Chapter 1: Silly Bride Chapter 1

Hamish Garland arrived back at his family mansion one day to find his wife, Yara Fandel, and their daughter, Kylie Garland, both in tears with their arms around each other. “I don’t want to marry Xavier anymore, Mom. He’s a vegetable! I’m not going to marry someone who’s in a coma! My life will be ruined! I’m begging you, get Dad to annul the engagement with the Fairchild family. I’d rather die if you force me to go through with this. I’ll jump off a building, hang myself, or slit my wrists! Anything’s better than being married to a dead man!” As Kylie wailed, she made to grab the fruit knife from the coffee table. “Stop!” Hamish strode over to stay his daughter’s hand. “What’s the meaning of considering suicide for every little thing?” “Dad!” Kylie sniffled. “You’re back just in time. I’m going to show you my determination today. I would rather die than marry Xavier.” “That doesn’t mean you should hurt yourself!” Yara held on to Kylie and turned her pleading gaze up at her husband. “Is your heart made of stone, Hamish? Kylie is our daughter. How could you bear to watch her die?” Hamish was at his wit’s end. “You know the standing of our family as well as I do, Yara. Marrying Kylie off to them shows we are worthy of them. Us Garlands will be finished if we call off the wedding the moment something happened to Xavier.” He collapsed helplessly onto the couch as he continued, “I, too, can’t bear to watch our daughter suffer, but I have no other way. I hope the two of you will be able to understand me.” “What do you mean no other way?” Yara took the reins as soon as Hamish showed signs of swaying. “Xavier is betrothed to Ms. Garland. They’re not going to care what the bride’s first name is, be it Kylie or whatever else, in light of Xavier’s condition!” “What do you mean?” Hamish did not quite understand. “Hamish…” Yara sat next to him and clung to his arm. “Have you forgotten that you have another daughter? She’s two years older than Kylie and the eldest daughter of the Garlands. Kylie is actually the second child.” “Are you referring to Winnie? No way!” Hamish protested at once when his wife mentioned his other daughter. “Why not? Kylie would be spared if Winnie married Xavier.” Hamish glared at his wife. “Are you out of your mind? Winnie is mentally challenged. Marrying a simpleton to them is as good as calling the Fairchilds fools!” “That simpleton has been raised in the countryside for years, Hamish. The world is not aware of her existence, much less knows she’s a simpleton. Let’s marry her off first, then find an excuse. We’ll tell them she bumped her head and lost her wits, and no one would ever know.” Yara continued, “Xavier is comatose, Hamish. He’s pretty much blind at this point and wouldn’t know who he will marry. Besides, you’ll still be responsible for the simpleton if she isn’t married off. However, you wouldn’t have to bother with her once she becomes one of the Fairchilds. We can kill two birds with one stone by doing this!” Hamish thought his wife had a point. He gazed at his beloved, suicidal daughter and nodded at last. “All right. I’ll have somebody bring Winnie back from the village.” Soon, Hamish’s secretary, Wendy Wilkerson, retrieved Winnie from a secluded mountainous village in Avenport. Winnie Garland was Hamish’s daughter with his ex-wife. Years ago, Hamish was a broke, illegitimate child banished by his family. His ex-wife was a gentle and kind woman. Aside from bearing him a child at a young age, she helped him reestablish himself. However, the unfaithful Hamish began an affair once he became rich. After being welcomed back into his family, he cast aside his ex-wife and daughter. Winnie, on the other hand, suffered from brain damage due to an untended fever in her youth. She promptly abandoned her grandmother, who had cared for her for decades, at the prospect of following Wendy to the big city for candy. At the moment, Winnie was leaning against the car window with a silly grin on her face. Her clear eyes were like those of a child’s.

Wendy felt sorry for her young charge, so she handed her phone to the latter. “Speak with your father, Ms. Winnie. He’s on the other end.” Winnie continued to smile. Under Wendy’s urging, she finally took the phone and bit it. “Delicious! Can I eat this?” Wendy snatched back her phone and stepped away.

“Ms. Winnie is still the same,” she reported to Hamish on the phone. “She doesn’t even know what a phone is. All she wants to do is eat.” Unbeknownst to Wendy, Winnie was smiling coldly at her back at that moment. Her wide, discerning eyes twinkled, most unlike a mentally challenged simpleton’s. Xavier Fairchild would have had a large wedding had that misfortune not befallen him. That car accident had rendered him comatose. Lying unconscious in bed at that moment, he was unable to attend his own wedding. As a result, the Fairchild family did not plan a wedding ceremony. Instead, they brought Winnie over to Xavier’s mansion. Worried about the premature reveal of the bride’s idiocy, Yara entered the newlyweds’ bedroom unabashedly during the wedding night. Xavier’s bedroom was on the second floor of the mansion. Despite his condition, tradition dictated that the bride and groom consummate the marriage. To that end, Mary, the housekeeper, led Winnie and Yara upstairs. To disguise the truth about Winnie’s mental condition, Yara had specially dressed her in traditional wedding attire. At that moment, Winnie’s vision was obstructed by a heavy, red veil that rendered her blind to her surroundings. Yara, on the other hand, got a good look at the bedridden man. He looked thoroughly pale, and medical equipment surrounded his bed. She knew at a glance that he was not long for this world. Once more, Yara was thankful that it was not her own daughter she married off. However, Winnie was not going to abide by her stepmother’s wishes. The more Yara wished to conceal the truth, the more the former was determined to expose it. She whipped off her veil and made a loud slurping noise before shouting, “I’m hungry, Mommy! I want to eat something! I want meat!” Yara jumped at Winnie’s outburst, having told her in the car that Yara would give her candy on the condition that she kept her mouth shut once indoors. I can’t believe she would do this right now! Embarrassed, Yara hurriedly clapped a hand over Winnie’s mouth before fumbling to replace her veil. “How could you disrespect tradition like that! You’re not supposed to lift the veil by yourself!” “What’s going on, Mrs. Garland?” Mary noticed the odd manner in which her new mistress spoke. Yara hurriedly sent Mary away. “Nothing. This is the way she is. She has been a glutton ever since she was a child and must be hungry right now. Could you make her something to eat?” However, Mary had a funny feeling that her new mistress was not temperamental as Yara claimed. The girl looks like a simpleton instead. As soon as Mary left, Yara dragged Winnie impatiently to the bathroom. As it was more discreet in the bathroom, Yara planned to execute her plan there. Unnoticed by Yara and Winnie, Xavier, who had been lying in bed, suddenly opened his eyes when they entered the bathroom.