The Substitute Bride

Black stared in surprise at Holley. He could hardly believe what he had just heard. Black was desperate to hear it again to confirm to himself what he heard was true. Holley was in such a deep daze, and he shook her gently to rouse Holley from her drunken stupor. He asked loudly, "Why did you call my name?" After all, a drunk person always told the truth. Black thought this was an ideal opportunity to have some insight into Holley's inner thoughts. That was why he was keen to question her about her feelings for him while she was drunk. However, much to Black's disappointment, Holley didn't say anything.

Black could tell that Holley was near unconsciousness. She gazed at him through bleary half-closed eyes and then her lids were too heavy to keep open any longer. Even though Holley closed her eyes, she could still feel Black's intense gaze on her.

He calmed himself down, cleared his mind, and then decided that it was best to take Holley back to his house. Black picked her up in his arms and carried her to his car. Carefully he put her in the back seat, and he then got into the driver's seat and drove home.

Black finally arrived home about half an hour later.

Black didn't wake her up. Instead, he took off his jacket and covered Holley with it. Then he picked her up and carried her into the house.

Black opened the door to his bedroom and tried to lay Holley down. However, Holley had other ideas. When Black tried to remove her arms from around his neck, Holley reached out and held on again. This happened several times, and each time, Black gently and patiently tried to persuade her to let go. Finally, Holley had cooperated and allowed him to put her on the bed. Holley's neediness for Black even in her drunken state had softened his heart, and he let his guard down.

"Ouch! My head hurts a lot!" Holley mumbled, continuing to act as weak as possible, taking advantage of her drunken state to earn Black's heart again. She coughed hard. Black immediately reacted by helping her sit up, patting her back to relieve her.

"Black, I feel thirsty. Water," Holley said in a croaky voice. She looked pale and feeble.

Black felt sorrowful to see Holley in such a state, and his heart ached for her. He rushed into the kitchen and mixed honey into a glass of water. He hoped that it would ease her suffering and dissipate some of the effects of the alcohol. Black held Holley against his chest and patiently fed her spoonful after spoonful of the water mixture.

However, before Holley managed to drink all of the honey water, she frowned and suddenly felt disgust

e? You even took her home and kissed her in front of me!" Holley exuded a look of mild anger, but her eyes betrayed a hint of astute expression, and she gently punched him in the chest. Though it didn't hurt, it had aroused Black enough to let his guard down and tell the truth.

"I didn't do anything with her. When you left, I felt so sorry and completely downhearted. Then I yelled at her to drive her away. I didn't sleep with her, I promise!"

Black regretted and felt guilty for what he had done. If he knew Holley's love was just as true as she said it was, he would never have done anything to hurt her. Nor would he have gone to the bar and brought that woman to his house.

Upon hearing the truth directly from Black and seeing the look of grief and remorse in his eyes, she finally settled down.

The morning turned out to be wonderful. Black and Holley had got back with each other and regained the love and trust that they used to have.

In Dream Garden, Leila was becoming more and more anxious. She hadn't made any progress with her relationship with Charles. Charles was completely ignoring her and showed indifference to her. He only cared about Sheryl. Once he got home, he spent nearly all of his time with Sheryl leaving no chance for Leila to approach him.

Sheryl's presence almost drove Leila crazy. She blamed Melissa's stupidity for still not being able to drive Sheryl away from the house. Leila couldn't think of a way to leave a good impression on Charles. However, eventually, she came up with an idea. She thought, 'If I can't leave a favorable impression on Charles, then why don't I try on his children? If his children like to have me around, I may have a chance to get closer to Charles.'