The Substitute Bride

"Sheryl, why don't you give Charles a chance? Talk to him," Isla finally said and turned to look at Sheryl. It was obvious that Sheryl was still in love with Charles. Otherwise, she wouldn't be in so much pain.

"That won't be necessary. I have nothing to explain, besides, for men, sex comes first. He doesn't care if I decide to leave. He only cares about the kids!" Sheryl explained, forcing a smile. She tried her best to sound like it was not a big deal, but her tone betrayed her, so she looked away.

Isla felt bad when she heard the sadness in Sheryl's words. Gently patting Sheryl's left hand, she said, "Sheryl, no matter what you decide to do, I will be here to support you!"

"Isla, don't worry about me. I will move on. Believe me, I can do this!" Sheryl never tried to hide her love for Charles because it was so deep. It was not like she could just forget him as she wished. He would always hold a special place in her heart.

"Yes, I know you can." Isla replied, giving her a reassuring smile.

Cloud Advertising Company had a lot of business clients recently. Isla tried to leave most of them to Sheryl because she knew that keeping her busy would take her mind off the sad things happening in her life. Therefore, Isla had a lot of free time, while Sheryl was as busy as a bee.

At the Dream Garden

Charles just got home from work. Entering the living room, he handed his coat to Nancy, who was waiting by the door. Melissa saw him the moment he came in and welcomed him in a gentle voice, "Charles, you're home. How was your day today? Are you tired?"

"No," Charles replied, his expression was blank.

Hearing such a short response, Melissa felt worried. She had worked out their plan smoothly with Leila the other night, but since then, Charles seemed to have been down in the dumps.

"Charles, you're making me worry. I hate seeing you so gloomy." Taking Charles' hand, Melissa tried to stop him as he was about to go upstairs.

"Mom, what else do you want me to do?" Charles impatiently asked his mother.

As if on cue, Melissa covered her chest and started coughing.

Seeing his mother coughing endlessly, Charles suddenly felt worried. He completely forgot about his earlier coldness to her, and co

so Nancy knocked twice and waited.

"Come in." Tilting his head, Charles looked to check who was at the door.

Pushing the door open, Nancy came in quietly. Seeing that Charles was busy working on some paperwork, she slowly walked towards him to announce, "Sir, dinner is ready."

"Okay, I got it. Thank you, Nancy." Forcing a smile, Charles closed the file he was working on then followed Nancy out of the study.

While walking down the stairs, he saw Melissa and Leila laughing in the living room. Charles had to admit that Leila had her own way with his mother. To be honest, he never heard Melissa laugh happily while talking with anyone, aside from Leila.

"Mom, let's go and have dinner now," Charles called out to Melissa before going straight to the dining table.

Leila straightened her face and led Melissa to the dining table.

After Nancy had finished setting the table, they started to have dinner.

"Charles, have more," Leila said, adding another serving to his bowl. "There are so many things to deal with in the company. Look at you. You seemed to have lost weight." Leila wanted Charles to feel that she was concerned with both him and the company.

But Charles didn't respond. Although Leila put another scoop of food into his bowl, he didn't even look at it. He continued eating another dish on his plate instead.

Feeling embarrassed, Leila turned to Melissa. She felt awkward that all her efforts were in vain, but she still managed to pull up a smile.