Silly Bride

Chapter 184

Rachel got bored a while after eating, so she asked to watch the television.As she had been exceptionally obedient, Winnie turned on the television for her.Rachel enjoyed every moment of the children’s cartoon.In fact, she was so immersed in the cartoon she did not even notice when Michael and Sebastian came out of the study.However, Winnie noticed them, and she also saw how anxious Michael was as if he had encountered some kind of trouble.Instantly, Winnie walked over and asked, “Did something happen, Mr. Zimmerman?”“It’s nothing important.” Michael sheepishly rubbed his hands. “It’s just that my aunt is here, and she’s already at the train station, waiting for me to pick her up. After picking her up, I have to send her to my cousin’s place. You know, I’m staying at my cousin’s place right now, so I have to help him out with some stuff. But it’ll take quite a while, and I honestly don’t feel comfortable taking Rach to the train station. It’s crowded there, and I’m scared of losing her there. The last time she was kidnapped, it was at the train station. So, I was wondering if you can help me watch over Rach for a while. Once I send my aunt to my cousin’s place, I’ll come and pick Rach up right away. Is that all right with you?”Sebastian was worried that Winnie might be too reserved to give Michael an answer because she was currently in the Xander residence, so he took the initiative to say, “That’s fine! You can go ahead and do what you need to do. Leave your kid with me. There’s no need to worry.”Winnie nodded as well. “I’ll keep an eye on Rach and won’t let her wander around.”“Oh my, thank you so much!” Michael nodded fervently. He then added, “The kid just needs television to watch. Look at her. She’s not even blinking, and she’s ignoring me.”Winnie smiled. “That’s how kids are.”After Michael left, Rachel continued watching cartoons for another half an hour.However, Michael had told Winnie before he left that Rachel needed to go for her afternoon nap, and it was almost about time.After a long while of convincing and a bout of Rachel’s tantrum, Rachel finally heeded her words and went to the guest room for her afternoon nap.To be honest, Winnie had a habit of napping in the afternoon too, but Sebastian did not. Thus, the woman decided to stay up and study with Sebastian.Yolanda had her own plans, so she stayed in the study with them as well.The three of them were busying away with their own matters when sounds came from the outside. It sounded likeNôvelDrama.Org © content.

someone was opening and closing the door.As it was quiet in the study, the sound seemed exceptionally loud.Sebastian halted in his explanation and asked, “Did someone come in?”“That’s impossible,” Yolanda firmly said. “I locked the door.”All of a sudden, the doorbell rang.Winnie glanced at her watch to check the time and realized what was going on. “It must be Xavier.”Sebastian nodded. “He’s rather punctual. Open the door for him, then.”When Winnie opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of Xavier and Josiah standing in a line.To fill the silence, Josiah said, “The neighbor opened his door when I came up here, so I thought you guys were there. I was ready to enter, but I ended up scaring the guy. He slammed the door in my face and nearly broke my glasses.”“Oh, so it was the neighbor.” Winnie invited them both into the house. “We heard the sound of a door opening and closing earlier, and we thought it was a thief.”“How can that be?” Josiah questioned, amused. “How can a thief break into this place in broad daylight?”After the three of them entered the house, Sebastian came out of the study with Yolanda.Xavier and Josiah then greeted Sebastian politely. After exchanging a few words with the two of them, Sebastian then said that he wanted to bring Xavier to the doctor’s office he had temporarily set up in the residence.Josiah checked his watch for the time before asking Sebastian with a smile, “Old Mr. Xander, I don’t think you need me around anymore, right? I have some things to attend to, so I won’t disturb you anymore.”“Go ahead to settle your matters, Dr. Houghton. I’ll be fine with Nini and Yolanda here.”“You’re too courteous, Old Mr. Xander. You can just call me Jo.” With that said, Josiah patted Xavier’s shoulder. “Call me once you’re done. I’ll give you both a ride on my way back.”Xavier beamed. “Brownie points for you.”Josiah rolled his eyes at Xavier. “Are you looking down on me? Why would I need brownie points from you?”The sight of Xavier messing around with Josiah made Sebastian laugh.“Mr. Fairchild, you seem to be in quite a good state. We’ll have to continue with your acupuncture sessions. I’m sure you’ll fully recover in no time.”With that said, they entered the doctor’s office.The moment they stepped into the room, Winnie caught a whiff of a strange fragrance.“What is this? Why is the scent so strong?”Sebastian explained, “This is a calming incense that I’ve made. It’s meant to calm the nerves, and it’ll help with Mr. Fairchild’s sleep.”“I see. Can ordinary people use it? I might want to bring some home to put it in the bedroom at night.”“If you want to put it in your bedroom, I’ll make another kind for you. This kind isn’t suitable for long hours.”“Thank

you, Master.”Winnie then asked Xavier to lie down on the bed while Sebastian went to get his acupuncture kit.By the time Xavier lay down, Sebastian had opened his acupuncture kit.Yolanda fixed her gaze on Sebastian when the elderly man was taking out the needles.When she realized that her grandfather had sensed nothing wrong, she let out an inward sigh of relief.However, just as Sebastian was about to insert the first needle, Xavier abruptly stopped him.“Wait!”Sebastian stopped in his tracks, and Winnie gave Xavier a confused look as well.Yolanda, on the other hand, snapped her brows together.There’s no way this outsider in the field of acupuncture actually noticed something wrong when Grandpa himself didn’t, right?Sebastian’s hand was hovering mid-air as he asked Xavier, “What’s the matter?”Xavier furrowed his brows. “There’s something under my head.”With that said, he began moving to sit upright.Winnie stopped him. “Don’t move. I’ll do it.”She then tilted Xavier’s head to the side and found a small pack of beads under the bedsheet.It was tiny.Winnie could not help but diss him, “Are you the princess in The Princess and The Pea? How are you so sensitive?”Sebastian chuckled. “It’s better to have found that earlier than later. It’ll be bad if it affects the accuracy of the acupuncture later.”Although Yolanda made no sound the entire time, she let out a sigh of relief after that.“Nini,” Sebastian began as he inserted the needles. “You’ll watch me first. The last three insertions won’t be that dangerous, so I’ll let you try them. I’ll also get to see how you are in practice.”“Okay, Master.” After replying to Sebastian, Winnie lowered her head to look at Xavier. “You have to trust me. I won’t poke at random spots on your body.”For once, he did not say anything that sounded like it came straight from a romance novel.Instead, a gentle look crept into his eyes as he gazed at Winnie. “Dumbo, don’t feel pressured.”“Aren’t you scared? What if I insert the needles in the wrong spots and fry your brain?”“I’m not scared.” Xavier’s tone was as determined as the look in his eyes. “My life is yours.”Winnie parted her lips. There were so many things she wanted to say, but there were too many people around her, and those words refused to leave her mouth. The truth was, he had long placed his life in her hands—when he had shielded her during the accident, and when he had shielded her from Yulissa’s toxin shots.She knew that he was not only just all talk; he was genuinely entrusting his life to her.That was why Winnie cherished his life even more.Hence, she would never let herself fail him later.With those thoughts in mind, a smile appeared on her face.“Close your eyes and take a nap.

Everything will be fine once you wake.”The acupuncture session went on, and Sebastian left the last three insertions to Winnie as he said he would.Winnie held her breath and trained her focus on what she was about to do. Recalling the doll head she had been practicing on countless times, she soon found the acupoints.Although Winnie was nervous during the insertions, she showed none of her anxiety. Her hands remained stable.Even Sebastian could not help but praise, “Very good. You’re performing much better than Yolanda and her brother. Back then, their hands were either trembling, or they were inserting the needles in the wrong spot.”Yolanda scoffed. “Keep praising her, then, Grandpa. I’m going out first.”“My dear, is it that tough to admit that someone else is better than you?”“Yes, it is!” Yolanda then stormed out of the room.Nevertheless, Sebastian tried to salvage his granddaughter’s reputation. “Nini, don’t take her words to heart. Yolanda’s just a little aloof and straightforward. She isn’t bad on the inside. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have forced herself to learn and research traditional medicine with me. She has had some achievements while studying herbs with me. Although she says she doesn’t like this, she’s been working hard all this time.”“I understand, Master.” Winnie nodded. “I don’t mean to challenge her either. I hope we’ll be able to communicate with each other peacefully from now on.”Sebastian knew that Winnie was quite the aggressive character in life, so he was glad to hear that she was willing to take a more passive approach in dealing with Yolanda.Thus, he became even more motivated to teach her. “Let’s go back to the study. I wasn’t done telling you about that part earlier.”When Winnie and Sebastian went back to the study, Yolanda was typing out her thesis on the laptop.The moment Sebastian entered the room, she called Sebastian over.The two of them chatted for a long time before Yolanda was done editing a section of her thesis. Then, the woman’s stomach began growling.When Sebastian heard it, he nagged, “I told you to eat more in the noon, but you didn’t want to. Now, you’re hungry, right?”“That restaurant’s food wasn’t that good; the taste was too strong, and I couldn’t eat more of it. You guys please carry on. I’ll be back to write my thesis after making some mac and cheese.”With that said, Yolanda left the study.Everything seemed normal, so Yolanda raised no suspicion at all.While it was true that Yolanda had gone out to make mac and cheese, she did not stay by the microwave. Instead, she went to the doctor’s office.The calming incense was still burning in the incense burner. The incense was meant to calm the nerves, and coupled with the fact that she had

secretly added some hypnotic incense as well, it would be nothing short of a miracle if Xavier was still awake.After tiptoeing into the doctor’s office, Yolanda took out a needle to insert it at Xavier’s philtrum.As she had coated the needle with anesthesia, Xavier did not completely regain consciousness.His eyes were half-lidded, and his conscience was blurry.It was the perfect state for him to be hypnotized.Nate had said that everyone in the world could forget about the woman named Yulissa, but Xavier must not.Therefore, Yolanda was going to try to wake Xavier’s memories of Yulissa.She did not have confidence that everything would turn out the way she wanted it to. After all, she had also coated the needles in the acupuncture kit with the drug that Nate had given to her. Now that those drugs were in Xavier’s mind, no one could say for sure what would happen to Xavier once he woke.It took Yolanda much effort to hold Xavier upright. Then, she took out a pocket watch and began hypnotizing him.Yolanda’s hypnotic tactics worked. Xavier uttered Yulissa’s name and the things that happened not long ago.At that, Yolanda could not help but gasp at the incredible effects of hypnosis and acupuncture combined.Merely hypnosis by itself would not have such wondrous effects, and that applied to acupuncture by itself as well.It was merely a coincidence that she had found out how both techniques provided magnificent results.Right as Yolanda was bubbling with joy over her discovery, a thumping sound echoed in the room as if something had collided with another thing.Although it was a soft noise, it seemed particularly loud in the quiet, enclosed room.Even Yolanda jumped from the noise, let alone Xavier, who was currently in a hypnotized state.Nevertheless, Yolanda did not have the time to find out where the noise came from.Her only concern was Xavier waking up. As her hypnosis had yet to end, if Xavier were to be woken up by other noises, all her efforts would be for naught.Alas, when she turned to look at him, she realized Xavier’s eyes were already half- opened.“D*mn it,” Yolanda cursed under her breath before starting the hypnosis all over again.However, just as she was about to succeed again, another noise echoed in the room.In fact, this time, someone even appeared from behind the couch.It was Rachel.She was rubbing her eyes, looking as if she had just woken up.“Xavier, Yolanda, where’s Daddy? Where’s my daddy?”“Shut up!” Yolanda snapped. Furious that her attempt at hypnosis had been interrupted again, she spun around to shoot Rachel a glare.That made Rachel upset, and she instantly frowned, about to cry.Worried that Rachel’s

cries would lure her grandfather and Winnie over, Yolanda swiftly consoled Rachel.Fortunately, it was easy to deal with Rachel, and she soon stopped crying.Nevertheless, she kept staring at Xavier.Xavier’s eyes were half-opened, and he was even staring at Rachel, who was standing not far away from him.To Yolanda’s dismay, Xavier spoke. Yolanda did not even prompt him to, but he opened his mouth and spoke of his own free will.He said, “Dumbo.”At that moment, Yolanda could barely hold herself back from slamming her own head against the wall.She could not stand how her flawless hypnosis had been destroyed mid-way.However, Yolanda was a smart woman, and the gears in her head began spinning once more.Right then, an idea popped into her head—the idea of pulling off an extremely challenging memory swap.If she could do that, she would be invincible in the field of hypnosis.Dumbo. Winnie used to be a mentally challenged person. Nate has also said that, even now, “Dumbo” is still Xavier’s term of endearment to Winnie. Rachel’s a “Dumbo” too. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if I can make Xavier’s memories of Winnie turn into memories of Rachel through hypnosis?With that thought in mind, Yolanda no longer stopped Xavier and Rachel from looking at each other.In fact, she even said, “Xavier, remember this. The woman in front of you is the Dumbo you yearn for. She’s your wife and the woman you love most.”“Dumbo…”“When you hear the sound of the moving clock hand, you will wake.”After making Xavier lie down again, Yolanda then walked to Rachel.She gave her pocket watch to Rachel and murmured, “Look at this.”Curious, Rachel took it and began studying it.It was then Yolanda stabbed a needle at an acupoint behind Rachel’s ear.Immediately, Rachel’s eyes rolled back, and she fell to the ground.Everything returned to normal once Rachel passed out as if nothing had happened earlier.However, some things did already happen.