The Substitute Bride

Running Sheryl over had been both Holley's and Leila's idea, so when the two finally met, Holley was anxious to hear the good news.

When Leila had been on the phone with Holley the night before, she hadn't told her what happened. Holly was antsy. She hoped to find out as early as possible how things had turned out.

Therefore, when Leila started talking to Holley in a pompous way, holding her head high, Holley thought they had succeeded. 'She's acting so arrogant around me today! It seems like Sheryl has finally been killed, and Leila's proud of it. Finally! Finally, Leila has become the hostess of Shining Company!'

However, Leila went on to report to Holly the opposite of what she had been expecting. She drank her coffee and said, "I failed. Sheryl's fine." Leila was so angry that her voice shook as she spoke. She regretted failing to kill Sheryl.

Holley was shocked to hear this news. In her mind, she blamed Leila. 'Why on earth is she behaving so arrogantly in front of me? This is nothing to be proud of! She has obviously forgotten her position!'

Without holding back her emotions, Holley replied with anger, "Leila, you are completely useless! It was such an easy job and you blew it! I asked you to do one thing! Only one thing! And you just couldn't succeed. You still want to be the hostess of Shining Company, don't you? You must be dreaming then, because you are so weak and useless!"

These words worsened Leila's anger. She thought to herself, 'While we are in this difficult situation, she's doing nothing except blaming me. By now, she should be thinking of other ways to end Sheryl, not putting this failure solely on me!' Leila sneered and looked provocatively at Holley. "I'm useless and weak? What about you? If you are so strong and useful, why don't you think of a way to kill Sheryl by yourself? You know nothing about dealing with Sheryl, but you can think of a thousand ways to blame me. You are useless, too! You're only good at running your mouth against your own allies!"

Leila's provocation got to Holley. She was so angry that she slammed down her hands on the table. Standing up, she pointed at Leila. "From now on, don't expect any money from me. Never!"

She emphasized the words "any money."

However, when Leila heard this, she just started laughing. She laughed so hard and for so long that it confused Holley.

'Why is she laughing?' Holley thought. 'What on earth is so funny about no longer getting financial help from me?'

Leila couldn't help herself. She kept chuckling for a while. 'Has she forgotten everything?' she thought to herself. 'Has she forgotten how I got the money from her in the first place?

If she doesn't give me money, she will never get what she wants.

Besides, I don't even care about the money. I'm just pretending to work for her. Truth is, I'm using her.'

Leila finally stopped laughing and stared at Holley. S

th determination. She looked at Leila, trying to persuade her into believing her.

"Really? Aunt Melissa, you would really do that for me? You're willing to talk to Charles about this? Leila asked Melissa in excitement.

Melissa nodded. She was happy to see Leila so eager.

"Aunt Melissa, thank you! Thank you so much! You are the best," Leila said with tears in her eyes. She seemed deeply moved and gave Melissa a big hug.

It worked on Melissa. She was also moved by Leila's reaction. She patted Leila's back and comforted her. "It's alright. There's no need to thank me. We will be a family very soon," she said.

"Yes, we will!" Leila said as she flashed Melissa a big smile.

After comforting Leila, Melissa walked upstairs. Leila's eyes followed her. After Melissa disappeared from her sight, Leila laughed, satisfied. 'Sheryl, ' she thought, 'after I finally return to Shining Company, you will never make it back to Dream Garden.'

At Eton Kindergarten, a meeting was about to take place.

Clark and Shirley had been asked by their teacher to invite their parents to the meeting. Sheryl arrived at the kindergarten very early.

Clark saw his mother first. He ran toward Sheryl and jumped into her arms happily. After a while, he asked in a soft voice, "Where is Dad? Is he not coming?"

Sheryl hadn't told Charles about this meeting. Last time when they had seen each other, it had not been pleasant. She didn't want to forgive or see him so soon.

She grinned at Clark and kissed his face. "Dad is busy, but Mom is here for Clark and Shirley," said Sheryl.

Clark had always been a good boy, so he didn't respond. Still, he missed his father very much.

Sheryl sighed and thought, 'I know how much he misses Charles, but after I left Dream Garden, Charles never talked about seeing the kids. I don't know if the kids are even important to him. Maybe he just doesn't love them as much as I thought he did.'