The Substitute Bride

Black was taken aback by the drastic change in Holley's attitude, but before he could respond, he realized that she had locked him out.

"Holley, I'm sorry. It's all my fault, and I want to apologize. Please! Just let me in, okay?"

Black's voice shook as he softly knocked on the door, hoping Holley would open it again.

Holley, however, had a different worry on her mind and thought, 'Ferry has already decided that I will be marrying Jason in a few days. We are in a quiet war, not the type with guns and fire, but just as deadly. I can't just drag Black onto the battlefield. He doesn't deserve this.'

Tears formed in Holley's eyes as she thought about what they had become. Emotionally exhausted, she leaned against the door.

'If I had met Black earlier, I could have gotten away from Ferry. But now, there's no other way to go. I'm stuck where I am, ' she thought. The wet hot tears that had filled her eyes, finally fell, as her knees buckled. She knelt on the ground, sobbing.

"Go away! I don't love you anymore. I only want to be with Jason. Please, go away," Holley said through the door as she choked on her sobs.

He felt the pain in her voice and was equally devastated. Black responded in a soft voice, "Alright, Holley. I'll go, but please, don't cry. Don't cry."

Black thought he must have been making things harder for Holley, and that Holley was in more pain because he couldn't let her go. With this, he gently backed away from the door and silently went away.

After a moment, Holley noticed how quiet it was outside the door. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and opened the door. Black was gone. Right then and there, she knew it was the end. She could never be with him again.

It was nighttime in the crowded and prosperous city. The dazzling lights against the background of a dark sky would astonish anyone. Colorful lights from buildings and streets illuminated Black's way, but he was unable to appreciate any of it.

He walked like the dead, unaware of anything that went on around him. In his head, memories of Holley played over and over. First, it was the happy things, like her face and her smile. Then came the memories of her words and the determination that had shown so clearly on her face when she rejected him. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. Who knew that memories could physically hurt?

Although Sheryl was in a completely different place, she was hurting just the same at that time.

Isla and Aron were on vacation and were traveling abroad together. Naturally, Isla's absence meant more work for Sheryl. However, she didn't feel tired at all. In fact, all the work she had been doing had been a good distraction from Charles' heartlessness.

The last time she had crossed paths with Charles was at the kids' school. And now that she thought about it, she hadn't really even seen him then. She had only known he was there because she had seen his car that day. She had never seen him since. It was as if he was disap

o bed, she quietly went downstairs and walked over to Charles.

Leila wanted to show how concerned she was about Charles, and how thoughtful and sweet she was—the perfect wife-to-be! Unfortunately, Charles had been so exhausted that he had fallen asleep on the couch. Leila tried to wake him up several times, but he couldn't respond as he was sound asleep.

She stopped trying. Instead, she grabbed a blanket and put it over Charles' body. She stood still and studied his face. 'His eyes were like stars in the night, so sharp and full of life. Too bad I can't see them right now. He looks so weak and vulnerable, ' Leila thought to herself.

Leila let herself get lost in thoughts of Charles' perfect face for a while. When she became vaguely aware that she was blushing, she took one last look at Charles, stood up, and made her way up the stairs and into her room.

The following day, Charles awoke to find himself sleeping in the living room.

He felt like his bones were not where they should have been, so he stretched a few times.

"Charles? Did you sleep here again last night?" Melissa called out from the second floor as she gestured toward the living room.

She noticed that Charles was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing the day before and assumed that he did not sleep in his room again.

"Yes. I was exhausted. I wanted to rest on the couch for a bit, but then I dozed off," Charles replied nonchalantly.

"Charles, you have to take better care of yourself. You want me to worry about you, don't you?" Melissa said as she approached her son. She was wearing a worried look on her face.

Charles didn't want to do this to his mother on purpose. The guilt rendered him speechless.

When Leila noticed Charles' expression, she told Melissa, "Don't worry, Aunt Melissa. Charles is a grown man. He will take good care of himself. I know he will."

"I hope he does," Melissa replied to Leila as she pretended to be unhappy about what Charles had done.