnie was still completely unaware of the rumors that had
spread like wildfire about her upcoming engagement with Nathaniel.Flashing the man a courteous smile, she said, “What a
coincidence indeed. The only difference between us is that I’ve already descended the mountain, whereas you still have a long
way up.”“You’re right.” Nathaniel nodded, and a thought instantly crossed his mind. But if I can spend the rest of my time here
with you, I’ll gladly forgo my hiking plans.He couldn’t help asking her, “What are your plans after this? Are you planning to stay
for a little longer to do some sightseeing, or are you heading back?”Not giving her a chance to respond, he then proposed, “I
know a town nearby that has a wine cellar that produces good wine. You should go try it if you get the chance to. I can take you
there if you want, and if you’re interested, we can also go hunting together. There are a lot of moose around here.”“Is that so? It
sounds great, but I think I’ll take a rain check.”Winnie had witnessed an avalanche while she was on the mountain the previous
day. Although she had been tens of miles away at the time and hadn’t been in any danger, she could still feel the intense
pressure of that moment.When the avalanche occurred, she instantly had a flashback to the explosion that happened on the
dock.The danger and fear she experienced back then was no different from what she felt about the avalanche, but what made
the former incident so memorable was the people she had experienced it with—her lover and her friend who had jumped in to
save her with little regard for their own safety.Hence, after the avalanche, Winnie knew it was time for her to go home and take
care of some matters as no one knew exactly what life had in store for them.She couldn’t keep harboring resentment for
something or someone because of an incident, nor could she miss out on everything she should’ve cherished at that
moment.With her mind made up, Winnie politely declined Nathaniel’s invitation. “I’ll come back and experience it when I get the
chance, but I’m in a bit of a rush to go back to Chanaea now.”“Are you going back to Avenport so soon? It doesn’t seem like
you’ve been here for long,” said Nathaniel, a hint of disappointment evident in his tone.He had already seen the news about their
supposed engagement and also read the Speiser family’s response to it.Truth be told, Nathaniel was delighted to see Wilhelm
deny the fact that Winnie had ever married Xavier.I thought this would be my chance, but I didn’t expect her to go back so soon.
Besides, judging by her behavior, it doesn’t seem like she knows what has been going on in the outside world ever since she
came here.After pondering for a while, Nathaniel asked, “Winnie, is the reception bad up there? Have you contacted anybody in
the outside world recently?”“The reception is pretty bad in the mountain. What is it? Did something happen? Does it involve

me?”The woman was simply too sharp, so Nathaniel could only flash her a wry smile and come clean about the situation. “All
right. Since it seems you’re truly unaware, I think we need to find a place to sit and talk.”“Sure.”“Give me your backpack. It must
be heavy, right? I’ll carry it for you.”Eyeing the nearby tables, Winnie once again declined the man, “No need. It’s only a couple of
steps away.”“All right.” Nathaniel had no choice but to retract his hand and let her be.Alas, he couldn’t help worrying it was too
strenuous for Winnie, so he took the initiative to reach his hand out and lift her backpack up.The entire scene was coincidentally
captured by a bespectacled man standing in a corner of the motel.Unfortunately for him, however, his flash was on, and both
Winnie and Nathaniel immediately noticed him.The two exchanged glances with one another and furrowed their brows.Nathaniel
instantly said to Winnie, “Why don’t you take a seat over there? I’ll go and see what’s going on.”“No, I’ll go with you,” Winnie
refused as she glanced at the man who was taking pictures of them in secret.Much to Nathaniel’s and Winnie’s surprise, the man
strode toward them instead of waiting for them to approach him.He wasn’t sneaking around like they were expecting and openly
passed them his business card.“Nice to meet you guys. I’m a journalist from ABC News. I came here on a holiday, but I didn’t
expect to bump into you two. May I have the honor of interviewing you guys? I can assure you it won’t take up too much of your
time,” said the man.Winnie furrowed her brows as she mulled over the man’s words. “Thank you for your interest, but why are
you interviewing us if you’re on a holiday?”It’d be more believable if he said he was conducting street interviews at the foot of
Mount Albeise and coincidentally saw us. On the other hand, this situation is just too strange.“You see, Ms. Vivian...” Since
Winnie didn’t outright reject him, the bespectacled journalist even pulled out his handy dandy recording pen.He then began to
explain, “Previously, other journalists reported that the Speiser family is interested in arranging a marriage with the Huxley family.
They said that you and Mr. Nathaniel are preparing for your engagement. We’ve asked for clarification, but we weren’t able to get
any reliable information. I didn’t expect to bump into you and Mr. Nathaniel here at all. Are you two really dating? When are you
two planning to get engaged or perhaps get married?”Confusion was plastered all over Winnie’s face when she heard the
journalist’s words. She even lowered her gaze to look at the name that was printed on the business card.In a polite tone, she
queried, “What are you talking about, Mr. Graham? What arranged marriage? What engagement? Why don’t I know anything
about this?”The journalist felt rather speechless for a moment and chuckled in response. “How can you not know about this, Ms.
Vivian? Look, I even took a picture of you and Mr. Nathaniel.”A crease appeared between Winnie’s brows as she looked over at
Nathaniel. “What’s going on?”Just as Nathaniel was about to speak, the journalist piped up first, “Ms. Vivian, if you’re unwilling to
answer that question, why don’t I ask you another one? Is it true that you married a Chanaean man? Is the marriage between
you two legal?” Looking at the unrelenting man in front of her, Winnie said in a stern voice, “I’m sorry, Mr. Graham, but until I
figure out exactly what’s going on, I will not be answering any of your questions.”“Why?” The journalist attempted to probe
further. “Is it that hard to answer a couple of questions? Could it be that Wilhelm Speiser is lying?”At that, Winnie’s frown grew
deeper. “What does this have to do with Wilhelm?”“Mr. Wilhelm publicly denied the fact that you were ever married in Chanaea.
He also said that you have the freedom of marriage. There are people who are speculating that you two are doing this for your
upcoming marriage into the Huxley family. Do you have any comments? Or perhaps you’d like to set the facts straight?”Winnie

truly didn’t know what had happened while she was gone, but the journalist kept hounding her, and his questions were
deliberately phrased in a way that was leading her to answer in a certain manner.It wasn’t an interview but rather a scheme to
lure her into acknowledging matters she hadn’t even heard of, and Winnie did not like this feeling at all.Having had enough of the
journalist’s unscrupulous behavior, Winnie scolded, “Please abide by your professional ethics, Mr. Graham. I didn’t agree to your
interview, nor did I answer any of your questions. Please stop your baseless assumptions and speculations!”At that, Nathaniel
took a step forward to put some space between Winnie and the journalist. “I believe it’s time for you to leave, Mr. Graham.
Otherwise, I’ll call the police.”The argument between the three of them had caught the attention of the motel’s receptionist, and
she was already holding onto the phone at the front desk.As soon as Nathaniel gave her the order, she would immediately call
the police.It was then the journalist finally realized he had been too hasty and had almost angered the two people in front of
him.He immediately apologized to Winnie, but Winnie did not accept it. Not only did she ask him to leave, but she also made him
delete the picture he had taken of them.After the journalist left, Winnie instantly found a table in the restaurant to sit at.“Tell me.”
She looked at the man sitting in front of her with a stern gaze. “What the h*ll is going on?”Nathaniel strung his words together
and explained everything that had happened thus far.When she heard everything, Winnie couldn’t help but scoff. “As expected,
it’s Helen.”Nathaniel was surprised by her response. “Judging by your reaction, did you already know she’d do this?”“No, of
course not,” said Winnie. “But I’m not surprised by the fact that she was the one who started it. Wilhelm must’ve gotten on her
bad side. Still, I didn’t expect she’d come up with such a story. It’s completely absurd! Does she intend to take revenge on my
brother like this? By attacking us with a baseless rumor?”Smiling sheepishly, Nathaniel chimed in, “It... isn’t entirely
baseless.”Winnie looked at the man, confused. “What do you mean? Don’t tell me you’re the one who leaked the news?”After
that, she did not hesitate to make her opinion on the matter clear. “My beloved business partner, Nathaniel Huxley, I’ve told you
that I prefer Chanaean men. Plus, you already know that I married Xavier in Chanaea. He’s my lover.”“Oh, my dear Ms. Vivian, of
course, I know.” Nathaniel smiled, masking the hint of disappointment in his expression. After a brief pause, he added, “I must
say you’ve misunderstood me as I didn’t leak any information at all. The truth is, our families did try to hook us up in the past. My
mother always knew that I wanted an Aplothian woman as my soulmate, but back then, I didn’t know you were the Speiser
family’s adopted daughter, nor did I know you were my collaborator, Ms. Gator, so I rejected my mother’s suggestion without
hesitation. Hence, Helen’s story isn’t completely baseless.”Winnie’s brows furrowed. “I didn’t know any of that.”“I know. It’s
probably because I refused to meet you, so your family didn’t tell you about it.”“That’s possible.” Winnie nodded.Then, she said
to Nathaniel earnestly, “I apologize for misunderstanding you earlier. I hope you can forgive me.”“No worries, but...” The man
pondered for a moment before saying, “The news has already spread to a global scale, and the discussion in Chanaea is
particularly heated. Although our engagement is false, your brother’s statement is true. Perhaps you should check on Xavier.
You’ve been cut off from the rest of the world for the past few days, and I’m sure he must’ve called you a lot during this period. To
be honest, when I first saw the news, I tried calling you as well, but either your phone was out of the service area or the call was
left unanswered.”“Oh, right! You reminded me.” Winnie instantly fished her phone out of her backpack. “I have to give him a

call.”Flashing a smile at the woman, Nathaniel said, “Okay, go ahead. I’ll go get you a cup of coffee. The usual, right?”Winnie’s
phone had shut down, and she was looking for her power bank. Hence, she didn’t look up while responding, “Yeah, thanks.”“You
don’t have to be so courteous with me,” said Nathaniel as he stood up.However, by the time he returned with the coffee, Winnie
was no longer at the table.She had left him a note, telling him that both her phone and power bank were dead, so she was going
back to her room to charge her phone.While they were talking earlier, the bespectacled journalist had already uploaded the
picture he’d taken to social media.It turned out that he hadn’t deleted every copy of the picture from his phone and had kept a
copy on cloud storage.He had a social media account in Chanaea and had accumulated quite a huge following.The scandal
between Winnie and the CEO of Fairchild Corporation had been trending. The journalist knew that, and he knew that he’d be
able to reap the benefits of the situation.Hence, he quickly turned the picture into a video and an article before publishing them
on his platform in Chanaea.It didn’t take long for Xavier to see what the journalist had published, and his mind went blank when
he saw it.All of a sudden, he recalled what Josiah previously asked him.Did she take the picture herself, or was it taken by
another? Did she go alone, or did someone else go with her? Who is that person?Xavier’s curiosity was piqued when he saw the
picture of Winnie and Nathaniel that the journalist had taken when he bumped into the two.Did they really go together?At that
thought, Xavier picked up his phone, intending to give Winnie a call.However, he truly hated the anxiousness that would torment
him whenever he had to wait for someone to answer the call or when the call went to voicemail.Thus, he decided against calling
her and instead sent a text message to Louis.Xavier had received his health report from the hospital, and it stated that his body
was fine for the time being. Hence, he wanted Louis to book him the earliest flight to Yartran so he could look for Winnie
himself.At that precise moment, his phone rang, the screen indicating that it was a call from Winnie.