Due to the venom’s aftereffect, however, his reaction speed was no longer as fast as it used to be.
In the past, his body would always react faster than his brain when it came to protecting her.
That wasn’t the case any longer. His movements couldn’t catch up with his brain anymore.
Occasionally during the middle of the night, Xavier would worry that one day, even his mind would slow down too.
As those thoughts crossed his mind, Winnie had already rapidly pulled him backward.
That act of hers made him feel ashamed. It also intensified his desire to find Yulissa and the cure for his condition as soon as possible.
Xavier desperately wanted to return to tip-top shape quickly for the sake of his loved one.
After all, he couldn’t hide behind his wife’s back and be protected by her forever.
Meanwhile, Winnie didn’t notice Xavier’s emotions at all because her focus was set wholly on the incoming car.
After the vehicle stopped, the car window was promptly lowered before a familiar face appeared in front of her.
It was Greta. Mason was the driver.
Winnie furrowed her eyebrows slightly and wanted to speak up, but she was interrupted by Greta’s apology.
A concerned expression was set on Greta’s face. “Neither of you got hit, right? I’m so sorry, Ms. Garland. This car’s brake isn’t in good condition, and the horn’s not working well. You two were also walking too fast, so much so that I almost crashed into you two. Thankfully, Mason moved quickly and stepped on the brakes even when there was still a huge distance between us and you two.”
“We’re fine, luckily.” Winnie frowned after listening to Greta’s explanation. “However, as great as your driving skill is, you shouldn’t be showing it off like this. It’s time for you two to buy a new car!”
“Definitely!” Greta chuckled. “Now that the people you wanted to save have been rescued, this means we’ve successfully completed the first mission you gave us, Ms. Garland. Since we’ve already received the remaining payment, it’s only a matter of time before we buy a new car.”
“Mhm.” Just as Winnie was about to ask them why they suddenly showed up and if it was because they had news to share, Xavier, who was standing behind her, spoke first.
Turning to her, he asked, “First mission? Isn’t rescuing Granny the only mission? What else did you ask them to do? You never mentioned this before.”
Winnie’s mouth dropped open. While she agreed that neither of them should hide or lie about anything to the other, she couldn’t fulfill that promise when it came to the mission Wilhem gave her.
She wasn’t authorized to disclose the mission to others without permission because it wasn’t just a random, common matter.
Even if Xavier knew nothing about it, he still wasn’t completely safe at their current location.
Should he learn the truth, he would be in grave danger. The more he knew, the more perilous his situation would become.
That was why Winnie betrayed her conscience and chose to lie. “I thought you were able to guess it by yourself. There’s another reason we’re here, and that’s to find Yulissa. With their additional help, our search will go much more smoothly, don’t you think?”
The reason she provided was sound and valid, so Xavier had no reason to suspect it was an excuse and believed her wholeheartedly.
He also explained, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t intentionally suspecting you earlier. I was just worried that you were making yet another dangerous decision by yourself behind my back.”
With a smile, Winnie assured, “There’s no way I’d do that.”
“Mhm. That’s great.”
It was then Greta realized she might’ve accidentally spilled the beans and exposed Winnie in front of Xavier.
After all, the mission they received wasn’t to find Yulissa.
Thus, she believed she should do something at that moment to redeem her image in her boss’ mind, like changing the topic.
When Greta’s train of thought ended there, she suddenly cleared her throat. “Oh yeah, Ms. Garland. Seeing that you were in such a hurry earlier, do you two have something urgent that you need to attend to? Do you need our help with it?”
Glancing at Greta, Winnie answered, “Your words reminded me that we still need to go to the hospital. This is my keycard. You two should head inside first and wait for me there.”
“Okay!” With a bright smile, Greta grabbed the keycard. “We’ll go and park our car first. See you in a bit!”
“Yeah,” Winnie replied before holding Xavier’s hand again and continuing their journey toward the hospital.
However, after they took a few steps forward, Winnie suddenly glanced back.
Greta’s eyes met with Winnie’s in that instant because the former’s line of sight still hadn’t moved away from the latter.
A very serious expression was visible on Winnie’s face when she looked at Greta. Silently, Winnie gestured for Greta to zip her mouth.
Greta subconsciously nodded and waited for Winnie to vanish from her sight completely before letting out a sigh of relief.
Then she turned to Mason. “Oh my god. You know, I’m pretty tough compared to a normal woman, but I didn’t expect to be stunned by a look from her. She’s really incredible!”
Mason frowned. “You’re talking a bit too much today. No, actually, you always become quite chatty when it comes to Ms. Garland. You aren’t planning to befriend her, are you? We’re mercenaries, Greta. The only thing we care about is money, not people. Once we accept a mission from our employer, we will have to execute it, even if it means we have to kill her.”
“I know that!” Her eyebrows furrowed intensely. “I just think she’s different from our previous employers.”
As she spoke, she stretched her hand and pushed up the sun visor inside the car.
Mason promptly shot a glance at her. “What are you doing? Does the sunlight not bother you?”
“Nope!” Greta narrowed her eyes. “I like the sun. I hope it can illuminate this entire dark, dirty place!”
Before Xavier and Winnie arrived at the ward, they could already see the bodyguard guarding the room at a distance.
When the bodyguard saw them, he immediately trotted toward them.
He halted his movements two steps away from the couple and informed sternly, “I’m sorry, Mr. Fairchild, Mrs. Fairchild. I couldn’t complete the task I was given. Additionally, because of my mistake, Mdm. Sumner was injured. Please punish me! I don’t mind if you both want to scold or hit me!”
Winnie furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Just from a glance, she could see the scratch marks on both sides of the bodyguard’s face. Scabs had already formed on those wounds. It was pretty obvious that those marks were caused by fingernails.
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