The Substitute Bride

Leila's endearingly sweet words satisfied Melissa. The pleasure radiated from the old lady's face as she glanced at Sheryl sternly, and then shifted her gaze back to Leila. "That's really nice of you, Leila. If you hadn't come to visit me, I might still have a headache. You're the first person that has ever been so gracious and good to me. Unfortunately, someone only succeeds in upsetting me," she said with a sigh.

Melissa's insulting words towards Sheryl brought much delight to Leila, who was more than happy to see Sheryl get bullied.

In response to Melissa's rude words, Sheryl simply smiled.

Sheryl's response disappointed Melissa. She then pointed to the tea in front of Leila and said, "Here, Sheryl made it for you. Please have some tea. I hope you'll like it."

Leila's heart jolted. The moment she feared the most finally arrived.

After spending several years in prison, she finally learned how to cherish life. At this point, she was more scared of death than ever before. However, to put Sheryl down, she was forced to drug herself. She wasn't sure if she had made the right decision.

'Is it really a good idea to put my life in the hands of others? I mean, what if she fails to send me to the hospital to get immediate treatment?' She hesitated for a second.

Melissa noticed the hesitant look on her face. With a smile, she urged, "Leila, I got the tea as a present from one of my good old friends last year. This tea is difficult to find. Please, try it."

Terrified as she was, Leila proceeded to drink the tea.

Later, the two women switched the topic, leaving Sheryl standing there in silence. As a result, she sat down and watched them quietly.

About half an hour later, Leila's face turned as pale as a white sheet. Her forehead was covered in beads of sweats; swaying from side to side, she fell down on the couch.

"Aunt Melissa, hurry up! Please, send me to the hospital..." Leila said in a weak tone, her face distorting in pain. The only thing Leila could think about, was that she couldn't die like this. 'I must get through this somehow. I don't want to die, ' she told herself.

Melissa giggled on the inside, as she knew that the drug was taking effect. However, she didn't show it on her face. She then shouted, pretending as though she was worried, "Leila, what's wrong? Did you have anything bad to eat?"

Sheryl was startled by the scene displayed in front of her. 'She was fine a minute ago. How come she sudde

elissa warned with a stern, dark look on her face.

Upon hearing this, Nancy was astonished and terrified. 'Wait...How come I'm involved in this?

The tea was poisoned? That's impossible. I was in the kitchen the whole time to prepare the tea and didn't leave it until it was served. No one even had the chance to touch it.

Besides, how did Melissa know that the tea had been poisoned? She isn't a doctor. How could she possibly make the assumption that Miss Zhang was poisoned?' the maid thought doubtfully.

Interrupting her train of thought, she then saw the ferocious look in Melissa's eyes and didn't have the nerve to blurt out her doubts. As a result, she lowered her head and moved aside.

'When Sheryl comes back, we'll get to the bottom of what happened. I hope Leila will pull through this, ' she prayed.

In the Lu family's residence

Melissa had made her way to her bedroom. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had done, as she paced back and forth anxiously.

At this point, she was extremely scared. Since Leila had been carried into the car, her heart kept beating fast.

'This time the stakes are way too high. If Leila dies in the hospital, the problem will be elevated, ' she thought.

Melissa never wanted to hurt Sheryl. All she wanted, was for Sheryl to propose a divorce to Charles so that she didn't have to be faced with seeing her every day. However, she had never thought that she would have to sacrifice a person's life at the expense of achieving her goal.

'I hope Leila will make it. More importantly, I hope I manage to kick Sheryl out of my house this time, ' she pondered whilst praying.