The Substitute Bride

Charles wrapped his arms around Sheryl. They stood in the darkness for a long time and weren't in the mood to sleep. They wished the bright stars in the sky could banish the gloom from Shirley's mind and make her feel less afraid.

"Sher, did you hear? Shirley will come back soon. Don't worry. You should try and get some sleep." Charles pecked Sheryl on the cheek and reassured her gently.

"What about you?" Sheryl asked.

"I'll get David to check that telephone number. Maybe we can find some clue from it," Charles answered.

"Well, tell me if you find anything out," Sheryl said anxiously.

The next second, she couldn't help blurting out what she had been holding back. "Charles, do you believe me? I'm sure Leila is the person behind the kidnapping. At the thought of Shirley suffering at the hands of the kidnapper, my heart is broken. Leila must know where Shirley is. Why don't we ask her the whereabouts of Shirley tomorrow?"

Sheryl's eyes lit up with hope. However, Charles didn't answer her question. He asked her to go to bed and get some rest, then went to the study.

Charles was worried, and he didn't notice that it was already in the early hours of the morning. He called David from the study.

The phone rang for a while before David picked it up. David wasn't expecting a call so late, so he assumed that it must be a prank call and didn't want to answer. However, as his cell phone kept on ringing, he picked it up and looked sleepily at the screen. When he found it was Charles who was calling, he was completely sober.

"Hello, Mr. Lu!" He was aware that Charles' daughter was missing. 'Why did Mr. Lu call me so late? Does he want me to do something for him?' he wondered.

"The kidnapper called just now. I want you to run a check on this number and let me know as soon as you get any clue," Charles ordered.

"Okay." David immediately began to track the cell phone number after hanging up.

Five minutes later, he called back.

"Mr. Lu, the signal disapp

"Sheryl, Stop! Are you crazy? Don't make matters worse! I'm hurting just as much as you are. Can you please just calm down?" Charles had never been so harsh toward Sheryl before, and Leila secretly began to laugh inside. She didn't need to defend herself anymore because it seemed that in Charles' opinion, everything Sheryl was doing was unreasonable.

'I should use this situation to my advantage and show Charles what a generous and understanding woman I am, ' she thought. Leila was sure that it wasn't going to be long before Charles broke up with Sheryl and she didn't want to miss this golden opportunity.

Charles' words had cut Sheryl like a knife. It seemed like he was going against her during this most difficult time in her life. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she was filled with so much heartache and pain that she nearly collapsed.

'It hurts so badly. Why does it hurt so much?' she wondered. In tears, she looked at her beloved Charles through bleary eyes and felt like she was losing him as well.

At the sight of the hurt and disappointment in Sheryl's eyes, Charles' heart broke. He wanted to hold her in his arms and comfort her. He wished that he had never uttered those words.

"I..." Charles was about to explain, but in the end, he swallowed his words and turned his head, calling Nancy to come.