The Substitute Bride: Idiot Or Not?

Winnie could remember well it was not mentioned in the memo on Paulina's phone that Xavier needed a blood test. Moreover, a blood test was not necessary to treat a broken bone. He can't be unaware of this general knowledge!

Not to mention, based on what she knew about Xavier, he would never chat casually with a caretaker he was not familiar with.

Could it be he overheard me requesting the captain of the Narcotics Enforcement Department this afternoon to run a test for Yulissa's blood? Does it mean that he's suspicious of me now? How much did he overhear? What does he intend to do now?

As the thought occurred to her, Winnie decided to sound Xavier out. "You don't need a blood test. As long as you have proper rest and avoid getting hurt again, I bet the cast can be removed one month later." "Is that so? So does it mean we'll need to be closely acquainted for one month?" Xavier cast his head down to scrutinize his so-called caretaker and narrowed his eyes. "What's your name?"

Winnie was fully aware that Xavier was scrutinizing her and was relieved that she had thought of covering the traces of makeup with her fringe. Therefore, she could remain unperturbed and reply nonchalantly, "My name is Paulina Houghton. I've been a caretaker for more than ten years."

"Is that so? You share the same surname as Josiah Houghton. What's your relationship with him?" Xavier sounded curious.

"We're not related to each other. It's merely a coincidence that we have the same surname.”

Xavier halted in his tracks. "Do you have his phone number? Help me to call him and ask him to come over. Tell him that I have something to discuss with him."

"Okay!" Winnie also stopped and raised her head to exchange a look with him. "I think I'd better help you to get changed first."

Even though there was not the slightest change in her countenance, the alarm bells started ringing in her head.

She was convinced that Xavier was highly suspicious of her at the moment. Nonetheless, he could not make the judgment and expose her on the spot as he was unfamiliar with Paulina. Hence, he planned to ask Josiah, who was familiar with her, to go over.

But will I be able to convince Josiah Houghton like Louis Tanser? After all, he's a doctor. If he asks me questions about medical knowledge or Paulina's job in the hospital, what am I supposed to do?

Winnie helped Xavier to sit on the edge of the bed and was about to stretch out her hand to unfasten the buttons on his shirt. Nevertheless, he shrugged her hand off with quite a powerful smack, resulting in burning pain on the back of her hand. "Don't touch me. I can help myself. Just get me a set of pajamas from the wardrobe."

When Winnie turned to get Xavier's pajamas as instructed, she could not help chastising him inwardly again. D*mn it! How could this b*stard hit women? He slapped Yulissa just now and smacked my hand again! What a sc*mbag! Anyway, that heinous woman deserved it. In fact, he should have slapped her harder! Oh! How I missed those days when I used to disguise myself as a silly woman. I could order him to do anything back then and even tease him whenever I was in the mood.

Winnie had only taken the pajamas out of the wardrobe before Xavier gave his orders consecutively. "Bring me the clothes and turn yourself around. You can give Josiah a call now."

She had no choice but to turn around. Hmph! What's the point of covering himself? Didn't he know that I'd already seen him naked before this?

Seeing that Winnie remained motionless, Xavier queried impatiently, "What are you waiting for? Don't you have his phone number?"

"Yes, I do." Winnie turned her back toward him before she whipped out her phone. "I'll call Dr. Houghton now."

"Turn on the speaker."

"Okay, Mr. Fairchild."

Josiah answered the call very soon, and Winnie greeted him first, "Hello, Dr. Houghton. I'm Paulina."

"Oh! Paulina, what's wrong? Aren't you at Mr. Fairchild's place now? Did anything happen?" Josiah asked on the other end of the line at once.

"Nothing. It's inconvenient for Mr. Fairchild to make a phone call now. Thus, he told me to relay his message to you that he has something to discuss with you. Would you mind coming over?" "Huh?" Josiah was stunned. "He only broke his leg, didn't he? Don't tell me he even has a broken arm now."

Winnie was rendered speechless.

Meanwhile, Xavier chimed in, "Dr. Houghton, if you're not busy now, can you come over at once?"

"Okay! I'll be there in half an hour," Josiah replied, feeling surprised when Xavier addressed him as Dr. Houghton.

When Josiah reached twenty minutes later, Winnie was about to step forward to brief him about Xavier's condition. Nevertheless, he gestured to her to stop. "Wait a minute. I'll go in to have a look first." "Okay!" Winnie beamed sweetly, but two options had already popped into her mind at the same time.

For the first option, she would make her way toward the door, open it, and leave at once. However, all her efforts would go down the drain.

As for the second option, she would steel herself to take the risk. By then, Josiah would be impressed by her too.

Without hesitation, she went for the second option.

In the meantime, Josiah furrowed his brows in Xavier's room. "What do you mean? Are you suspecting there's a problem with the caretaker I looked for you just because you overheard her talking on the phone when you were half awake? Who knows, you were in your dream at that moment?"

"Even if I was in my dream, anything wrong for me to have a sense of suspicion?" Xavier refuted and pushed the bottles of medicine beside him. "Help me to check this medicine if there are any problems." "Okay! I'll do that."

"Take a look at this too." Xavier handed him his tablet.

Josiah widened his eyes right after he took it over and had a look. "What on earth is going on? Isn't Paulina here now? How's it possible for her to purchase a train ticket to leave tonight?" "So my suspicion makes sense, right?"

"Could it be she had bought it much earlier and forgot to request a ticket refund?"

"She's acting weirdly too. So far, I've never seen her taking off her mask. After all, it's my home, not the hospital."

"If that's the case, I'll sound her out now."

At the same time, Winnie was standing in front of the bar counter and adjusting the invisible headset in her ears.

Shortly after, Josiah walked toward her with a smile and asked, "Anything wrong? Are you feeling any discomfort in your ears?"

"Nothing. It's just a little itchy. How's Mr. Fairchild now? His emotion seemed to be a little unstable a while ago."

"He's fine. Come and take a seat here. Let's have a chat." Josiah led her to take a seat on the couch.

Winnie sensed that Xavier's room was facing the couch, and the door was ajar. If Xavier wished to know about the condition in the living room, he could observe them from his room. Hence, she chose a seat with her back facing Xavier's room before sitting down.

On the other hand, Josiah sat right opposite her. "We're not in the hospital now, so there're fewer restrictions here. You can take off your mask."

Hence, Winnie took off her mask as requested. "Dr. Houghton, do you want to assign me anything?"

Josiah narrowed his eyes instead. "What happened to the corner of your eyes? Did you have an operation? Why do you seem to look a little strange?"Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

"Do I look strange? You must have overthought. My eyes are actually a bit swollen because I did not get enough sleep last night."

"I see. Try to have enough rest. Anyway, did you change your hairstyle? If I'm not wrong, you didn't have a fringe before this."

"My child scratched my forehead accidentally, resulting in a long scar. I'm afraid it won't be nice for my patients to see that, so I intend to cover it up with my fringe."

"You have a point. Oh yeah! How about your previous patient, an old teacher? His surname is 'Wood,' right? Has he been cured?" Josiah questioned again with a smile. It sounded like a common question, but he had deliberately twisted some facts to see how she would react.

First, the patient was not a teacher but a retired soldier. Secondly, instead of 'Wood,' his surname should be 'Ward.' Thirdly, he was suffering from a critical illness. If Winnie answered any parts wrongly, it would imply something amiss about her.

Smiling like a cunning fox, Josiah probed, "Paulina, why aren't you saying anything?"