Seeing that Winnie had kept the pocket knife away, he narrowed his eyes at the car and snorted.
“Looks like the coward, Xavier, is here. Great timing. You two can work together to harm me just like how you killed Yulissa!” he mocked.
Winnie frowned and fought back the urge to whip the pocket knife out again. “You’d better mind your words.”
“Ha!” Nate sneered. “What if I refuse to do as told? Are you going to teach me a lesson? I have to admit that you and Xavier are a match made in heaven. You say the same disgusting words!”
Winnie snorted in response. “Is this already disgusting for you? I suggest you take a thorough stomach checkup at the hospital. You might be ill and need to receive treatment as soon as possible.”
“Shut up! Stop acting all arrogant in front of me!” Nate had lost his knife, so he closed in on Winnie without hesitation.
Winnie didn’t even blink. “I want to talk to you calmly, but it seems that you’re not intending on doing so.”
Nate clenched his jaw furiously. “I only have one wish—to make you pay for what you did! I want you both to kneel before Yulissa’s grave and repent your sins! Don’t you worry. Before Xavier arrives, I won’t do anything to you. I want him to watch as his beloved woman gets tortured.”
“Are you sure you have what it takes?” Winnie’s patience was wearing thin.
She reached out and pressed the pocket knife to Nate’s neck.
“You can’t even handle me. Are you sure you want to wait until Xavier arrives? Actually, I prefer solving problems reasonably instead of resorting to violence. However, it seems that you won’t understand that I’m being nice unless I give you a beating. Compared to what you did to me, I’m being really nice to you right now.”
Before Winnie could finish, the car drove over to them and started honking at them urgently.
Winnie’s hand froze when she heard the honks.
She kept the pocket knife as something seemed off. This shouldn’t be Xavier’s car. He would never honk at me.
Both Nate and Winnie glanced at the black Bentley.
They saw the men in the front seats at the same time.
Winnie knitted her brows as she didn’t know who the men were.
Nate also frowned.
Both men clad in black suits opened the doors and got out of the Bentley.
The slightly older man then came toward Nate.
Before he spoke, he gave Nate a polite nod.
“Mr. Nate, Mrs. Fraser told us to give you a ride home,” he said respectfully.
Hearing that, Winnie glanced at Nate.
No wonder the man honked so loudly earlier. Turns out he works for the Fraser family. He was afraid I’d hurt their Mr. Nate.
Nate’s lips curved when he noticed Winnie looking at him.
He declared arrogantly, “I’m sorry for disappointing you, Winnie. Instead of Xavier, my men have come here.”
The Fraser family’s butler had seen Winnie holding Nate at knifepoint earlier, so he immediately stood in front of Nate in a protective manner.
In a low voice, he asked, “Mr. Nate, do you need me to call the police?”
“No need. We need to wait here for someone else. You can keep watch outside,” Nate ordered.
The butler protested, “But Mr. Nate, Mrs. Fraser says you have to head home now.”
“Are you deaf?” Nate snarled furiously. “I said, I need to wait for someone here! Tell Mom that I’ll go home on my own when I’m free.”
The butler refused to give in. “Mr. Nate, please don’t make things difficult for us. If you insist on waiting for Mr. Xavier here, we’ll have to bring you back by force.”
Nate narrowed his eyes in displeasure and questioned, “How do you know I’m waiting for Xavier? Who told you about it?”
“It was me who told the butler. What’s wrong with that?” Before the butler could reply, a petite woman hopped out of the backseat of the Bentley.
At the sight of the lady, Nate frowned and shifted uncomfortably. “Why are you here?”
“Why can’t I be here? You’re busy filming and often don’t come home for three to four months. Since you refuse to go home, can’t I come to visit you instead?” the woman snapped.
The petite woman was baby-faced but didn’t look that young. Winnie assumed she was in her thirties.
The woman stopped beside Nate and glanced at Winnie. Flashing a beatific smile, she asked, “You must be Winnie Garland, right? Ms. Garland, I’ve heard about you. You look prettier and more elegant in person.”
Winnie had no idea who she was, but it wasn’t nice to be rude to a polite person.
With a slight nod, Winnie replied, “Yes, I’m Winnie Garland. You must be Nate’s elder sister.”
She had made the assumption as they resembled each other.
Hearing her words, the petite lady burst into giggles.
Winnie frowned and added quickly, “It looks like I’ve assumed wrongly. I’m sorry.”
“No.” The lady beamed in delight. “Do I look that young? Do I look like his elder sister?”
Winnie shot her a brief nod and revealed, “You seem to be in your thirties, and you two resemble each other. That was how I came up with the assumption.”
The lady chuckled and replied, “Ms. Garland, everyone lavishes praises on you online, but you got things wrong today. I’m actually Nate’s mother. He doesn’t have an elder sister. He only has one elder brother.”
Winnie was at a loss for words.
“I’m also Xavier’s aunt. You are married to Xavier, so you should call me Aunt Beatrice, too. I’m almost fifty years old,” the lady added.
Winnie was rendered speechless. So this lady is Beatrice Fairchild?
Back when she read about the Fairchild family, there was a photo of Beatrice Fairchild at a young age. Thus, she didn’t manage to recognize Beatrice at first glance earlier.
Beatrice looked around thirty-five or six with her current skin condition and figure. Winnie had to admit that she made a wrong judgment today.
“Mom, she’s a scheming woman. Don’t be fooled by her flattering words!” Nate blurted out.
He grew alarmed when he realized his mother was chatting with Winnie happily.
“Even if she’s flattering me, she’s better than you, who don’t even come home twice in a year!” Beatrice glowered at Nate.
She then shot Winnie a smile. “Did you come here alone? Where is Xavier? Why isn’t he with you?”
Winnie was about to speak when Nate strode over to Beatrice.
“Mom, why do you know everything? Did Xavier tattle on me?”
“If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it. Look at what you did to Winnie. It has affected her reputation. How are you going to solve it? Five years ago, you got into a fight with Xavier for that woman. Are you going to repeat your actions?”
“Mom! Am I even your son? Why are you siding with him?”
“I side with anyone but Yulissa White. She isn’t a nice person. I won’t let you hold a grudge against Xavier because of her. If you don’t want to go home with me tonight, I shall keep you company until Xavier arrives. You can talk to him and clear things up,” Beatrice told him sternly.
“Ha! What else can they say?” Nate flung Beatrice’s hand away. “They will definitely push the blame onto Yulissa!”
“Shut up! Yulissa must’ve cast a spell on you or something. She’s dead but still has control over your mind, huh? Are you stupid?” Beatrice shot him a disappointed glare and stomped her feet. “It’s freezing out here. Open the door and let me in!”
Nate didn’t want his mother to freeze outside, so he opened the door to the mansion.
Xavier was still on the way, so Winnie wasn’t about to leave just yet.
As Nate was stubborn, she didn’t want to talk to him anymore and decided to let his mother try to change his mind for the time being.
With that thought in mind, she spun around and returned to her own car.
Seeing that, Beatrice grabbed her arm before she could leave.
“Winnie. Is it all right for me to call you that? Xavier isn’t here yet. Are you not going to wait for him? Come, let’s go in and have some piping hot tea,” she invited warmly.
Prior to this, Winnie had never interacted with Beatrice.
She didn’t know what Beatrice was like, or whether Beatrice was pretending to be friendly to her.
“No need. Thanks for the invitation, but I’ll wait in my car,” Winnie rejected her invitation coolly but politely.
However, Beatrice didn’t release her grip and insisted, “It’s stuffy in the car. We can talk inside.”
Winnie’s brows snapped together. “I don’t think we have anything to—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of car brakes screeching pierced the night sky.
Someone opened the car door and slammed it shut forcefully.
Then, a tall man emerged and pulled Winnie away from Beatrice. “Let her go!”
“Xavier!”
They spoke at the same time. Xavier wore an icy expression, while Beatrice was grinning.
“Aunt Beatrice? Why are you here?” It was dark, so Xavier didn’t notice that it was his aunt who was holding Winnie’s arm.
“I came here for Nate and decided to stay to wait for you. I didn’t know I’d run into your wife here. Winnie’s pretty and capable,” Beatrice gushed.
Xavier swept his gaze over both ladies and furrowed his brows. “Why do you both know I’m going to come here?”
Beatrice explained, “I came here to teach Nate a lesson. I didn’t know you’d be coming. Your grandpa told me you’d be here. He wanted to come personally, but he’s too old. I don’t want him to tire himself out.”
Xavier’s frown deepened. “How did Grandpa find out?”
“Well…” Beatrice knitted her brows slightly. “I was in a hurry to get here and forgot to ask him why.”
“Mr. Tanser was the one who told Grandpa Rufus. He wanted to call me, but my phone was switched off. So, he ended up calling Grandpa Rufus instead,” Winnie revealed, dispelling Xavier’s doubts.
Seeing that Xavier’s eyes were still red, she took his hands. “Are you all right? How are you feeling?”
On the way here, Xavier was twitchy and impatient. It felt like his body was about to burst into flames any minute.
Strangely, his body temperature decreased the moment he saw Winnie.
“I’m fine,” he assured her.
As Winnie was only wearing a thin shirt outside her pajamas, Xavier flung his arm around her shoulder immediately.
“Is it cold? Come, let’s go home,” he urged.
“Huh?” Beatrice was confused.
Even Nate, who was halfway into the mansion, widened his eyes incredulously and whipped his head around to stare at Xavier.
Beatrice thought about the situation and considered her words. “Uh, since we’re all here, don’t you want to clear things up? Did you forget about Yulissa?” she asked carefully.
Xavier would’ve forgotten about that if she hadn’t reminded him.
“Oh, yes. About that.” Xavier frowned and lowered his head to ask, “Winnie, do you want to stay here? Or do you want me to bring you home?”
“We need to resolve the misunderstanding, so let’s do it today.” Winnie didn’t want to waste time traveling to Nate’s mansion another time.
“Sure.” Xavier patted her cheek adoringly. “Whatever you say.”
The mansion’s living room was a complete mess.
A destroyed laptop was tossed in the corner, and there was a gaping hole on the television’s screen. Everything on the coffee table had been flung to the ground.
Seeing the mess, Beatrice scrunched her brows and demanded, “Nate, why did you create a mess in your house?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll ask someone to clear it away later,” Nate responded curtly.
He didn’t elaborate, but Winnie knew he must’ve vented his anger by throwing the stuff around when he saw her humiliate him through the live broadcast earlier.
“What a mess. I’ll ask the butler to clear them away.” Beatrice couldn’t stand the sight and summoned the butler, who was standing guard outside, to enter the mansion.
For some reason, Nate felt strange.
I provoked Xavier so he would come here. I wanted to teach him a lesson for being a heartless scoundrel. However, it was Winnie who showed up first. Next, Mom showed up. Everyone has now gathered to watch the butler clean up the mess I created earlier. This is ridiculous. What the f*ck is going on?
“Enough.” Nate hastily stopped the butler, who was about to dismantle the huge television from the wall to bring it out of the mansion. “Leave it there. Don’t touch it,” he added.
“Forget it, then.” Beatrice dismissed the butler with a wave. “Just clean the mess near the couch.”
“Mom, what are you doing? I’ll ask someone to clean up tomorrow morning. You don’t have to do this,” Nate grumbled unhappily.
“That won’t do. I’m going to hold a family meeting now. We can’t let your granddad see your living room in a mess.”
Having said that, Beatrice took the tablet the butler offered her and gave Rufus a video call.
Nate gaped in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Winnie was left speechless. Wow, she’s amazing.
Xavier was his usual quiet and indifferent self. When can we go? I want to hug Dumbo in our soft bed.
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