The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not? novel Chapter 49

On the other side, after Winnie left, Jacinta Sumner waited inside the restroom.

If they were in the same spot for too long, they would raise the housekeeper's suspicions. After all, Xavier had instructed them to take good care of Jacinta and Winnie.

When the housekeeper came to ask her about it, Jacinta had no choice but to say what Winnie had told her earlier—that Winnie had gone missing because she went to play.

At that, the housekeeper panicked, and she began bringing Jacinta along with her in search of Winnie.

Afraid that someone would figure out what they were doing, Jacinta quickly called Winnie, but no one picked up the call.

Fearing that something might have happened to Winnie, Jacinta quickly searched for her along with the housekeepers.

In the end, they really managed to discover Winnie's tracks, for many of the housekeepers said that they had seen Winnie and even talked to her.

Thus, Jacinta asked where Winnie's last destination was.

One of the housekeepers told her that Winnie went to look for Lagune Mansion's driver, saying that she was tired and wanted to go home.

At that, Jacinta went to the parking lot and found that, indeed, all signs pointed to Winnie leaving with the driver.

Everything seemed so rational, and nothing appeared out of the sort. Everyone thought that a mentally challenged woman just wanted to go home to sleep and forgot about her grandmother.

However, Jacinta was the only one who knew that her granddaughter was not mentally challenged; Winnie would not leave the elderly woman alone and return home by herself.

Moreover, they had yet to find the youth with a birthmark on their chest. How could her granddaughter simply leave like this?

Left without a choice, Jacinta went to Louis, hoping to get him to verify the matter with Lagune Mansion's driver.

Louis was surprised to see Jacinta. “Mdm. Sumner, didn't you leave with Mrs. Fairchild?”

The “Mrs. Fairchild” that Louis mentioned was none other than Winnie.

Jacinta was surprised too. “You know Winnie's gone?”

“The driver did call and say that Mrs. Fairchild was tired and wanted to go home a while ago.”

“Are you sure that Winnie's the one that the driver saw? I can't get Winnie to pick up my calls.”

“I think so. I'm sure the driver won't mistake someone else as her.” Louis furrowed her brows. “But I didn't ask many questions because I handed the phone to my CEO.”

“Where is your CEO, then? What about this? Make a call to the driver. I want to make sure that everything's fine.”

“Okay.” Just as Louis said that, Xavier appeared.

“What happened?” Xavier asked.

Louis immediately explained the matter to him.

Xavier frowned after hearing it.

Indeed, not long ago, the driver called to ask for his instructions, but just as Louis handed him the phone, Benjamin Fairchild came.

Xavier did not make Benjamin wait for long, and he did not want Benjamin to get the chance to lay a finger on Winnie because of his worries about her.

Therefore, he simply agreed with the driver. In fact, he did not even know that Jacinta had not been by Winnie's side at that time.

“Call the driver right away,” Xavier ordered Louis.

“Okay.”

However, just as Louis found the driver's number, the driver called.

Before Louis could come back to his senses, Xavier took the phone from him.

“Hello? This is Xavier Fairchild. Get Winnie to answer the call.”

The driver never thought that the one who picked up the call would be Xavier. Instantly, he began stammering, “M-Mr. Xavier...”

“Speak!”

“M-Mrs. Fairchild, she's gone!”

“What?” Xavier knitted his brows. “What do you mean by she's gone?”

However, despite his restless search for three whole days and nights, he found no traces of her.

It was as if Winnie had vanished into thin air that night.

Their fruitless efforts lasted until the police station came to them with tragic news. Apparently, they had found the body of a woman in the septic tank of a dairy farm ten kilometers away from where Winnie disappeared.

Upon hearing that, Xavier, Jacinta, and the others rushed to the police station.

As the body was found in a high-temperature septic tank, the level of decomposition of the body no longer allowed them to recognize who the dead woman was.

However, they had fished out a phone along with the body, and that phone belonged to Winnie.

It had been three whole days since Xavier caught a wink, and he had not eaten nor drunk during that time either. Despite how healthy he usually was, the shock hit him so hard that he collapsed.

“Mr. Xavier! Mr. Xavier, what's wrong?”

“He's mentally and physically exhausted. Hurry up and send him to the hospital for an intravenous glucose infusion!”

Jacinta could not hear anything the people around her were saying.

It had been four days since her granddaughter disappeared, and in the end, the police brought her to a corpse.

“Winnie... Winnie! Oh, my Winnie! How did things turn out this way? What happened?”

Everyone was too absorbed in taking care of Xavier, so no one noticed Jacinta breaking down.

Jacinta fell onto the floor and began bawling. All of a sudden, her phone rang.

It was from an unfamiliar number, and she did not want to pick it up. Nevertheless, she accidentally accepted it.

Then, she heard a familiar voice.

The elderly woman's eyes lit up, and she quickly placed the phone by her ear.

“Winnie? You're Winnie!”