“What ‘Dumbo’? Could you at least show my granddaughter some respect? She’s not stupid! Why should she go home with you? You’re a nobody to her. Kylie was the one who was engaged to you, not Winnie!”
Carried away by her emotions, Jacinta tugged Winnie into the house again. “Don’t listen to him, Winnie. Come in with me!”
With Jacinta holding on to her left hand, and Xavier, to her right, Winnie found herself caught in a difficult position.
“Could you guys please stop?” she exclaimed, clearly exasperated. “Granny, what happened between us is pretty straightforward, so please don’t complicate it for us. I just need a few minutes to talk to Xavier about it.”
Despite Winnie’s remarks, neither Xavier nor Jacinta budged.
Christopher frowned as he watched Winnie struggle between both sides.
Knowing Winnie’s intention, he went over to persuade Jacinta to go home.
“Hi, Mdm. Sumner. I’m Winnie’s friend, Christopher Bennett. Why don’t we go in first? Winnie knows what she’s doing, and she has always sorted things out on her own. I know you’re worried, but you can trust her this time.”
Christopher’s tactful words were well-phrased and had given Jacinta a way out of the tricky situation. Jacinta did not intend to make things difficult for her granddaughter to begin with. She just did not want Xavier to have his way.
So, when she heard Christopher, she caved.
“All right. Both of you talk it out, then. Winnie, don’t make us wait for too long. Also, what’s wrong with your phone? You weren’t picking up.”
“Some sales guy kept calling, so I turned on my silent mode.”
“I see. I was wondering why you didn’t pick up, although your phone was on. Make sure you turn off your silent mode. I’ll be calling in a bit.”
Winnie nodded and shot Christopher a glance after some thought, hinting at him to bring Jacinta in.
Christopher looked at her knowingly and persuaded the older woman to enter the house.
After they went in, Winnie lowered her glance at Xavier’s grip around her hand and asked, “Where should we go? How about we go to your place to talk things out?”
Xavier did not reply but looked up at her.
“I thought you blocked me, but it turned out your phone was on silent mode,” he uttered.
“Why would I block you? There’s not a need for that,” Winnie replied, frowning.
Seeing that Xavier had composed himself again, she explained patiently, “I wanted to confront you when you sent me your location, but it so happened that Christopher came over. That’s it. By the way, could you let me go already? We’re going into the elevator.”
“No,” Xavier refused.
Sensing his grip tightened, Winnie tried shaking his hand off, but to no avail, so she gave up in the end.
“Whatever. Let’s not waste time.”
With that said, she pressed the elevator button and gave Xavier’s wheelchair a kick.
Once Xavier was sure she had no intention of retracting her hand, he moved his wheelchair into the elevator.
After they arrived at Xavier’s house, Winnie kept checking the time on her phone.
The truth was that she had to keep an eye on the time because she had to return to the Garland residence before Hamish went home after work, but Xavier completely misunderstood her when he saw her constantly checking her phone.
“How much time do you plan on giving me? Do you think our problem can be settled within a couple of minutes? You look like you can’t wait to go back,” he commented in a croaky voice, staring at her.
Winnie, on the other hand, was not interested in explaining herself. “Just cut to the chase, will you? Let’s not waste each other’s time.”
“I never thought spending time with you was a waste of my time. This is true even when we were back in Lagune Mansion.”
Xavier was already tearing up in distress as he spoke. “Do you think I’m wasting your time now?” he asked.
Winnie could not bring herself to look into his intense and sorrowful gaze.
Hence, she turned away, trying her best not to have any eye contact with him.
“Xavier, I think I’ve made myself clear when I revealed my identity to you on Sirona Island. Back then, you were hellbent on pursuing me. As I said, it’s true that I like you, but that’s it. My feelings for you aren’t as strong as how you feel toward me, so I can’t give you what you expect. Look at what happened today. We end up fighting over something so petty. You were so obsessive when Christopher sent me home the last time, and I told you that I don’t like being controlled. I’m not an object that belongs only to you, nor am I someone you can order around. You’re mistaken if you expect me to be someone who listens to everything you say without an opinion of my own. I don’t want a relationship where I cannot be myself. It’ll only be a burden to me, so I think we should just—”
“Stop, please,” Xavier interrupted Winnie abruptly as he turned his wheelchair toward her, for he knew what she was about to say.
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