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Winnie tried her best to find out what was happening outside the bush but got nothing, for her ears
were still buzzing because of the loud explosion.
Not only that, but she was also feeling dizzy.
When she tried to contact the others with her earpiece, she realized she had lost it. I must’ve dropped it
when I jumped out of the car.
Only after resting on the ground for a few seconds could she hear properly again.
The first thing Winnie heard was Rachel groaning in pain beside her.
“Rach!” Worried that Rachel could be injured, Winnie hurriedly crawled over to the woman.
When Winnie saw Rachel lying face down on the floor, she immediately turned the latter over to
prevent suffocation.
However, Rachel was unconscious. Even though she was groaning, her eyes were shut. Besides
moaning in pain, she could only indistinctly mutter the names of her loved ones.
Winnie could not help but frown in distress as she looked at the frail and piteous Rachel, whose cheek
felt shockingly hot when Winnie reached out to touch it.
Even though Winnie knew Rachel probably could not hear or understand her, she promised the latter in
a firm tone anyway, “Don’t worry, Rach. I’ll take you to a doctor soon, and everything will be okay. Trust
me. It won’t be long before you see your father and brother again!”
With that, Winnie pulled out a dagger from her military boot and began cutting the grass near her.
The woman knew she had to get ready to fight because Zyon and the others were still around. On top
of that, she had no idea if Jacinta and Xavier were even alive.
Since she could not leave Rachel exposed like that, she decided to cover her with grass.
After that, Winnie quickly removed the thatch in front of her to see what was going on on the road.
However, as soon as she revealed half of her head, a bullet flew past her cheek.
Winnie instantly felt as if the side of her face had been set on fire. Unsurprisingly, she found blood all
over her hand after touching the wound.
“D*mn it!” the woman could not help but curse as she stared at the crimson blood on her hand. They
got my face!
Still, she did not have the luxury of worrying about her appearance. She intended to move to the side
where the ground was lower and the bushes thicker. That spot would be more suitable for stealth and
sneak attacks.
Just when she was about to get into a half-squat position and make a move, two people suddenly
jumped down to her side.
With her quick reflexes, Winnie instantly reacted by pressing the barrel of her gun against one of the
mysterious people.
The other party had decent reflexes as well. She spoke the second Winnie’s gun was pointed at her.
“Don’t shoot, Ms. Garland! It’s me.”
Winnie immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Greta’s voice, so she looked up and
realized that the two people who landed beside her were none other than Greta and Jacinta.
Looking at her unscathed grandmother, Winnie was rid of half her worries.
The woman then quickly pressed Jacinta down on the ground, afraid her grandmother would get hurt
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtby a bullet. “Keep your head down, Granny. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
“Okay!” responded Jacinta with a nod. However, she got anxious as soon as she noticed the blood on
Winnie’s face. “You’re bleeding, Winnie! You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. Rach is safe as well because I’ve already hidden her. What about…” Winnie
sounded calm, but the concern in her eyes clearly showed otherwise. “What about Xavier? Did you see
him when you jumped out of the car?”
“I don’t think I did…” Greta thought for a while before continuing, “I was closer to your grandmother
back then, so I jumped out with her. As for the others, I didn’t pay much attention. However, I know my
man and the others are fighting Zyon’s men now.”
“What about Xavier? Is he in the shootout?”
“I don’t think so!” replied Greta while shaking her head. “It’s too bad we don’t have our earpiece
anymore. Otherwise, we could’ve contacted him. Hey, don’t you have your phone on you, Ms. Garland?
Maybe you should try calling him.”
“I don’t have it; I left it in the car,” responded Winnie with knitted eyebrows and clenched fists.
“Maybe he’s hiding in a bush somewhere like us. He’s probably just unconscious.”
Greta wanted to comfort Winnie, but she regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Why the
heck did I suggest that he could be unconscious? How’s that a good thing?
The woman was so upset with her carelessness that she felt like slapping herself, so she hurriedly
added, “That’s not what I meant, Ms. Garland. What I was trying to say—”
However, Winnie stood up before Greta could finish.
Greta and Jacinta then swiftly reached out to grab Winnie and questioned in unison, “What are you
doing?”
With two people grasping her arm, Winnie could not go anywhere even if she wanted to.
Instead of struggling to break free immediately, Winnie frowned at the two and demanded calmly, “Let
go of me. I need to find Xavier. If he’s unconscious or injured like Greta said, I have to save him.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Jacinta objected to the plan straight away. “Do you know how dangerous it
is out there? You can’t risk your life just because of an emotional impulse!”
“I’m not emotional,” uttered Winnie, knitting her eyebrows even tighter. “Granny, I’m more than calm
right now. You should be able to tell by my tone. I have to find Xavier now. I have no idea how he is, so
I can’t waste another second. For all we know, he’s probably running out of time!” stated the woman in
an even firmer tone.
Still, Jacinta tightened her grip on Winnie instead of letting her granddaughter go. “You might be shot
dead if you go out! Don’t you see that you’re already hurt? Please don’t go, Winnie. I’m begging you!
You’re worried about him getting killed, but what about yourself? Do you really want me to mourn your
death?”
Winnie shook her head in response. “No, I don’t want to break your heart, but I can’t just stand by idly
and let him die!”
“There are still others out there, aren’t there?” Jacinta refused to let Winnie leave her side. “They’ll save
Xavier. You don’t have to trade your life for his!”
Frowning, Winnie removed Jacinta’s hand from her arm. “Granny, I could’ve hired others to save you,
but I came anyway because I love and care about you. I simply couldn’t leave your fate to others. I
didn’t want you to panic because I wasn’t with you. I knew you’d wish for nothing more than to see me
when you’re feeling hopeless. Xavier is a living and breathing human being just like you, and he’s put
his life in my hands more than once. That’s why my life belongs to him, and his me. How can I sit by
idly while my life is in danger? Can I still call myself a human being if I do?”
With that said, Winnie rushed out of the bush despite Jacinta’s disapproval.
“Cover me!” the woman ordered Greta before heading out.
“Copy that!” Greta then immediately readied her weapon.
On the other side, the tires on Zyon’s car had been punctured, so he and his men were forced to stop
and attack while taking cover in the vehicle.
In comparison, Winnie and Greta could act more proactively because they had more freedom of
movement on the wide terrain. Hence, it did not take long for Winnie to reach Mason and the others
with Greta covering her.
Winnie’s goal was clear—to find Xavier as soon as possible. “Have you guys seen my man?”
One of the men quickly responded by pointing to the left side. “I think he jumped into the bushes over
there during the explosion!”
The second Winnie heard that, she dived into the overgrown plants mentioned without hesitation.
She could not care less about the sharp blade-like grass cutting her cheeks because minor wounds like
that were nothing compared to Xavier’s safety.
The weeds were so thick that they almost blocked Winnie’s vision completely. She could only see what
was directly in front of her.
Fortunately, she soon found a long and large arm covered with blood in the grass.
Her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw how much blood there was. “Xavier? Is that you?”
The person lying on the ground said nothing in response, but his fingers twitched.
Winnie knew she did not have the time to be cautious, so she instinctively took that slight movement as
a signal from Xavier and rushed through the weeds to get to the man.
His black shirt was riddled with holes because of how sharp the grass was, revealing bleeding wounds.
The blood-soaked bandage on the man’s left hand suggested he had torn himself a new one.
Looking at the severely injured man, Winnie was instantly filled with guilt.
“Xavier, I’m here now,” uttered the woman as she quickly put her gun away and knelt beside the man.
Winnie then reached out to flip the person over, only to learn she had made a mistake.
It turned out the man in her arms was not Xavier after all.
The person, who happened to be wearing a black shirt and had a bandaged left hand, simply looked
like Xavier from behind.
Winnie immediately figured out what was going on when she got a good look at the stranger. If this
person is neither my people nor Xavier’s, he must be Zyon’s.
At that moment, Winnie wanted to draw her weapon, but the stranger was quicker than her. He
probably planned this because he didn’t take action until I got close enough.
Before Winnie could react, the stranger had already gotten her pinned to the ground.
He wrapped his hands tightly around Winnie’s throat with a grimace, seemingly ready to choke her to
death.
Winnie tried to reach for the gun on her hips to save herself, but the stranger noticed it.
He immediately pressed his knee on the woman’s hand to stop her.
With the stranger’s hands tightening around her neck, Winnie could not get fresh air into her lungs no
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmmatter how wide she opened her mouth.
Will I be choked to death here? Is today the day I die? Winnie did not think her life would end like that,
but her suffocation was getting worse. She could not hear anything but her own heartbeat.
With her eyes closed, Winnie wondered if that was the end of her and what she could do to turn her
situation around.
The woman did not hear anything, but suddenly, she could feel her face splashed with metal-smelling
blood.
Then, the pressure on her neck and body mysteriously left her.
Winnie instinctively took a deep breath before opening her eyes to find Xavier before her.
Before the woman could even utter a word, Xavier swiftly pulled her into his warm embrace.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” After hugging Winnie tightly, Xavier wiped the blood off her face. “What are you
doing here? Didn’t you reach the other side of the road with Rachel? You shouldn’t be here.”
For some reason, tears began rolling down the woman’s cheeks the moment she saw Xavier. “Are you
crazy? I can’t just leave you behind! Do you plan to keep playing dumb if I don’t say it out loud? You
saved my life before, and you just did it again. Our lives are already bound together. You belong to me,
and I belong to you, too. So how could I abandon you just like that?”
“Really?” inquired Xavier while wiping Winnie’s tears away. “Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Since when have you lost your confidence?”
“Since the day I fell for you,” replied Xavier before sighing. “I must admit. I’ll probably be this way for
the rest of my life.”
“Then so be it. There’s nothing wrong with that because I’ll protect you forever!” promised Winnie,
reciprocating Xavier’s embrace. “Let’s go deal with Zyon. We need to put an end to his arrogance!”
The two then crouched through the bushes. However, the gunfight seemed to have ended when they
finally reached the roadside.
Winnie wanted to take the lead, but Xavier would not have it so.
“We agreed that I should be in the front,” stated the man, glaring at Winnie.
As soon as Mason saw the two emerge from the bushes, he went over to them. “Ms. Garland, most of
Zyon’s people are already dead, but he got away. We have no idea where he went. Should we continue
to search for him or go back?”
Instead of answering Mason, Winnie turned to the car beside her.
The woman could see Jacinta sitting safely in the vehicle through the shattered car window. However,
her grandmother was alone.
“Where’s Rachel? And why isn’t Greta here either?” Winnie asked Mason.
“Greta could only take one person with her at a time. She’s getting Rachel now,” answered the man.
“Okay,” responded Winnie with a nod. “Then get my grandmother and Rachel to safety first. Greta’s
hurt, so get her to go with you too. The rest will search for Zyon with me. As I said, we can’t let him get
away!”
“Understood.” Mason then immediately assigned tasks to his men.
However, he got distracted by a rustling sound before he could finish giving out orders.
Everyone had their eyes fixed in the direction of the noise until Greta suddenly backed out of the thick
bushes with her hands raised.
As the woman stepped backward, she threw away the gun in her hand and the dagger on her.
Her actions made it obvious that someone in the bushes was threatening her.
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