The Substitute Bride

"What happened next? Did you profess your love for him?" Melissa hastily asked Leila.

With a weak smile, Leila replied in a sad voice, "Actually no. In the end I couldn't gather enough courage to do it."

With a deep melancholic sigh, Leila revealed more details. "The reason I had the opportunity to work as his secretary was because that woman introduced me to him. She was my friend as well as my benefactor. I truly couldn't bear to be her enemy if I were to compete for his heart. So in the end, I just didn't have enough courage."

"So what happened then?" Melissa prompted, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

Melissa guessed something must have happened; otherwise Leila wouldn't be in prison now.

"Later…" Leila paused to gather her thoughts before continuing, "Later I found out that there was actually no love between him and that girl. Their relationship started by accident, which made me think there might be hope for me after all."

Smiling softly to herself, Leila continued, "So I tried my best to do whatever he instructed me to do just to get his praise and catch his attention. I chose to work by his side silently and not reveal my true feelings for him because I didn't want to trouble him," Leila said quietly. There was sadness in her voice and it was clear that this had been difficult for her.

"Didn't he notice your infatuation at all?" Melissa asked in confusion. Although men's sense of affection was less sensitive than women's, it was hard to imagine that this man wouldn't catch on to Leila's true feelings.

"Maybe he noticed but pretended not to." Leila's weak smile faltered as she continued to explain her story. "Later on, I discovered that he had already fallen in love with that girl. She was even pregnant.

But their happy life together was suddenly cut short when that woman went missing. He nearly went mad trying to find her. He searched for her everywhere, but she was just nowhere to be found," Leila added, shaking her head slowly. Glancing over at her Melissa, she continued hesitantly, "I have to confess something to you...Right before that woman went missing, I had met up with her. At the time, she was experiencing a

'm fine," Melissa responded quickly, not realizing how peculiar her reaction was until hearing Leila's question. Smiling awkwardly, she said to Leila, "The name Charles Lu just seems a little familiar for some reason."

"His family is pretty well known in Y City. Do you know Shining Company? He is the chairman." "Oh, no wonder he sounds familiar," Melissa replied, trying to hold back her emotions, before asking more questions.

"So what happened next? What on earth happened?" Taking a deep breath, Leila continued, "Remember just now I said that I wanted to give up? Well, Sheryl didn't want to discharge me. Instead, after regaining her memory, she accused me of harming her. And of course, Charles believed her wholeheartedly. I tried to explain myself, but he refused to believe me. And so I was charged and now I'm in this jail."

"I know why Sheryl did this to me. She wanted to be with Charles again because of his money. My existence must have posed a threat to her devious plan, so she got rid of me," Leila added, her eyes darkened with resentment.

"Now here I am," she grumbled. "I've lost both my son and boyfriend, and I have to stay in this dark place for three years…"

"Didn't Charles show you no compassion?" Melissa inquired with narrowed brows.

"He was trying to please that woman and showed me no empathy. He would do even worse things to me if she asked him," Leila replied, curving her lips into a sardonic smile.