The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

What the hell? So this is what goes through Xavier's mind? This is why he kept Yulissa by his side but refused to interact with her? Is this also why he has been looking for "Dumbo?" So all those times when I was pretending to be stupid as well as intentionally kissed, hugged, and teased him, he was wondering if he was a pervert when I got a reaction out of him? Dang. Well, I can't say his current performance didn't change how I look at how he acted in the past. This actually reignited my interest in him. After all, he is pretty interesting while acting like this. I wanted something sexual out of our relationship, yet he truly wanted love from me. Not only that, he earnestly desired my love when I was acting like an idiot! I have to say, this is kind of funny, but it also makes me feel a little guilty. He said he was afraid he would lose control and hurt me. Yet, in reality, every time he lost control, it was because I was intentionally making it happen. Most of the time, I wanted him to lose control. Sometimes, I wished he would go further, but he ended up being the one holding himself back. At that moment, Winnie had an impulsive desire to tear away her makeup, walk up to him, and make fun of him.

However, she managed to resist that temptation because her appearance was a little too embarrassing at the moment.

The conversation on the deck continued.

The woman said, "It's rare that a successful person like you truly loves a mentally disabled woman like your wife. She's lucky to have married you."

A brief silence ensued before Xavier spoke again. "If I can find her this time, I promise I'll make her lucky for the rest of her life."

Winnie, who was still listening to the conversation, felt a little speechless after that. Is luck something people can give to each other? Still, I'm starting to look forward to what he'll do.

A little over five in the morning, the sun emerged from the horizon where the sea seemingly touched the sky.

It was then she was woken up by the sunlight and the sounds made by the ship docking.

By the time Winnie finished grooming herself and walked out of the cabin, Xavier and the others had already descended from the ship.

So, she ambled behind them with the lady owner of the boat.

When she was still on the ship, she borrowed a piece of cloth to cover her face. The waves and winds were strong on the sea. Therefore, it was usual for the locals to dress up like that when they went out to sea. As such, her appearance wouldn't attract any attention.

As they walked, the lady owner of the boat asked, "Are you together with them? I noticed you and the others didn't talk to each other at all."

"That's right," Winnie replied plainly. "I didn't know them before. We only got on the same boat because of... reasons."

"I knew you lot didn't look like you were familiar with each other. By the way, there's only one trip from the island to the mainland every week. Since the ship will be arriving this morning, do you want to leave with it?"

"Is that so? What a coincidence." Winnie went along. "In that case, can I change my clothes at your place first? Then I'll give my family a call to tell them I'm safe."

"Sure. I'll take you to my home right away. Those people will want to dry their clothes, too."

Just like that, Winnie followed the lady owner of the boat back home.

However, she didn't plan to leave immediately.

That was because she also wanted to take a look at the mentally challenged woman who seemed to have been kidnapped and sold to the island.

While she was no different compared to an average person at that moment, the fever she had when she was a kid really did deal tremendous damage to her intelligence.

It was thanks to her persistent training and development afterward that she became who she was today.

Without the luck she had back then, she would still be a mentally challenged person.

Perhaps she would've ended up being sold somewhere remote as a sex toy used by social outcasts, like the mentally challenged woman on the island.

Winnie pitied the disabled woman, so she was going to stay on the island and help her out if that woman really existed.

After borrowing the lady owner's phone to log in to her WhatsApp, she transferred money to the woman as a token of gratitude.

Upon changing into the lady owner's clothing, she asked for the Briggs family's address before leaving silently.

The Briggs family seemed to have been the family that bought the mentally disabled woman as a wife.

Concurrently, Xavier was treating his leg injury.

After what happened last night, his reconnected leg bones were dislocated again. So, taking care of that required quite a lot of time.

When that was done, he was ready to head to the Briggs residence. Only then did he realize Winnie was gone.

So, he turned to the lady owner of the boat and asked, "Where's the woman who was with us earlier? Where did she go?"

"Oh, she left," the lady owner

explained. "She said she wasn't familiar with you lot, so she didn't come to say bye. That reminds me. There's only one trip back to the mainland every week, and the ship's coming today. So, she went there early to wait for its arrival

Xavier frowned. "What time is it coming?"

"That's hard to tell. However, no matter what time it is, the ship will usually wait until after ten before leaving."

"We got more than three hours left, then. Let's head to the Briggs residence first."

Just as he was setting off, Winnie was already in trouble.

Half an hour ago, when she tried to sneak into the Briggs residence's backyard, she came across two suspicious men.

She had no idea what those men were doing there, and she definitely didn't want to alert the Briggs family, so she hid in a dark corner silently.

At first, she thought they were just petty thieves. However, after they went in, they started beating people up.

Not only that, they dragged a woman out of the building after a while.

At first, the woman tried shouting. However, her mouth was soon covered by the men before she was dragged out of the backyard by them clumsily.

Winnie had no idea what had

happened to the person who was

knocked out in the building. No

sounds were heard from the inside.

Even after the woman was dragged away, no one came out to chase after her. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

For a moment, Winnie was confused about what was going on. However, she had a feeling the woman who was kidnapped was the mentally disabled woman the Briggs family bought.

Thus, she kept her silence and followed the two men.

After bringing the woman along with them, the men's speed naturally decreased.

Just as Winnie was about to catch up to them, her clothing was accidentally ripped apart by a tree branch when she was running.

In an instant, her clothes were torn in half, causing her to go almost stark naked.

When she was done dealing with her clothing crisis, the men had already left quite far away from her.

However, she didn't give up because of that and kept on running.

Just as she was taking a turn, she was ambushed.

A stick headed straight for her head.