The Substitute Bride

"Where have you been today? Shouldn't you be staying at home with Mom? Why did you leave her alone?" Charles questioned Sheryl as soon as she entered the house. He was sitting on the couch with his mom. Her head was on his shoulder while she watched a TV program.

"I went to the company today," Sheryl replied calmly, trying to sound normal. "I told Mom about it before I left. Mom, didn't you tell Charles why I was out?"

"Hahaha!" Melissa's laugh echoed inside the room. She was currently obsessed in the TV series that she was watching with Charles. Her eyes focused on the screen as she pretended to not hear any of Sheryl's comments.

"Sher, do you have a moment?" Charles asked. The look in his eyes told Sheryl that something was bothering him. Finally, he lifted Melissa's head from his shoulder and stood up. He didn't even wait for her reply. He went straight to the stairway.

As Charles was going upstairs, Melissa turned around and gave Sheryl a gloating glance. There was obvious provocation in her eyes. Only a fool would miss it. Sheryl suddenly realized that Melissa did all of these on purpose. She had planned everything from the start.

'Good. I really need to have a talk with Charles, ' Sheryl thought.

With this in mind, Sheryl just tried to ignore Melissa and proceeded to follow Charles upstairs.

She found Charles standing in front of the door waiting for her. The moment he saw her coming, he opened the door and prompted her to go inside first. After they entered the room and closed the door, Charles spoke first. "Sher..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Sheryl interrupted him. "What did your mom tell you?" she asked.

Charles was surprised. He wasn't expecting this from Sheryl. "So what she said is true? Are you really mad at her?" Charles asked unbelievably. In fact, he didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't figure out any other reason to justify her actions.

No matter whose fault it was or who started the fight, he was expecting more patience and tolerance from Sheryl. After all, his mother was sick, and the doctor had reminded them to be considerate of her feelings. Why couldn't Sheryl just understand?

Sheryl could tell that Charles was obviously displeased. She controlled her anger and tried to explain her side of the story. "Yes, I admit that I was mad. But do you want to know why?"

"Wh

mained seated on the side of the bed quietly.

"Sher, don't think too much about it. I hope you understand that I want our family to be happy. But before that, could you give me a few more days? I don't want to hurt Mom. Could you promise me that?" Charles tried his best to comfort Sheryl as she was seemingly unhappy.

Sheryl didn't answer right away. She was contemplating on what Charles had said and what she thought about it. "Go ahead. I know what I should do," she finally said.

To see Charles torn between them was the last thing Sheryl wanted in her life. She could only hope that things would get better soon.

But now, all she wanted was to take a rest somewhere. It didn't matter if it was at her bedroom or Melissa's. It had been a long day.

"Sher, wait for me. I'll be back," Charles said and left for downstairs where his mother was waiting.

Sheryl was left alone in the room. She didn't know how Charles and Melissa talked downstairs, nor did she want to think about it. After a few minutes, Charles returned and asked her to dine.

"How did your talk go?" Sheryl asked as soon as he entered the room.

Charles sighed. With frustration clearly shown in his face, he dragged his leg slowly and sat next to Sheryl. "Sher, just give me some time, please. I will find a way to solve this problem. It won't last long, I promise you." He tried to assure her. "I will explain everything to my mom. But before that, could you just pretend like nothing happened and continue to accompany her at night? You also know that she just recently returned home..."