The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

"Therefore, you've got no choice but to obey me."

"Great, just great! It looks like you won this round, Mr. Fairchild." Winnie wore a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Xavier threw her a frosty glare. "Watch your tongue. I don't want to hear you uttering a single word about my wife."

Conversely, Winnie couldn't be bothered to entertain him. Who's his wife? Dream on!

In no time, Xavier gave Louis a call. "Withdraw twenty million from my personal account and change them into gold bars. Do it now, right this instant!"

After quickly ending the call, he immediately made another call. "Order all the bodyguards in Teams 1 and 2 to be on standby."

By then, the man finally finished giving out instructions.

Winnie had also successfully sent out the message she had typed to Christopher.

Having turned off her phone screen, she eyed Xavier. "Are you sure you don't want to lodge a police report?"

"Lodging a police report will easily anger the kidnappers, making it more likely that the hostage will be killed. I don't like such a possibility."

Winnie snickered derisively. "That's true. How could you possibly bear to see Ms. White die when she's as pretty as a picture? How ironic that you just declared having a wife a while ago, Mr. Fairchild." "What are you trying to say? Get one thing clear-even if it's a dog belonging to me, I won't allow it to be harmed by someone else!"

"Yeah, not to mention your first love," Winnie added with a smirk.

That had Xavier flying into a rage. "You'd best stop while you're ahead!"

Winnie was utterly amused. He isn't even allowing me to speak the truth now?

Just when she was about to riposte, her phone dinged.

It was Christopher having replied to her message.

Sweeping a gaze over her phone screen, Xavier glimpsed Christopher's name.

"Who are you texting? You didn't lodge a police report, did you?" he questioned coldly.

"Of course not. Have you ever seen someone lodging a police report by texting, Mr. Fairchild? Never, yes? I'm just chatting with my husband about trivial stuff. Do you want to have a look?"

A sneer tugged at Xavier's lips. "No, it's okay. I'm not interested in your private life. I don't care what you do, but watch your boundaries. Don't affect my plans."

Truth be told, Yulissa's kidnapping was extremely fishy.

Earlier, she said in the video that she went to the bar to drown her sorrows after they fought that she ended up kidnapped.

But in reality, Xavier knew that she never went to the bar that night. Instead, she went back to her place after throwing a fit there.

She didn't go to the bar, yet the kidnapper claimed to have abducted her from the bar. Despite being the victim, her testimony aligned with the kidnapper's statement. It was as though they had gotten their stories straight beforehand.

However, if they were co-conspirators and colluded to blackmail him, twenty million was a pittance. Furthermore, she even paid the price of a finger.

That didn't make sense.

Winnie had no idea of the perplexity within and merely texted Christopher about the general situation.

Christopher told her to share her location while she drove and to be careful. That aside, he promised to make all preparations to back her up.

One and a half hours later, Louis appeared with a massive suitcase in hand.

It was filled with gold bars, weighing more than a hundred pounds.

"We've installed a tracker in one of the semi-hollow gold bars, Mr. Xavier. The bodyguards in Teams 1 and 2 are ready to set out anytime. Here's a bulletproof vest. Do put it on."

Louis had some conscience in the least, for he also prepared a bulletproof vest for Winnie.

When Xavier and Winnie were all geared up, the kidnapper also called right on the dot.

It was still a mechanical voice that had been processed through a voice changer.

"We have a car in the underground parking lot, Mr. Fairchild. It's a Volkswagen with a license plate of XXXX. Drive our car over. There's a walkie-talkie in the car. After getting into the car, we'll contact you through the walkie-talkie. Do you understand me?"

At that, Xavier sneered. Well, he's the first person who dares speak to me in such a tone.

Ignoring the kidnapper, he said to Winnie beside him, "Let's go! Bring the gold bars along."

Then, he hung up the phone.

Winnie was rendered speechless, her jaw dropping.

I've watched quite a number of police shows in the past and heard of many kidnapping cases around me, but he's probably the first person in the world to hang up on a kidnapper. Besides, he doesn't look as though he's going to pay a ransom. Instead, he appears as though he's going to raid them.

Shortly after, they reached the underground parking lot and found the car mentioned by the kidnapper.

Before getting into the car, Winnie checked the car over. Soon, she discovered two things.

"There are surveillance cameras and electronic jammers in the car. We probably won't be able to use our phones, and they'll be monitoring every single move of ours."

Her phone had been specially modified, however, so that pathetic interference had no effect on it.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Xavier wasn't surprised by all that. He merely complimented her with a half-smile.

"You look very professional, Ms. Houghton. I'm all the more curious as to who exactly you are. Are you a police officer?"

"Haha, you've got a rich imagination, Mr. Fairchild. Do get into the car."

While saying that, Winnie circled over and climbed into the driver's seat. Meanwhile, Xavier sat in the backseat.

In no time, the car drove out of the residential area, as per the kidnapper's instructions.

Due to the presence of surveillance cameras, neither of them spoke a single word during the drive.

The car made three or four rounds in the city and suburbs before finally heading toward its true destination.

It was an abandoned quarry on the riverbank in the suburbs. The kidnappers were hiding in an abandoned wreck after abducting Yulissa.

No sooner had Winnie driven in than someone locked the iron fence outside the quarry.

In the blink of an eye, four masked kidnappers surrounded them.

One of them held a gun and used it to force Winnie and Xavier out of the car.

The other three eagerly opened the trunk and dragged out the suitcase containing the gold bars.

Just when they were about to open it, Xavier drawled, "Shouldn't you be handing me the hostage as I hand you the money when I've shown such sincerity?"

One of the kidnappers' eyes glinted with greed as he stared at the suitcase, and he bellowed, "I want to inspect the goods first!"

However, the kidnapper holding the gun pointed it at him. "Don't touch it first. Take them in to talk to Boss."

Having no other recourse with the gun pointed at his head, the lackey could only yield.

Thus, Winnie and Xavier were promptly brought onto the wreck.

It was a wrecked ship that ran aground. The instant they stepped into the wreck, two kidnappers locked the hatch.

The cabin was terribly dark, only illuminated by a lamp on the ceiling and the sunlight streaming through a broken window.

There was a chair under the lamp, on which a person was bound. It was none other than Yulissa.

Her right hand had been simply bandaged. Her face was pale, and her hair was damp, sticking to her cheeks. Her mouth had also been taped. On the whole, she appeared to be in bad shape. Nonetheless, her chest was still rising and falling, proving that she was still breathing and was merely unconscious.

With a grim face, Xavier scrutinized Yulissa for a long moment before stating, "I've brought the gold bars, so you can let her go now."

The leader of that group of kidnappers wore a pig mask.

He personally opened the suitcase and inspected the gold bars. Then, he stood up.

"What if I were to say that I want both the gold and your life?"