The Substitute Bride

"What did the doctor say?" Anthony's face paled when he asked Sue. He had been stressed out a lot lately and suffered many sleepless nights. After he had taken Peggy and Allen to the police station for confession, he immediately left and headed to Sue.

There was a moment of silence as Sue winced at Anthony's question. "The doctor said that…the baby is suffering from malnutrition. Aside from that, everything is fine," she finally managed to say. She forced a smile at Anthony despite her weakened state because she didn't want him to be too worried. She then realized he had been cut by Allen and checked his wound. The blood had clotted which meant that he hadn't properly treated the wound yet.

"You should get the wound treated right now," Sue said with tightly knitted brows.

"I'm fine. It's just a tiny cut. Don't worry." After the words had tumbled from his lips, he took her hand and heaved a sigh of relief. With Sue by his side, he just felt so at ease.

He had lost sleep and his appetite for two nights already. Fortunately, everything was alright now.

"I'm sorry. I didn't stay with you to protect you," he murmured. Guilt consumed Anthony's mind. "Or else, you wouldn't have suffered like this."

When he realized what he had just said, he felt more ashamed.

If only he could change what had happened to Sue, he would definitely do it at any cost. He had once promised her that he would keep her away from trouble and danger for the rest of her life. However, he failed at it—he felt like he had even caused her more trouble ever since she came back to him.

"You dummy! What are you talking about?" Sue giggled at him. "I'm the one who's supposed to apologize. Peggy is my mother and Allen is my brother. If you hadn't met me, they would've never targeted and planned to take advantage of you, not to mention that you would've suffered all of this. It's all because of me!"

Her lips forced a bitter smile and she seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion. She calmed herself down with a deep breath and emphasized, "I'm the one who's supposed to apologize."

Despite Sue's efforts to console him and make him feel less guilty, Anthony refused to listen—he still thought that everything that had happened to Sue was all his fault. The more Sue attempted to comfort him, the guiltier he got. Finally, he managed to look at her properly and solemnly said, "Sue, listen to me. It's my responsibility to protect you and our child. Whether Peggy and Allen both are related to you or not, I don't care. I only care that I failed to protect you when you were in trouble. I feel..."

"Fine…" Sue simply said. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. "Let's not keep apologizing to each other."

She beamed at Anthony adorably as he looked at her carefully. Then he asked, "Are you hungry? How about I…" Before he could turn around and g

she asked with both a scared look and a grin. He felt that this was now his chance to take advantage of Sheryl's showing of weakness to explain himself.

"You should be careful not to joke so casually. Why should I be jealous of Anthony? Does he deserve it?" he said.

"Certainly not." Sheryl finally stopped and didn't dare to joke with him anymore. "Though you have argued with me because of Anthony before," she said seriously, "he's with Sue now. What's more? They are expecting a baby very soon. I believe that you are definitely not jealous anymore."

Her eyes remained serious as she waited for his response.

"You…" Charles was at a loss for words. He stepped closer to Sheryl and suddenly carried her off the ground. "I think you must be tired of being alive. Maybe you are a little out of order, so I will teach you how to behave yourself. Let's go home quickly," he threatened her.

Sheryl was really embarrassed to hear that. Although it was still early in the morning, there were a few people walking around. She immediately buried her flushed face in Charles' chest to hide herself.

However, Charles just simply laughed at her antics.

Lately, Sheryl hadn't been in the mood to deal with her company matters because of Sue's issue. Besides, she wasn't even able to do what George had asked her before.

But now, Sue was safe now. Sheryl could finally go home and take a well-needed rest. After she had taken a break at home, she drove to her office to check how things were going.

She had already planned to let someone else in the company to take over during this period of time, but Isla didn't completely agree with Sheryl's decision. Isla insisted that she should stay in the company as a supervisor.

At the building, Isla spotted Sheryl's car in the driveway and went outside. "Sher, how are you?" she greeted Sheryl and handed her a bottle of water when Sheryl got out.