The Substitute Bride

"Are you even doing your job? I paid you, but you've made no progress!" Charles shouted into the phone. He began pacing back and forth anxiously in his study. Though Shirley was still missing, he managed to contain his worry and stay as calm as he could. After sending his men out to search for her, he tried to breathe and wait for good news. Getting no results at all, he reached his limit, and anger finally surfaced from deep down, directing it at the man on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Lu, I'm so sorry. We will try harder. No! We will get it done! Rest assured that once we get any lead, we'll report it to you at once," the man replied nervously after a moment of tense silence. Not knowing how to deal with Charles' sudden wrath, he was at a loss for words. Luckily, his experience allowed him to make a promise to Charles without too much of a stammer.

Though he was expecting the incident to be a typical missing person's case, to his dismay, no trace of Shirley could be found—it might not have been as simple as he initially thought. From the looks of it, he judged the incident to have been a meticulously planned kidnapping, squeaky clean and untraceable leads.

Working without sleep, the team entrusted with the case still couldn't find any significant results. Everything about the kidnapping was still more of a blur than anything, and they had to deal with too many setbacks to finish the job.

Before he completely ran out of air, Charles hung up, his mind still in a complete mess—he urgently felt the need to rest. Taking a seat back in his chair, Charles shut his eyes to try and quiet his mind. Images of Shirley started to rush back into his mind out of control, making it impossible for him to rest.

As Shining Company's CEO with all the executive powers, he never failed to handle any hurdle his company had to face. But at the moment, he was no longer a CEO—he was a full-time father who feared for his child just as any other parent would. His daughter's absence left him feeling helpless and anxious.

At the very least, because of his experience as an excellent executive who always needed to behave rationally at work, he managed to keep himself from spiraling down into insanity. After a few moments, he settled himself down.

Without any concrete sign of Shirley's whereabouts, Sheryl couldn't settle down. She spent the entire night with Clark. When she saw Charles approach, her swollen red eyes welled up with tears in an instant, and she burst into a noiseless sob.

Gently stroking her head, Charles brought Sheryl tissue, piece after piece, remaining silent. After some moments, Sheryl's crying ceased, and she raised her gaze up to Charles' with hopeful eyes.

"Charles, any leads?" she asked imploringly. Though he didn't want to disappoint her, Charles knew he couldn't just lie. Slowly and r

eave her alone in such a place..."

Grabbing onto his clothes, she gave him an alarmed look, unable to stop her sobs. "Did you know? In the dream, I saw our dear Shirley getting tortured by evil men. They abused her, beat her, and deprived her of food. She was so scared and couldn't stop crying. I can't bear to wait! I have to get her back!"

As she cried and yelled, Sheryl tried to get out of bed. With her unruly hair and hysteric demeanor, she seemed to have fully collapsed into madness.

Stunned by her behavior, Charles acted quickly and grabbed her by the hand. "Sher, cool down! I know how much you worry about Sheryl because so do I! But we have to act rationally. There's an investigation going on. We must be patient. We can't do anything rash, which would only mess things up. It won't do us any good!"

Leaning in close to her, Charles cupped her face in his hands, gazing into her eyes fiercely as he patiently waited for her to calm down.

But the more he tried, the more stubborn she became. She struggled to pull away from him as her eyes were filled with hatred for Leila. At that moment, all she wanted to do was find the woman and demand that she hand over her daughter.

Even then, she couldn't figure out why Leila wanted to cause her life so much trouble—it certainly wasn't the first time that Leila had laid her hands on Sheryl's kids. The woman's drive to take her down freaked her out. Still, she could only wish the best for her daughter as she prayed for Leila's mercy. If she was willing to release Shirley upon Sheryl's request, she was ready to even kneel before Leila. So long as Leila promised not to bring harm to her daughter, Sheryl was ready to do anything.

In desperation, Sheryl pulled away from Charles' grip. Only one thought filled her mind—'I will find Leila and get Shirley back.' At that point, no one could stop her, not even her husband.