The ambusher moved too fast, so Winnie couldnât dodge the attack in time.While she tried to avoid the attack agilely and protected her head, her left shoulder still suffered a powerful hit.Despite the pain, she remained silent. Her opponent spoke up first. âWhat are you trying to do? Why are you following us?ââWhat am I trying to do?â Winnie rubbed her shoulder. âI should be the one asking you two this question. How dare you two go into someoneâs house and kidnap a person in broad daylight!ââA woman!â The middle-aged manâs eyes reddened. âBased on your accent, I donât think youâre someone from the island. Since youâre an outsider, donât stick your nose into this matter. It wonât do you any good.âJust as the man finished speaking, the younger man beside him urged, âQuickly, Dad! Stop wasting time talking with this woman! If we donât move now, Iâm afraid Sisâ illness is going to act up! Itâll be bad if people from the Briggs family catch us.âWinnie turned to the young man when she heard him speaking.It was then she saw the woman they kidnapped was biting the young manâs arm.Based on how hard he was wincing, she knew the womanâs bite must be powerful. However, the young man didnât make a sound. An average person wouldâve hit the woman to stop the biting, but he didnât, probably because he didnât want to hurt the woman.Additionally, the young man just called the kidnapped woman âSis.âIt was then Winnie connected the dots. âShe was kidnapped to the island and sold here, right?ââYes!â The middle-aged man turned back to look at his daughter, whose illness was on the verge of acting up. There was immense pain in his eyes.Without warning, he kneeled in front of Winnie. âI beg you, please donât shout and let us go. Thereâs something wrong with my daughterâs brain. When she vanished, my son and I ran around the state before we found her. The Briggs family refused to let her go, so my son and I had no other choice but to do this. As they say, a bad environment breeds bad people. These islanders donât fear the police at all. We have no other choice!
If you donât believe me, we can show you a picture.âThen he pulled out a photo from his pocket.It was an old photo with no signs of being photoshopped. Indeed, the image depicted all of them as a family.âI beg you; please let us go. Weâre running out of time. Her illness is about to act up, so we need to take her to a big hospital as soon as possible to get her medicine!â The middle-aged man even lowered his head to the ground as he cried.Seeing that, Winnie suddenly recalled her mother from years ago.Back then, her mother did the same thing, asking for peopleâs help while kneeling on the ground for her daughterâs sake.âPlease, stand up.â She was touched by the fatherâs story and returned the picture to him.âThank you! Your kindness will one day be rewarded by the universe!â The moment the middle-
aged man finished speaking, he rapidly grabbed his children before running to the dock.As for Winnie, she went back the way she came. Now that the woman has been rescued, people from the Briggs family will definitely find out about it. I should go back there and cause a mess.Sadly, she underestimated the islanderâs solidarity. Soon after she began her return journey, she saw a group of people heading her way.So, she quickly chased after the middle-aged man. âTheyâre about to catch up.
I saw tens of people heading this way. It wonât be easy dealing with them. How are you all going to leave? Do you have a boat?âThe man replied, âI do! However, my daughterâs illness is about to act up.
If no one keeps an eye on her, sheâll bite her own tongue off. My son needs to watch her, and I alone canât push the boat.ââNo problem. I can help you push it!ââOkay, then follow me.âOnce their conversation concluded, the two of them went to the shore to push the boat.It wasnât a small vessel, but it wasnât a big one, either. It was only big enough for three people. The middle-aged man was worried Winnie would be in trouble after his family left, so he asked, âYou arenât an islander, right? Do you want to come with us?ââNo. Your boat isnât big enough for four people. If I get on your boat, it will probably sink. Itâs not worth the risk.ââTake care then!â Frankly, it was already quite cramped with three people on the boat, so it definitely wouldnât be moving as fast as when there were only two people on it.So, the middle-aged man started throwing stuff from the boat into the sea.After the ship departed for a while, he noticed a bag in his daughterâs embrace. It was probably filled with stuff that she liked back when she was at the Briggs residence.The thought of the Briggs family pissed the man off, so he grabbed the bag and threw it out.The bag landed on the beach and was pushed toward Winnie by a wave.Right after Winnie pushed the boat, the clothes she had tied back together were in shambles again. When she saw the bag next to her leg, she pulled out the clothes inside.However, the clothing was quite⦠unique.It was big and red, as though it was a wedding attire from the last century.If it werenât because she was naked, she definitely wouldnât have worn that piece of clothing.After wearing that lame clothing, she was still unsatisfied, so she tried looking for other clothes inside the bag.However, aside from a few socks with cartoon images on them, a handful of sweets, a comb, and a mirror, there was nothing else inside.Those were probably the disabled womanâs treasured items, which was why she hugged them when she slept. Even as she was dragged out of the building by her father and brother, she didnât let it go.Winnie lifted the mirror and took a look at herself with it.If she hadnât, she wouldnât have realized her special makeup had been pretty much destroyed.The silica gel on her face was already coming apart piece by piece. She looked as though someone had poured acid on her and disfigured her face.Winnie was very disgusted by how she looked, so she decided to remove all the makeup.At that moment, the islanders and the Briggs family behind had caught up to her.Because she was wearing the disabled womanâs marriage attire, the Briggs family thought she was that disabled woman.âMy wife! Thatâs my wife! Iâve found my wife!â Hayden Briggs shouted behind Winnie before running toward her with a limp.The shouting made her feel quite speechless. Itâs fine.
Iâve already taken off my makeup. Once I show them my true face, theyâll realize they had gotten the wrong person.However, just as she turned back, she saw the fifty-odd-year-old man of the Briggs family squinting at her.Based on the ectropion of his eyeballs, she instantly knew he was terribly short-
sighted.So, even if Winnie had restored her original face, the man still wouldnât be able to tell the difference.He grabbed her hand and immediately dragged her backward. âCome home with me! Iâm going to lock you up this time. Iâll see if you still have the guts to run away!âAt that moment, she was wondering if she should kick the old man or drag him into the sea.Just as she was hesitating, she saw a familiar face among the crowd.He was too tall, so he stood out like a flamingo when standing next to the islanders. They were all, on average, shorter than one hundred and seventy centimeters.Itâs Xavier.
I didnât expect him to follow the crowd. I bet heâs here because he was tracking the mentally challenged woman. Since Iâm wearing my own face, and the woman had successfully left the island, should I pretend that I was sold here? He did say he would take good care of me for the rest of my life, even if Iâm mentally disabled. I think I should use this opportunity to see if heâs trustworthy. After Winnie had made up her mind, she played along with Hayden and staggered like a feeble idiot.Just as she was prepared to call Xavier âHandsome,â she saw him striding toward her.One of his legs was broken, and there was still a wooden board attached to his calf. He wasnât holding a crutch either, yet he still moved toward her quickly.It was as though he didnât hesitate to and wasnât afraid of overcoming the obstacles that stood between them.