The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

Both Xavier and Yulissa were carried into the car.

Josiah's only focus was to rescue Xavier. Hence, the former inevitably ignored Yulissa.

However, instead of remaining idle, Winnie examined Yulissa.

She suspected Yulissa was faking it in the "kidnapping game."

The fact that Yulissa's finger was cut off was true. Regardless, after careful examination, Winnie realized the former had no marks on her wrist that indicated she was tied up.

If she wasn't tied up, or perhaps she was just tied loosely for the act, then it explains the events after that.

When Xavier held Winnie hostage with the fake bomb, both of them never moved from the window.

As for the six kidnappers, they were gathered by the door, too busy trying to kick the door open to escape. Thus, none of them would have had the chance to attack.

Despite that, what happened next was rather bizarre. A smoke bomb appeared in the cabin out of nowhere.

However, neither Winnie nor Xavier were the ones who threw it. The six kidnappers were out of the question as well. Yulissa was the only person who could do it.

She released the smoke bomb to detain the kidnappers and Xavier. Just as Winnie was thinking of the reason for Yulissa's actions, the former suddenly recalled the conversation Yulissa and Zyon had on the mountain the other night.

Zyon ordered Yulissa to inject something into Xavier's body. Besides, Christopher's men found a used syringe in the cabin. That means...Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

Noticing something was odd about Xavier, Josiah quickly asked Winnie, "Paulina, something's wrong with Xavier's pupils. What exactly happened on the wreck? And what did the kidnappers do to him? You'd better tell me everything without missing a single detail."

At that time, Winnie had roughly understood the entire situation. She also had a rough guess of what Xavier went through when she escaped from the cabin.

Without saying much, she simply rolled out Xavier's sleeves to reveal his arm.

"What do you see, Dr. Houghton?" she inquired.

"An injection mark?" As a doctor, Josiah was extremely sensitive toward tiny details like that. In fact, he spotted it instantly.

At the same time, he panicked at the sight of the mark. "What did they inject into Xavier's body?"

"I'm not sure about that, but..." Winnie's voice trailed as she eyed Yulissa. "Maybe you can try asking Ms. White about it. I got out just in time when the kidnappers released a smoke bomb. Ms. White was with Mr. Fairchild during that time."

If Yulissa could inject something into Xavier's arm when he's unconscious, that means she never fainted during that time. That also means she's currently faking it.

Josiah, however, frowned. "We don't even know when she will wake up."

With that, he said to the driver, "Can you speed up? We need to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

Winnie glanced at Yulissa and said to Josiah, "I don't think it'll take long. I saw her fingers move a little just now. I think she'll wake up soon."

Winnie then lowered her head and called out softly into Yulissa's ear, "Wake up, Ms. White. You're still conscious, aren't you?”

Winnie's warm breath tickled Yulissa's ears, causing the latter's eyelid to move a little. Yet, Yulissa continued faking unconsciousness.

Seeing that, Winnie twitched her lips and continued whispering into Yulissa's ears, "It's time to wake up, Ms. White. Guess what? The leader of the kidnappers admitted everything just now. He said this was all planned by you."

Yulissa's eyelids moved a little, but she still did not wake up.

Very well. Winnie straightened herself. She was curious to find out how long Yulissa could keep up with the act.

Winnie then turned to Josiah. "By the way, could Mr. Fairchild be injected with a kind of drug? I think you should examine Ms. White as well. Who knows? She could've been injected, too."

As Winnie was saying that, she leaned over to roll up Yulissa's sleeves.

Finally, Yulissa's eyes flew open.

The injection marks on her arm were marks that had accumulated over the years. She would not be able to explain herself if Josiah discovered it and wanted to take her to the hospital to examine her body.

After opening her eyes, she asked weakly, "Where... Where am I?"

Winnie merely smiled and said nothing.

Josiah explained, "Yulissa, you were rescued. We're on the way to the hospital now."

"What about Xavier? How is he now?" Yulissa struggled to sit up and pretended to wince in pain as if she had accidentally touched her wound. "Ouch. My hand hurts. I-Is Xavier okay?" "Not really. He needs to be sent to the hospital right away. You should take care of your wound."

Tears streamed from Yulissa's eyes,

and she threw herself onto Xavier. "How could this happen? What did those kidnappers do to him? Oh, Xavier I'm so sorry. You had to go through all this because of me. I'm so sorry."

Winnie was baffled, feeling utterly disgusted by the scene before her. Her acting skills are amazing. It's a waste for her not to be a part of the entertainment industry.

After arriving at the hospital for some time, Xavier showed no signs of consciousness, even after the IV drip had been refilled twice.

Winnie was getting impatient. Thus, she got up and went to Josiah's office.

Josiah was arranging the reports at that time. He frowned when he saw her entering his office. "What is it?"

Winnie went straight to the point. "When is he going to wake up? Can you give me a specific time?"

Josiah adjusted his glasses. "A specific time? Excuse me, miss. Don't you think you should give me an explanation first?" "What do you want to know?"

Instead of answering her question, Josiah fixed his eyes on her and pushed a button on his phone. "Let her come in." Not long after, a knock sounded on Josiah's office door.

"Come in," Josiah responded briefly. He then reached out and removed Winnie's mask.

At the same time, the other person entered the room.

Suddenly, there were two similar-looking women in the office.

One of them was the real Paulina, while the other was Winnie, who was imitating the former.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Houghton. I was blinded by money," Paulina said awkwardly.

"We'll talk about you later." With that, Josiah shifted his gaze to Winnie. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Winnie put the mask back on and said calmly, Everything is as you've seen. I have nothing to explain. Besides, Xavier knows about it, too. He knows my objective in doing so. Xavier and I have an incomplete deal. I just need to speak to him when he's conscious. That's all."

The moment she finished speaking, her phone rang.

She answered it and exited the office. "Hello. It's me. Any updates from your side?"

The caller had only uttered a sentence when Winnie's brows knitted into a frown.