Chapter 395: Chapter 395

Lucas’ shouts finally snapped Winnie back to reality.

She glanced in the direction of his voice and asked, “Where’s the fish? Did you get it?”

“I did. It’s still flopping on the deck. What’s up with you, by the way? Is something off with your hearing?

Can’t you hear the noise?”

She rolled her eyes at his string of questions and retorted, “How can I hold this conversation with you if I can’t hear anything? Maybe you should check your brain instead. Why did you come here anyway? How many fish did you get?”

“Zero.” Lucas chucked the fish she caught into a tank before sitting beside her. He continued, “I heard you talking, so I thought your husband was here. That’s why I came over. I didn’t think you were daydreaming alone. Your husband’s nowhere to be seen. So what were you doing? Who did you call?

What did you talk about?”

Winnie replied drily, “Are you interrogating a suspect? While you’re at it, why don’t you record every word I say and type up a transcript?”

Her sarcasm ticked him off, and Lucas grumbled, “Come on! You just seemed to be in a funk, so I thought I’d come over to console you. Some friend you are. Hmph!”

Winnie could not be bothered to explain her personal affairs to Lucas in detail, so she said curtly, “My family called me to discuss my medical condition. There. You can start consoling me now.”

“Nah. When did you need my consolation on that matter? Anyway, I think I’ll stick around and fish here.

There’s more fish here.”

Winnie mumbled an acknowledgment before asking, “How long has Xavier been gone? Why hasn’t he come up?”

Lucas replied, “He has been gone for almost half an hour. I reckon he should be back soon. Why don’t you cast your rod? Your next catch might be your husband. You could tell people you fished a mermaid;

he’s pretty enough for that.”

She did not gratify his cheeky remark with a verbal response.

Still, Lucas’ guess proved right. Seconds later, Xavier emerged from the water’s surface.

Lucas immediately threw a rope out to Xavier.

Luck was clearly on Xavier’s side. He had caught plenty of abalones, shellfish, and even a grouper as long as his forearm.

Winnie was thrilled and began planning the dinner menu in her head.

Lucas could not believe he was the only one ending the fishing trip empty-handed. He refused to steer the boat back to the pier and continued fishing for several more hours.

Alas, there was not a single fish in sight, though he did reel in several measly mantis shrimps.

It was far from a satisfactory conclusion, but at least he was no longer calling it a day empty-handed.

By the time they left the pier and packed everything into the car, the sun had almost fully set.

They were about to drive off when Lucas suddenly shouted, “Oh no! I left my phone on the boat.”

Winnie was exasperated. “When will you fix this habit of leaving things behind? I’m the blind one, but it’s your phone that goes missing.”

The sentiment was stronger from Xavier, who glanced at the phone in the passenger seat and asked Lucas, “Isn’t it right beside you? Don’t you see it?”

“Of course I do.” Lucas frowned and explained, “But I brought two phones today. I’m contacting my new girlfriend on the other phone. She’ll throw a tantrum if she can’t reach me tonight.”

Winnie rolled her eyes and muttered, “A new girlfriend again…”

Lucas chuckled, unperturbed. “What can I do? I just couldn’t get along with the ex. Give me a couple of minutes; I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

He opened the car door and hopped off.

Once Lucas was gone, Winnie said to Lucas, “I got a call while you were diving this afternoon. It was from your dad. I forgot to tell you about it earlier, but remember to call him when you have some free time.”

She left out the nasty remarks that Benjamin had flung her way, but Xavier’s observation skills were far too astute.

He checked the call log on his phone and noticed his father’s call had lasted a full minute.

That immediately tipped him off that the situation was not as straightforward as Winnie had painted it.

He knew his father’s character better than anyone else.

Xavier frowned and grasped Winnie’s hand. “What did my dad say to you? Did he make things difficult for you? You were on the phone for over a minute.”

“Nothing escapes you, I see.” Winnie knew she could no longer hide the truth and confessed, “Yes, he said some unpleasant things, but I’m not bothered by them. In fact, I probably made things worse for him at the end. He was utterly furious. I just hung up on him after that.”

None of that interested Xavier. He watched Winnie’s expression closely and demanded, “What on earth did he say to you? Tell me. I don’t want you to question our relationship because of something he said.”

“I won’t. You know that. I don’t obsess over such things,” Winnie replied reassuringly.

Still, Xavier insisted, “I know that. So what did he say?”

Trying to play things down, Winnie uttered, “It’s nothing much. He felt I was holding you back in your career and thought I should leave you. He also said—”

She paused abruptly, furrowing her brows as memories of the call flooded her mind.

Xavier instantly sensed the shift in her mood and asked, “What else did he say? Don’t listen to him. My life does not revolve around the Fairchild family. You are the most important person in my life; don’t leave me. I would travel to the ends of the earth to look for you if you were to ever leave me.”

Winnie’s lips curved into a smile. “What a coincidence. That’s exactly what I said to your dad. It really pissed him off. He immediately berated me, calling me a useless woman because the radioactive exposure could have rendered me infertile and unable to carry on the family line.”

Xavier froze for a moment before knitting his brows in concern. “Frankly, I’m not surprised those words came out of his mouth. Ignore them. Better yet, pretend this call never existed.”

She agreed and became absorbed in her thoughts. Sometime later, she asked somberly, “What if I really lose my fertility because of the radioactive exposure?”

“So what? I might have problems too. What if the situation was reversed? Would you dump me?” asked Xavier.

“Of course not,” Winnie replied matter-of-factly. “If we wanted kids in the future, we could try in vitro fertilization or other methods.”

Her resolve warmed Xavier’s heart. He pulled her into his arms and said remorsefully, “You’re right.

There are always more solutions than there are hurdles. I’m sorry you had to take such a nasty call. If my dad troubles you again, just leave everything to me.”