The Substitute Bride

That night, Sheryl wanted to visit Charles, but Cassie stopped her.

"Sher, both Melissa, and Leila are there with him right now. If you go in there, they will surely seize this opportunity to harass you. I have a better plan. How about you go back first? I'll keep an eye on Mr. Lu. If anything happens, I'll let you know as soon as possible," Cassie said softly. Cassie didn't dare to speak loudly, for Sheryl's face was a picture of raw sadness. She was afraid that even the slightest move might scare her.

Even though Sheryl was quiet, Cassie could tell from her sad eyes that she might suffer a breakdown any minute now.

Sheryl didn't answer her. Instead, she stared at Cassie numbly as if she didn't understand a word she had said. After a while, she nodded and said, "All right. Please, keep me updated, no matter what happens!"

Sheryl reached out and grasped Cassie's hand, pleading for her promise.

Cassie wrapped her hands around Sheryl's hand and said solemnly, "Sher, you can rest assured. I know how much Mr. Lu means to you. I promise I'll update you if anything changes."

Cassie's sincerity convinced Sheryl, and she decided to leave.

There was a part of Sheryl that wanted so badly to see Charles. But deep down, she knew that she had no other choice but to follow Cassie's advice. If Melissa happened to see her, she wouldn't let her go so easily. It was also possible that Melissa would make trouble for her yet again. The problem was Sheryl had no strength to deal with any dramas at the moment. Moreover, the mere thought of listening to Melissa's usual stream of accusations made her sick.

After Sheryl had left, Cassie walked to Charles' ICU room. She avoided meeting Melissa and Leila and went to see Charles' doctor instead.

"Excuse me, Doctor Chen. Could you please tell me how your patient Charles Lu is doing?" Cassie asked politely. Even though she had confidently assured Sheryl that Charles was fine, truth be told, she wasn't sure of that either. After all, there had been no sign from his doctor to indicate that Charles was going to wake up any time soon. Whether or not the congestion could be drained also remained a mystery. So Cassie didn't feel as at ease as she had pretended with Sheryl.

The doctor took off his glasses and sighed before he spoke. "Cassie, if it wasn't for the blood congestion in his head, Mr.Lu would be fine. If we could remove all of the congestion, he would most likely make a full recovery. For now, every mome

ached the stairway. She sprang up and tried to leave; however, Leila grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Do you really think that I'll let you go, now that you know my secrets?" Leila sneered viciously. She knew that Cassie was with Sheryl. If Cassie went back and told Sheryl everything, Leila would be dead meat.

Leila would stop Cassie from exposing her secrets at any cost.

"Let go of me, you vicious woman! I'll never let you be with Mr. Lu! Mr. Lu is Sher's husband and will remain hers forever..." Cassie yelled. However, Leila became annoyed and gave her a push. The next moment, Cassie began rolling down the staircase!

"Aaah!" Cassie screamed.

The height of the flight of stairs from the rooftop was much higher than from the other floors. When she stopped rolling, Cassie lay on the floor motionlessly.

Leila felt scared as she watched this dreadful sight. She hadn't intended to kill her. But on second thought, it had indeed been a life-and-death fight. If Cassie survived, then she would undoubtedly reveal Leila's secrets. Leila decided to turn a blind eye to Cassie's condition. Worried that someone would catch her on the rooftop, Leila left hastily, without checking on Cassie.

After Leila went downstairs, she walked to Charles' ward like nothing had happened.

When Melissa saw her, she stretched her arms and let out a yawn. In a sleepy voice, she said, "It's pretty late now. Let's go back. The nurse is here anyway."

"All right, Aunt Melissa," Leila smiled sweetly as she took Melissa's bag from her. They asked the nurse to take care of Charles and then took their leave. Nobody realized that Cassie was missing.