The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

"So, you're saying the head of the kidnappers is dead? He jumped into the river and drowned himself?" Winnie asked.

She could not believe her ears. How can someone like that become a kidnapper?

"Yes. The cold water caused his muscles to cramp. In the end, he couldn't move and drowned to death," Christopher explained.

When Winnie heard his sullen tone, she guessed the investigation was not going well.

She gave it some thought before asking, "What's wrong? Are you guys unable to find anything now that the leader is dead?"

"Exactly. The others know nothing. They didn't even know there were drugs hidden on the ship.

Winnie frowned. "Then, Yulissa will never admit to it, either. Does that mean your team's ambush is in vain?"

"She didn't admit it, but our efforts aren't in vain. At least we managed to seize two hundred and fifty grams of a new venom. This is partially thanks to you," said Christopher with a smile.

Winnie's lips curled into a subtle smile. "Oh, well. I can't help being a helpful citizen. What about the kidnapping case? How's the investigation going? Are they really ordinary kidnappers? Did they really kidnap Yulissa?"

Christopher paused momentarily before saying, "Theoretically, kidnapping cases like this aren't in my department's jurisdiction. I can't reveal such information to you, either. After all—"

Winnie smiled and cut him off, "If that's the case, let's not go by theory. After all, Yulissa's your department's main target, and I'm your informant. How am I supposed to continue carrying out my task if you don't give me any clues, Captain Bennett?"

"You're right. Then again, it's not convenient to talk about it over the phone. Let's meet up. Have you eaten? Perhaps we could find a place to eat and talk," Christopher suggested.

Winnie rubbed her belly. "Sure. I haven't had dinner, anyway. I'm feeling a little hungry already. Please look for a less conspicuous place this time. I don't want to run away in the middle of the meal." After hanging up, she returned to Josiah's office.

He frowned, looking annoyed to see Winnie again. "Why haven't you left? What's the matter this time?"

"I'm going out for a while. Can you contact me right away when Xavier wakes up?" Winnie asked politely.

Josiah paused whatever he was doing and questioned, "What gives?"

Winnie frowned. "If it's a hassle, then forget it. Sorry for disturbing you."

Just as Winnie was about to leave the room, Josiah stopped her. "Wait. How do I contact you?"

"Just call Paulina's number."

This time, Christopher chose to meet at a food court.

Christopher was already seated at a table by the time Winnie arrived.

The place was crowded since it was the peak hour for dinner.

After taking a seat in front of Christopher, Winnie asked curiously, "I always see this in movies where the police and the spy or informant would always choose to meet at these kinds of places. Why's that? Does the crowd provide a better cover? Why don't they choose a more deserted place instead?"

Christopher chuckled at her words. "I don't know about others, but I chose this place just because their food is delicious. Do you have any dietary restrictions? I can recommend you some of their signature dishes."

Winnie frowned. "Um... I don't have any restrictions. It's just that—”

Before Winnie could even finish, Christopher spoke. "Are you uncomfortable with this place?"

Since he had already read her mind, Winnie felt that she should just tell him the truth. "Yes. It's a little noisy here. But the next table's food looks good. If you don't mind, can we take away some food and eat somewhere else?"

"I'm fine with it. Should we take a walk by the river, then?" Christopher asked cautiously. He felt as if he was on a date rather than having a secret meeting with his informant. At that thought, his heart raced uncontrollably.

"Sure. A quieter place will make it easier for us to talk."

The river was a little far. An hour had already passed by the time they got their food and drove to the riverbank.

They leaned against the car with the breeze brushing their faces while they ate and talked about the case.

"There aren't any leads yet. The

statements given by Yulissa and the kidnappers, were a match. Besides they were questioned separately. So, there isn't any reason for us to suspect them of working together," Christopher explained.

Winnie pursed her lips. "So, that means Yulissa, our one and only suspect in this case, had turned into a victim?"

"You can put it that way."

Winnie said, "If that's the case, I have a conjecture. I suspect this entire incident was planned by Yulissa and the leader of the kidnappers. The others are just extras."

Everything they saw and heard was exactly what Yulissa and their leader wanted. Unfortunately, their leader was dead, and Yulissa was unwilling to reveal anything. That meant there was no one else who could confirm the fact.

Christopher nodded. "That's what I thought as well, but the police have no evidence. Though we can lock her up on the charge of taking drugs, I don't want to alert the enemies unnecessarily."

"That's right. It's too risky. I'm pretty

sure Yulissa's the one who made the injection mark on Xavier's arm, but he's already rescued by the police. Yulissa and Zyon won't stop just like that I'm sure they'll plot more things that'll expose themselves," said Winnie.

In the meantime, Yulissa's finger was already reattached to her hand.

However, the doctor told her the finger would not be as flexible as it was in the past, even though it was reattached.

Though it was just an index finger, she hated Zyon for his actions.

He made her pretend to be kidnapped, forced her to lure Xavier to the abandoned quarry, and injected Xavier with the drug.

The truth was, there were many ways to lure Xavier. Yet, Zyon insisted on cutting off her finger, saying it was to teach her a lesson.

The pain from her finger made her want to tear Zyon up into pieces. She cursed under her breath, "Zyon Fairchild! Just you wait. I'm going to make you rot in hell."

Right then, her phone rang.

Upon lifting her phone, she realized it was a call from Zyon.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

She really feared that man, for he had almost tortured her to death several times.

She did not dare to answer the phone. However, it kept ringing.

In the end, she had no choice but to answer it.

As usual, a string of rude insults started pouring out of the man's mouth as soon as the call was connected.

"You little b*tch! How dare you not

pick up my calls? What's the point of keeping you on my side, then? You can't do anything well apart from having sex with me. I told you to give Xavier a few injections. And look at what a great job you've done! The

stuff's in the police's pion

now. Seriously. Are you an idiot?"

Yulissa was trembling from head to toe. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Xavier placed a bomb on himself, so no one dared to move about. I tried my best and gave him a shot."

"What's the point of giving only one? Are you stupid? Ugh. You're hopeless. We're going into Plan B now. You know what to do, right?"