The Substitute Bride

"What? Are you implying that you did nothing? Rachel, don't play innocent. You're disgusting me, you know that?" Charles accused Rachel, whose face was pale as a ghost. "I am telling you that I won't spare you another look in this lifetime, which is what you deserve. I did all of this just because I was curious what you were going to do. I can honestly say that I am utterly sick of you," he added.

"It seems like I am a loose woman in your eyes. I can't believe that I was stupid enough to trust you! I thought that you'd discover I am indeed a good girl, and who knows, perhaps I even thought that you'd find it in your heart to accept me," Rachel replied with a hurtful look on her face. 'Why is he so mean to me? Did I do something wrong to him? Was it something I did? How can he hate me so much?' Rachel screamed inwardly.

"You're a good girl? Seriously? I have never even noticed a single good quality in you!" Charles shot back coldly. The hostility towards Rachel continued to rise in his heart. 'She is a really good actress. She's almost like a lead actress in a film, a master at playing an innocent woman, ' he thought scornfully.

Unfortunately, her acting wasn't going to work on him.

He was well acquainted with the woman in front of him. Since he had been fooled by her twice before, he had no reason to trust her now whatsoever.

As he finished talking, he strode towards the door slowly.

Rachel had confusion all over her face as she stared at Charles' receding figure. Without turning around to face her once more, he stormed out of the booth. He wanted to get away from her and return home to be with his wife, Sheryl.

As he arrived home, he noticed that all the lights were already off and that it was silent in the house. Assuming Sheryl was already asleep, he sneaked into their bedroom without making a sound. He didn't want to wake her.

As he looked at the sleeping beauty in the bed, he reminded himself just how lucky he was to have Sheryl as his wife. He felt so content, in fact, that his bad mood vanished altogether immediately.

After taking a shower, he got onto the bed. He drank a lot during the evening, which caused him to have a headache. Nevertheless, nothing could possibly affect his pleasant mood at that moment.

Thinking about the upset look on Rachel's face brought him great satisfaction. He swore to himself to make anyone who dared to bully Sheryl or affected her in a negative way, pay the pr

quiet?" Charles continued. Sheryl's indifferent attitude caught him by surprise. The couple hadn't fought for a long time, which made him wonder why she was sulking.

'When I returned home last night, Sheryl was already fast asleep. We didn't argue over anything. So, why is she treating me like this now?' Charles' mind was full of doubts.

"I was quite bored at home and had nothing else to do, so I wanted to go out," Sheryl replied before hurrying to the door, trying to run away from his questions

She then slammed the door without saying another word.

Charles was no fool and he knew his wife quite well. He could sense that she was angry at him, but he didn't know why.

Recalling the bad vibe he received from Rachel last night, he felt rattled. Wasting no time, he immediately called Sheryl. After calling a few times and her not answering, he stopped for a moment.

'What's going on?' he wondered.

He then continued to call her up, but still couldn't get a hold of her.

'That's not good. I need to go find her, ' he thought.

He jumped out of the bed, got dressed and hurriedly dashed downstairs. The sight of Sheryl's handbag caught his attention. He picked it up and found the car keys still inside. 'She said that she was going out but she didn't take her car or handbag? It means that she couldn't go far, ' he analyzed.

He intended to look for her around his house. 'Where on earth would she go? I have no idea, ' he thought.

At that moment, Charles was engulfed with anxiety.

He couldn't figure out what was going on. Nevertheless, he had only one thought in mind and that was to go find Sheryl.