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Before she could make out the identity of the black figure, Winnie saw the black muzzle of a gun
pointing right at her head.
However, she reacted swiftly. With one kick, she booted the gun toward the distance.
As the gun fell, the man’s face was revealed in front of Winnie.
Upon seeing that familiar face, she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“Zyon, everyone in the entire Fairchild residence is looking for you. I didn’t expect you to come on your
own.”
Having her eyes fixed unwaveringly on Zyon, Winnie tugged at the necklace on her neck
surreptitiously.
This necklace of hers was a customized weapon. It wouldn’t be a problem for her to bind a pair of
hands with the necklace.
But it was obvious that Zyon came prepared. This time, he not only had a gun but also a knife.
After losing his gun, he pointed the knife at her.
He kept circling around her slowly, trying to find a position that would favor his attack.
Gritting his teeth, he cursed in a low voice, “You d*mned woman, I didn’t want to lay a finger on you at
first. Who knew that you would come to me yourself?”
At that moment, Zyon was so full of himself, but Winnie paid no attention to him.
She narrowed her eyes, predicting his next move and the possible countermeasures she might take.
When Zyon saw that she didn’t speak, he quietly took two steps back.
He continued to retreat as he uttered, “I had no intention to hurt you, but you’re blocking my way now. I
have no other choice but to take action. Winnie, get out of my way. If you don’t want to die, stop
blocking me. As long as I can leave this place, you’ll be safe.”
Winnie tightened her grip on her necklace, her lips curling faintly.
“Don’t you know that you are a wanted criminal who is currently on a bounty? If I can catch you, I can
go to the police station to collect the bounty, and maybe I can get a congratulatory banner for being a
good citizen. How could I not participate in such an honorable thing? It’s unlikely for me to let you go.”
“What the f*ck is wrong with you?” Zyon almost chuckled out of great anger, poking his knife in
Winnie’s direction. “Are you short of tens of thousands? If you really need money, I can give you one
million, but you have to send me out!”
“One million?” A cold smile was plastered on her face. “Do you think I’m a beggar? I might think about it
if you give me ten billion, but I will only think about it. Besides, I’m afraid you can’t even afford to pay
one hundred now. Am I right?”
“Shut the f*ck up!” Winnie was right; Zyon really couldn’t fork out a hundred now. And that’s because of
who? It’s all because of this d*mned woman in front of me now!
When that thought crossed his mind, Zyon’s facial expression gradually became vicious. “You d*mned
woman, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have become what I am today! Go to h*ll!”
After shouting those words, he charged straight toward Winnie with the knife in his hand.
Having anticipated that he would attack in such a manner, Winnie grasped his hand that was holding
the knife using both of her hands in the blink of an eye.
After subduing him, she exerted all her strength to jerk Zyon’s wrist to the side violently.
With that, his wrist was almost sprained, and the knife naturally fell to the ground.
Immediately afterward, she kneed him hard, causing him to bend over in pain.
While she was at that, she pinned him to the ground with her knee pressed against his back. She had
him taken care of swiftly, but when she was about to tie him up, his hand suddenly broke free.
The knife was lying right at the side, so it was clear as day that he wanted to reach for that weapon.
There was no way Winnie would give him the chance to do that, so she took the knife first before he
did.
However, what she didn’t know was that it was just Zyon’s feint.
He came prepared. Taking advantage of the time when Winnie had one of her hands occupied, he
abruptly grabbed a handful of powder from his pocket and threw it in her eyes.
She didn’t expect there was powder in his pocket, so she was caught off guard when the powder was
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtflung at her.
The moment her eyes came into contact with that foreign substance, they burned. She wasn’t sure
whether the powder was poisonous, so she decided not to open her eyes carelessly.
Zyon took that chance to flee.
Although Winnie couldn’t see at that brief moment, she didn’t stay idle. She slit Zyon’s arm when he
was scrambling to his feet.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t chase after him, so she immediately whipped out her phone and dialed
Xavier’s number with her eyes barely open.
Xavier arrived with his subordinates shortly after.
When he saw Winnie leaning against a pillar with her eyes reddened, his eyes turned bloodshot.
He clenched his teeth as waves of exasperation surged within him. “Find him! Get him even if you have
to turn over every stone in the world, dead or alive!”
“Xavier!” Winnie couldn’t see Xavier’s expression, since she had her eyes closed, but the last three
words he had uttered through gritted teeth alarmed her.
His illness had never been cured, and under the influence of drugs, his emotions were easily
magnified.
Once his anger was amplified, things would become riskier, and she didn’t want that to happen.
Holding onto the railing in the corridor, she stood up and determined Xavier’s position by listening to his
voice before heading toward him.
Xavier was almost taken over by his anger entirely, his blood rushing to his head and his ears buzzing.
Therefore, he didn’t hear Winnie calling his name just now.
Now that he saw Winnie staggering toward him, the boiling blood in his body calmed down slightly, and
his mind went blank for a short moment.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward to carry her up.
Before she knew it, she felt herself getting lifted up in midair.
She wrapped her hands around his neck and frowned. “Don’t get riled up. It’s not worth it.”
Xavier glanced at her with his head lowered. “Do your eyes still sting? Let me rinse them first. Don’t be
scared. I’ll be quick.”
When she heard his words, her furrowed brow relaxed. Even she herself didn’t notice that she was
smiling.
“I’m not scared. I have you with me, don’t I? I lacerated Zyon’s arm just now. You should ask them to
follow the traces of blood to find him, but it’s dark now, so they need to take a little more effort during
the search.”
“I know. You don’t have to worry about these things.” Xavier scrunched up his brows, guilt brimming in
his eyes. “I should have insisted on letting the security guards follow you just now!”
With her eyes closed, Winnie stroked the back of his head gently. “Xavier, don’t be like this. It’s not your
fault. I was the one who insisted on not bringing the security guards. Besides, it’s actually a good thing.
If I was under the protection of the security guards, Zyon wouldn’t have had the guts to show himself
when he saw he was outnumbered. If that were the case, we wouldn’t even get to catch a glimpse of
him. But because I’d gone alone, he couldn’t wait to come out of hiding, and I got to injure him. I
believe that as long as we follow the bloodstains, we can find some clues.”
What Winnie had explained made sense, and Xavier understood it well.
Despite that, he still couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.
Perplexed, Winnie asked, “What’s wrong? Have we arrived?”
“No!” Xavier’s tone was unusually solemn. He looked at the woman in his arms and continued, “I want
to tell you I don’t like to trade your safety for Zyon’s whereabouts. I will find him unless he’s died
somewhere. I hope you won’t have such thoughts in the future.”
She frowned slightly. “You’re so fierce. I’m not a weak, gentle bird gilded in a golden cage. I know what
I’m doing, and I also know if what I’m doing is meaningful. But…”
But I will no longer be upset with Xavier’s tone because I know he genuinely cares about me.
“But?”
“But in front of you, I’m willing to be a fragile, little woman occasionally. After all, even a strong woman
longs to be pampered.”
Xavier couldn’t help but hug her closer and press his forehead against hers. “Dumbo, with me by your
side, you can be fragile all your life.”
Zyon ran forward desperately, covering the wound on his arm and not knowing where he was going.
Suddenly, he bumped into someone.
That person was covered from head to toe, so he couldn’t see that person’s face. Nevertheless, Zyon
could smell that person reeked of alcohol.
“Who are you? Stop blocking me! Get out of my way!”
The person Zyon bumped into didn’t move. Instead, that person pointed in a direction.
“If you go this way, you’ll survive!”
Without further ado, Zyon dashed in that direction.
“I can’t believe it’s milk powder!” Winnie looked in the mirror and wiped her face, feeling amused. “I was
actually defeated by Zyon with a handful of milk powder. I thought it was a drug!”
“That might be his food. The life of a wanted criminal must be difficult,” Xavier remarked casually as he
raised his hand to tuck her damp hair behind her ear.
“He’s gone lucky this time then.” Winnie cocked her brow. “Soon enough, he’ll have free meals in the
prison. Let’s go and see if he’s captured.”
The two of them left the bathroom and saw several security guards pacing in front of a room.
Winnie recognized the room with just one glance. Frowning, she looked at Xavier, who was beside her.
“Isn’t that Granny’s room? What are they doing here?”
“Let’s have a look.”
When a security guard saw both of them had come, he immediately walked toward the duo.
“Mr. Xavier, Mrs. Fairchild, we followed the bloodstains and reached here, but the traces of blood
vanish here as well. We’ve searched all other places other than Mdm. Sumner’s room.”
“Knock and go inside then. Where is my granny? Is she not in there?” As Winnie questioned the
security guard, she strode toward the room.
Trailing behind them, the security guard explained, “We’ve knocked on the door, but Mdm. Sumner is
very vigilant. She doesn’t want to open the door for us, and it’s not right for us to break in.”
Winnie quickened her pace. “That’s normal. I spoke to her when I came over just now. I told her to be
more careful. Since you’ve searched here and found no one, it seems that he was only passing by just
now. He must have stopped the bleeding and gone to another place after that. Check the surveillance
footage and look at it carefully.”
The security guard explained, “Okay. The surveillance cameras are connected to the internet. We’ve
asked people in the security room to send the footage over, but this building is rarely used. The
surveillance cameras here are old and don’t have infrared light for imaging, so the images captured are
pitch black. We can’t see anything. On the contrary, the cameras outside are equipped with infrared
light, and the images captured are relatively clear. We saw that there was indeed a black figure running
toward here, but we don’t know the situation inside.”
Hearing what the security guard said, Xavier couldn’t help but furrow his brows. “Check the surveillance
footage of all the infrared cameras. Don’t miss any of it.”
“Got it!”
Winnie knocked on the door to Jacinta’s room.
“Granny, it’s me, Winnie. I’m back. It’s safe outside now. You can open the door.”
“Winnie, is that really you? There were many people outside just now. They came knocking on the
door, saying that they were here to find someone. I didn’t open the door for them!”
Jacinta’s fearful voice came from the dark room, and the lights in the room were turned on later.
That was a signal that meant that Jacinta was safe. Seeing that Jacinta was fine, Winnie heaved a sigh
of relief.
“Granny, you did well. Don’t open the door for strangers, but the people just now don’t mean harm.
They’re security guards here, and they’re all gone now.”
“That’s great. It was quite frightening!” While Jacinta spoke, she opened the door from inside.
She wore a smile on her face when she saw Winnie, but the moment she saw Xavier, her face turned
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmgrim.
Xavier furrowed his brows, but he didn’t take Jacinta’s displeasure for him to heart. Instead, he took the
initiative to greet her. “I’m glad that you’re fine.”
“Hmph!” Jacinta snorted coldly. “I might be fine today, but no one can guarantee that I’ll be fine
tomorrow. Aren’t your family all-powerful and capable? Why can’t you guys catch Zyon? As long as
he’s not captured, Winnie will never be safe. Do you understand?”
Xavier replied in a solemn tone, “I know, but I promise you that I’ll definitely catch Zyon and won’t let
him harm Winnie.”
“Catch him? It’s been such a long time!”
Winnie didn’t like Jacinta making things difficult for Xavier, so she took the initiative to interrupt her
grandmother. “Granny, Zyon isn’t the type who will go down easily. We can’t deny the fact that it’s hard
to catch him.”
Winnie continued, “By the way, Granny, did you hear anything before the security guards came?”
“Huh? Do you mean the fire? I heard it. The fire trucks came, and I saw the flames as well. The fire
must be very big.”
“Yeah, it was big, but the firefighters got it under control. Anyway, I wasn’t asking about that. I was
asking if you saw Zyon. While I was on my way here just now, I ran into him and fought with him. I cut
his arm with a knife, and he was bleeding. Then, the security guards followed the trail of bloodstains
and got here, but the traces of blood disappear. Therefore, we surmise that he may have entered this
yard. Did you hear anything at that time?”
“Hmm.” Jacinta thought for a moment before replying, “No, I didn’t. He was a trespasser. He wouldn’t
make a loud noise, would he?”
Winnie nodded. “Maybe he’d already gone somewhere else. It’s getting late. Why don’t I accompany
you to rest?”
After Winnie said that, she turned to Xavier and said, “You should get going too. Call me if there’s
anything.”
It was true that Xavier still had a lot of things to attend to, so he nodded in agreement.
Before he went out of the room, he heard the conversation between Winnie and Jacinta.
“Granny, why is there bloodstain on your clothes?”
“What?” Jacinta was stunned. “Where is it?”
“Here!” Winnie pointed at Jacinta’s sleeve, then took a few sniffs. “And there is an alcohol smell in the
room. I think it comes from you. I smelled it before. At that time, the alcohol smell was relatively weak. I
thought my sense of smell played a trick on me. Why is it so strong now? Granny, did you drink?”
“No!” Jacinta chuckled. “Why would I drink on my own?”
Xavier, who had walked to the door, turned back.
He did detect the alcohol smell in the room as well, and it was obviously from Jacinta.
Jacinta slapped her thigh. “Oh, I remember it now! Didn’t I turn on the lights just now? I was afraid to
turn on the lights when those people were knocking on the door, and I accidentally bumped into a rack
in the room. That’s the rack. Who knew there was a wine bottle on top? The room was dark, so I
couldn’t see. Even though the bottle is not entirely shattered, the top of the bottle is broken. I must have
cut my hand when I was groping around, and that explains the blood on my sleeve and the alcohol
smell on me.”
Winnie looked in the direction where Jacinta was pointing and saw that there was indeed a wine bottle
with a broken top and a circular liquid stain on the carpet.
“Where is your wound? Let me clean it for you.”
“It’s alright!” Jacinta hurriedly covered her sleeve. “It’s just a small wound. It’s not bleeding now. There
is no need to clean it.”
Meanwhile, Xavier received a message on his phone that said that the accelerant for the fire was
found.
Initially, he thought that the accelerant would be something like gasoline, but the photo he received was
a photo of a few empty wine bottles.
The wine bottles… Xavier narrowed his eyes and turned toward the wine bottle on the rack.
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