Silly Bride

Chapter 97
Winnie decided to strike while the iron was hot.Yara had forced her biological mother into a mental institution years ago.Winnie
hardly thought it was fair for the woman to suffer such a minor setback for her misdeeds in the past.To that end, Winnie hired
someone to follow Yara and consequently knew her stepmother’s whereabouts like the back of her hand.She learned that Yara
had gone to the hospital after her huge fight with Hamish.After leaving the hospital, Yara drank her weight in liquor at a bar, and
she ended up booking the services of a driver to send her home.Said driver happened to be dispatched by Winnie.Based on
Winnie’s instructions, the driver bundled Yara into the passenger seat and drove the car into a secluded alley.Winnie hid in the
backseat throughout the whole process.She had dressed up as a female ghost, replete with ghastly makeup, a long black wig,
and a billowing white dress.As the driver pulled into a secluded alley, Winnie slowly emerged from her hiding spot.Quietly, she
rested her pale face on the passenger seat and played a pre-recorded audio tape.An eerie voice filled the air, calling out Yara’s
name over and over again.Yara had not drunk herself into oblivion and was still slightly conscious.When she heard someone
calling her name, she groggily turned around to face the backseat.She immediately saw a ghastly face behind her. The dark,
secluded alley and the dim light in the car merely added to the eeriness of the situation.Winnie’s prop eyes rolled down her face
and fell right into Yara’s lap.Yara was so frightened that her heart skipped a beat. It felt as though her soul had left her body.She
went berserk and shrieked, “Ahh! Ghost! There’s a ghost!”Then, Yara tugged on the driver’s elbow and pleaded, “Stop the car!
Please! Stop the car!”The driver opened his mouth, and to Yara’s shock, his tongue fell out.Yara was petrified. After staring wide-
eyed at the scene before her for a good second, she opened the car door and leaped out.The car was driving so slowly that Yara
did not sustain any major injuries. However, fear had taken all the strength out of her legs.Coupled with her drunken state, Yara
failed to get to her feet and could only crawl on the ground at a snail’s pace.Winnie alighted from the car and easily caught up to
Yara.Her recording continued to play. “Yara, hurting me wasn’t enough. You had to go after my daughter. I want your daughter
dead and your family destroyed! Then, I want you to die and rot in h*ll!”Yara could no longer move at that point. She buried her
head on the ground, her body heaving with sobs as she stammered, “Y-You’re Lorelei Garland! Please spare me! Please! I’m
begging you! I know what I did was wrong! I’m truly sorry for that!”Lorelei Garland was Winnie’s late biological mother.She
happened to share the same surname as Hamish. Winnie was only a Garland because she followed her mother’s surname. It
had nothing to do with any shred of love she had for her despicable father.Winnie admired Yara’s cowering form as the pre-
recorded audio continued to play. “I want you to pay with your life. I want you to spend the rest of your life in living h*ll.”Yara quite
literally wet her pants from fright.If Mom can see this, I’m sure she’d be more than satisfied.However, just as Winnie planned to
torture Yara a little longer, a beam of light cut through the darkness.A car had driven into the alley, and its driver had stuck his
head out the window curiously. He demanded loudly, “Hey! What are you doing?” Winnie frowned in frustration at the unexpected
early end to her little ploy.Alas, she had no choice but to keep her phone and dart into a nearby alley.She had no idea if that
night’s incident was enough to turn Yara mad, but she could only hope.After all, Yara was the one who had turned Lorelei mad in

the first place.Winnie had racked her brains for ideas, yet she could not think of a better way to exact revenge than to give Yara a
taste of her own medicine.She plucked off her wig and strode away, huffing with annoyance.Suddenly, her phone rang with a call
from Xavier.Winnie answered the phone. “What?”Xavier took note of her cold tone and asked solemnly, “What happened?
Where are you?”Taking a deep breath, Winnie leaned against the wall and drawled, “Nothing much. I just remembered some
unhappy memories from my past. I feel trapped. Plus, I was interrupted halfway through my plans. That’s why I’m not in the best
mood.”“What plans?” asked Xavier.“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to teach someone a lesson, but a stranger cut my lesson short.”As
Winnie spoke, her ears suddenly twitched. She furrowed her brows, recognizing the sound of footsteps behind her.For some
reason, she had a bad feeling that the person was coming for her.Winnie promptly held her breath, and Xavier immediately
sensed her tension through the phone.Anxiously, he asked, “What’s wrong, Winnie? What happened? Talk to me!”Winnie
glanced at the shadow on the ground that was rapidly approaching her. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Someone’s
following me.”The words had barely left her mouth when a hand clamped down on her shoulder.Winnie’s heart jumped to her
throat. Time seemed to freeze at that moment.She stuffed her phone into her pocket and gripped the hand on her shoulder,
prepared to flip her stalker over in a shoulder throw.Unfortunately, the mysterious stalker was much taller than her and stable on
his feet. Winnie was hardly his match at all. Instead, he spun her around and pinned her against the wall by her wrists.Winnie
groaned in pain as her back collided with the wall.She had not hung up on her call with Xavier, and the commotion drifted over
the receiver to his ears.Xavier, who was extremely worried, shouted frantically, “Winnie! Winnie Garland! What happened to you?
Answer me!”Winnie heard Xavier’s cries, and so did the man who was pinning her against the wall.Or rather, he heard the name
that Xavier called out.“Winnie Garland?” The mysterious man immediately released her and asked, “Why are you here?”After
breaking free from his grasp, Winnie turned around and finally recognized the man under the dim illumination of the street
lights.Shocked, she cried, “Christopher Bennett?”“Yes. I happened to walk past this place after getting off work. I saw someone
sprawled on the ground out there and another person appearing to harm her, so I gave chase. I even picked up a wig on the way
here. Is it yours?”“It’s mine. Are you going to take me into the station then, Captain Bennett?”“Winnie!” Xavier was scared out of
his wits after learning that Winnie had been followed.He hated that she was alone, frightened, and traumatized without his
protection.At the same time, he was surprised to learn that her stalker was Christopher.Worst of all, the two of them began
chatting after recognizing each other and completely ignored his presence on the other end of the line.Here he was, worried out
of his mind for her safety, yet she seemed to treat him like air.Xavier was upset at her treatment. Still, he tried to catch her
attention again by calling out her name, “Winnie! Answer me!”