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The car behind fired a few shots at them and ceased firing, seemingly not planning to continue with the
pursuit.
Winnie and the others inside the vehicle could finally relax a little because of that.
Upon lowering her guard, she shifted her focus from the scenes outside the window to the happenings
inside the car.
She noticed that Jacinta wasn’t doing well after scanning the interior of the car.
“Granny, Granny, are you all right?” Winnie called out to Jacinta gently. “Are you feeling distress
because of what happened just now?”
Jacinta appeared to be in a daze, as she did not respond even after a few seconds.
Winnie couldn’t help but frown at that sight.
However, just as she was about to reach out and caress Jacinta, the latter suddenly sat upright with an
exaggerated movement. Jacinta seemed to be acting slightly unusual.
She bored her eyes into Xavier, pointed at his nose, and shouted, “It’s you! You killed Zyon! You’re the
murderer!”
Xavier had been absorbed in his own thoughts, but when Jacinta began scolding him, he immediately
furrowed his brows in response.
He had wanted to tell her that she fired the shot first, but he suppressed his resentment and grievances
when he thought of Winnie because he didn’t want Winnie to be caught in a tight spot between having
to side with him or Jacinta.
He simply grunted in agreement and uttered in a relatively tender voice, “That’s right, Granny. I
eliminated Zyon. This has nothing to do with you, so you don’t have to feel burdened. We’ll be safe
soon. Once we return to Avenport, you can forget everything that happened here and lead a normal life
as before.”
Xavier maintained a well-mannered attitude when he comforted Jacinta. He also expressed Winnie’s
thoughts in the final part of his speech. Even Winnie did not expect him to be so considerate.
The only reason that prompted him to be so thoughtful was that he treated the people who were
significant to Winnie the way he would treat her.
Winnie understood his rationale, so she remained silent and grasped his hand because she knew that
a tacit response meant more than a million words at instances like that.
Xavier knew her intention. He was glad that she could understand his gesture through his simple few
sentences, and he enjoyed the mutual affection they had for one another.
When he looked at her, he could not help but curl his lips into a contented smile.
Regardless of how filthy, chaotic, and dangerous the place was, to be able to sense the other party’s
appreciation and sentiment as they held each other’s gaze was already considered a blessing to them.
Unfortunately, Jacinta was not a fan of watching their intimate interaction. She hated Xavier and utterly
loathed his guts.
Jacinta was aware that she had been unreasonable when she had pointed at Xavier and accused him
of being a murderer.
At that moment, she did not mind behaving unreasonably again. She yanked Winnie’s arm away from
him and ensured Winnie was entirely focused on her.
Throughout the journey, whenever Winnie showed the inclination to chat with Xavier, Jacinta would
immediately find an excuse to attract Winnie’s attention.
Jacinta did not try to hide her deliberate interruptions, so everyone in the car could grasp her intention,
not to mention Xavier and Winnie.
Winnie had no choice but to endure for two reasons: First, she suspected that Jacinta was emotionally
unstable after the latter shot someone to death. Second, she did not feel it was appropriate for her to
reason with Jacinta in front of everyone else in the vehicle, as that would cause the latter to feel
embarrassed.
Winnie could only rein in her temper throughout the ride.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtUltimately, she decided to shut her eyes and get some rest to avoid looking at anyone.
Jacinta stopped stirring a ruckus as long as Winnie did not pay Xavier any attention.
Suddenly, pin-drop silence filled the air in the car.
The absence of sound lasted until their vehicle was forced to come to a halt.
Mason, who was driving the car, slammed his foot against the brake pedal at once. “Ms. Garland,
someone is blocking the road ahead. All of you get down. The rest of you prepare yourselves.”
“Understood!” Mason’s subordinates replied simultaneously.
Winnie had opened her eyes the moment Mason hit the brakes. She craned her neck a little to peek
ahead. When she did that, the car blocking the road in front of them suddenly honked.
The next moment, a man wearing a face mask and baseball cap poked his head out of the car window.
Winnie narrowed her eyes and swiftly recognized that person.
“Don’t worry. He’s one of us,” she announced to everyone inside the car, then whispered something
next to Xavier’s ear.
Xavier knitted his brows after listening to her, but he still opened the car door for her chivalrously.
Seeing that Winnie and Xavier were about to get out of the car together, Jacinta quickly grabbed
Winnie’s arm and uttered anxiously, “Where are you going, Winnie?”
Winnie hurriedly consoled her, “I’m going down to take a look. It’ll be fine. That person is one of us. I’ll
be right back. There won’t be any danger.”
“Okay.” Only then did Jacinta let go of Winnie’s arm. “Be careful, then.”
Winnie nodded. “I will.”
With that, she hopped out of the car with Xavier trailing closely behind her.
However, instead of moving forward, he stood beside the car and waited for her while helping her keep
an eye on the surroundings.
Winnie strode toward the car in front of her.
Before she even reached the vehicle, the door to the passenger seat was pushed open by someone
inside the car, hinting at her to be their guest.
Quickly, she got into the car.
“Captain Bennett, what are you doing here at this hour? Isn’t it risky for you to do this?” Winnie asked
Christopher, who was sitting in the driver’s seat.
Even though he was wearing a face mask at that moment, she could still sense the faint hint of a smile
dancing in his eyes.
“It is a little inconvenient for me. That’s why I’m dressed like this. Although Zyon was not a significant
figure, Harold will not let you all off the hook so easily after you killed so many of their members. I’m
here to escort you all. All of you must leave Lightspring at once.”
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. We should indeed leave this place after pulling off the rescue mission, but
Rachel is very sick. We need to send her to a hospital now. Otherwise, I’m not sure how long she can
survive.”
“All right,” Christopher assented. “I’ll bring you all to the hospital now. You two follow my car while those
mercenaries you hired should go on their separate way so as to not attract attention with our large
numbers. I received news about Zyon’s fate earlier. Thank you for helping me to eliminate this huge
trouble. Otherwise, the years of hard work by the organization would have gone down the drain.”
“I’m glad that your effort is not wasted.” At the mention of Zyon, Winnie recalled Jacinta’s frightened
appearance earlier. She frowned slightly and changed the topic of their conversation. “I’ll go and call
them over. You should move your car. You’ve really scared us just now.”
Christopher chuckled. “Do you get scared so easily? I doubt that.”
Winnie grinned at him in silence and got out of the car.
Rachel was swiftly transferred to Christopher’s car. After Winnie informed Mason of a few important
matters, she got into Christopher’s car too.
Christopher drove the car at high speed the entire way. Before long, they arrived in a different city, and
the vehicle eventually stopped in front of a hospital.
The hospital seemed to be relatively huge, but the larger the hospital they visited, the more worried
Winnie felt. “Isn’t this hospital too conspicuous? Will Harold’s men track us down here?”
Christopher replied confidently, “They won’t. This is General Kane’s territory. This place is different from
the shambolic Lightspring. Harold wouldn’t dare to pursue you all the way here.”
“Okay. I can rest assured if you say that,” Winnie said while supporting Rachel. “You should hurry up
and leave. We can handle the rest.”
Christopher grunted. Then he pondered briefly before saying to Xavier, “Keep her safe.”
Xavier was momentarily stunned. With a frown, he said, “I know that without needing you to remind
me.”
That should have marked the end of the conversation, but Jacinta suddenly leaned forward and
suggested, “Captain Bennett, can you stay here to protect Winnie? This place is too dangerous. I can
only feel at ease if you’re here to keep her safe.”
Xavier was rendered speechless, and his expression darkened at once.
A frown marred Winnie’s forehead as well as she said, “Granny, what are you saying? I don’t need
Captain Bennett’s protection. Besides, he has other important matters to attend to. I’ll go back with all
of you right after I bring Rachel to see the doctor.”
With that, Winnie gestured to Xavier for him to handle Rachel while she went to help Jacinta get out of
the car.
After that, all of them entered the hospital. Rachel’s condition was severe, so she was admitted straight
to the intensive care unit.
Winnie’s head ached because of the turns of events. Under such circumstances, Rachel would not be
fit to be transferred out or travel long distances. The only thing they could do at that moment was to
remain in the local hospital for Rachel to receive medical treatment.
They had no choice but to wait for her condition to improve and for her to be transferred back to the
regular ward before they could arrange for Rachel to return to the country.
Seeing that Winnie was worried about Rachel, Xavier could not help but step forward to comfort her,
“She will get better. Worse come to worst, we’ll stay here for a few more days and send Granny back to
the country first.”
“Yeah. There isn’t a better way for now.” Winnie pinched the space between her brows. “Actually, I’m
also a little concerned about Granny’s condition. She’s been acting weird on our way here.”
“Indeed.” Xavier had noticed Jacinta’s unusual behavior too.
Something about her felt off the moment she suddenly fired a shot at Zyon. Judging by her demeanor
at that time, I think her killing intent was not motivated by anger or hatred. It seemed more likely to me
that she was trying to shut Zyon up. After all, dead men tell no tale. Does that mean…
Xavier ruminated briefly before asking Winnie, “What do you think of the things Zyon mentioned before
his death?”
“What thing?” Winnie looked up at him. “Are you referring to Zyon claiming himself to be Granny’s
grandson?” She furrowed her brows. “That’s impossible. I’ve checked his chest, but there wasn’t any
birthmark as described by Granny.”
“Then could it be that Granny remembered wrongly? After all, this is a matter from so many years ago.
Besides, based on the current situation, it seems that Granny can be very emotional under certain
circumstances, so there could be a possibility for her to misremember an important matter or be
confused.”
“No way…” The frown on Winnie’s face deepened. “Is there still any doubt about Zyon being your
Uncle Stuart’s trueborn son?”
“If you put it that way…” Xavier paused for a few seconds. “Indeed, there isn’t any doubt. Zyon is
definitely my Uncle Stuart’s biological son.”
“Okay. Now is not the time to discuss this issue. Since we’re at a hospital, I should just let a doctor
examine Granny’s condition and prescribe her some anxiolytics.”
Xavier found a hotel nearby the hospital.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWinnie and Jacinta stayed in the same room, while Xavier occupied a separate room by himself.
At night, after taking her medicine, Jacinta went to lie on the bed.
Winnie waited for Jacinta to fall asleep before going to the next room to find Xavier because she had to
discuss matters related to their return to the country with him.
Unexpectedly, the electricity supply in the room was disrupted halfway through their conversation.
Xavier opened the window and looked out. He realized theirs was not the only room affected by the
blackout. Apparently, the whole hotel and the buildings opposite the hotel experienced a power failure.
The only facility that remained lit was the nearby hospital.
Winnie immediately called the front desk to enquire about the situation.
Only then was she informed that power outage was very common in that area, and if they needed
illumination, they could light the candles available in each room.
The receptionist was telling the truth because right after Winnie entered the room, she noticed candles
and lighters placed in every prominent corner of the room.
She had been under the assumption that the candles were to set the mood inside the room. Little did
she expect they were allocated for lighting purposes.
After hanging up the call, she took out her phone to switch on the torchlight function of her device.
However, her phone was damaged during the day when the car exploded. The device could still be
used for communication purposes, but the flashlight function was impaired.
At that sight, Xavier placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Sit here. Let me handle it.”
Soon, all the candles inside the room were lit, and the room was bright again.
Meanwhile, Jacinta, inside the room next door, had also lighted the candles.
She had drifted off after taking her medicine, but her nightmare had haunted her slumber.
She dreamed of Zyon, covered in blood, seeking her out to claim her life. She ran for her life, but no
matter how hard she tried to escape, she could not move an inch forward as she continued to run in
place.
By the time she woke up with a jolt, her body was drenched in sweat.
The pitch-black surroundings following the blackout instilled fear in her heart, prompting her to get off
the bed and stumbled in the dark to illuminate the candles.
Staring at the flickering candlelight, she involuntarily took a walk down the memory lane.
Back then, Jacinta was still living in a small mountain village very far away from Avenport.
She was young and at the peak of her beauty. Her appearance was the most outstanding among all the
women from that region, causing her to garner a widespread reputation among the communities.
Her admirers and suitors constantly flocked to her house to ask for her hand in marriage. Initially, there
was a boy she fancied, but her materialistic parents disdained him because he was poor.
Jacinta’s parents knew her beauty was an asset, so they were determined to marry her to a wealthy
family.
Coincidentally, a private plane crashed in the mountainous area at that time.
To the members of the Sumner family then, owning a private plane was equivalent to sitting on top of
vast amounts of fortune.
The person who piloted the private aircraft was none other than Rufus.
Back then, he was still a young, handsome man. He was dressed in expensive clothes and wearing
extravagant accessories.
Jacinta’s parents knew he came from an affluent family at first glance, so they brought him home and
took great care of him. In the end, they even forced Rufus to marry Jacinta.
However, Rufus refused. He confessed he already had a family back home and told Jacinta’s parents
he would be willing to compensate them with a large amount of money.
Her father and mother were tempted to accept the offer, but they had grander ambitions. They
considered how loaded Rufus must be to offer them the handsome amount of cash. If Jacinta became
his wife and had his children, the Sumner family could live a comfortable life for generations in the
future.
As such, Jacinta’s parents used an underhanded method to drug Rufus and let him sleep with their
daughter.
After that, Jacinta became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby boy ten months later.
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