The Substitute Bride

A bead of sweat rolled down Sheryl's temple as she walked. A moment later, she heard someone call out her name. "Mom!" Shirley yelled from a distance.

Sheryl hastened her pace and put Clark down to the ground as she neared Shirley, then wrapped her daughter in a hug. She touched her small face and said, "Did you behave well today, Shirley?"

"Yes, I did. Shirley is a good girl all the time. Clark also behaved well, but Mom is not doing the same," Shirley said with a pout. Her eyes looked dejectedly at Sheryl to show her dissatisfaction.

"Why? Why isn't Mom behaving well, Shirley?" Sheryl had no idea what she did to make Shirley upset.

"Mom said that Dad would come to see us. But Dad isn't coming, and it's been so long! Dad came to our meeting each time before, no matter how busy he was. But he's not coming today, Mom! Is it because Dad doesn't like us anymore?" Shirley asked sadly. Sheryl felt the words stab into her heart like a knife.

"No, it's not like that. Dad will always love Shirley and Clark!" Sheryl explained quickly. 'I can't decide if he still wants the kids or not. I just hope that our issues won't hurt them.

I know that it can affect children if they don't have a father. How will I make it up to them?' Sheryl wondered.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away and managed a smile as she stood before Shirley and Clark. She patted Shirley's head and said, "What if Mom calls Dad now to check if he's done with work or not?"

"Okay!" the kids exclaimed in unison.

They got excited, hoping that their dad would still make it.

Meanwhile, Sheryl mustered all her courage and dialed Charles' number.

After three attempts, however, no one ever picked up the call.

In reality, Sheryl was desperate to know why no one picked up the call, and so were the kids.

"Look, Mom is not lying. Dad is really so busy. If he wasn't busy, he would've picked up the phone, right?" Sheryl asked her kids. However, sadness was evident in Shirley's eyes.

"Shirley, Mom won't lie to us," Clark told his sister when he saw how sad his sister was. He turned to Sheryl and said, "Mom, the next show is ours. Take pictures for us!"

"Okay!" Sheryl replied.

After that, Clark led Shirley backstage.

When Sheryl saw how the other kids watched the shows happily, she felt sorry for Clark and Shirley.

Suddenly, a sheet of tissue appeared in front of her face.

When she looked up, she was greeted by Lewis.

Out of all people, she didn't expect to see him at this place. A smile formed on his lips as he sat beside her. "Don't cry. If the kids see that you're crying, they will feel even sadder," he said.

"Why are you here?" Sheryl asked instead of responding to his words. "My friend's kid also studies here.

I came here on behalf of him, then I saw y

he never missed my call before? How could he hear them in the past? Now, he tells me that he didn't get to answer because he didn't hear his phone ring!'

Sheryl didn't really buy Charles' excuse. She was lost in her thoughts. 'Ever since I left Dream Garden, his phone has always been on silent mode. I wonder why. Isn't he worried about missing important calls?'

"Oh, really? Well, that's not my concern," Sheryl replied, still without any emotion in her voice. After that, she immediately hung up. Charles called repeatedly afterward, but Sheryl didn't pick up his calls.

Sheryl wasn't the type of woman to want trouble with her man. She didn't want to show her temper to get his attention. She acted that way because if they were really going to separate one day, it was better for them to not have any contact at all.

Meanwhile, Charles looked at his phone in silence. He knew that if Sheryl didn't want to answer a call, she wouldn't, no matter how many times he tried.

It was getting late, so he just left the company and went back to Dream Garden.

He went to see Melissa as soon as he got home.

This time, Melissa didn't let Charles go back to his room as usual. Instead, she asked him to sit with her because she wanted to talk.

Charles was impatient. At first, he thought Melissa was going to badmouth Sheryl again. However, he didn't expect for her to talk about Leila.

Melissa didn't directly say what she wanted because she thought Charles might refuse too soon. So, she hinted around and said, "Charles, are you aware that Leila can't run her lingerie store anymore because she is taking care of me? She has decided to close it down." She looked at Charles again. When she saw that his face was blank, she got to her real point. "If I get better in the future, Leila will have to go back to earning a living. Charles, how about you find her a job?"