The Substitute Bride

All of a sudden, the color drained out of Melissa's face, and her face became as white as paper. "What do we do, Leila!? We can't let Sheryl get in the way! We can't!"

Melissa repeated her own words, panic-stricken, and lost in thought.

Leila smiled mildly, careful not to let Melissa see it. This was what Leila had wanted to happen.

"Don't worry, Aunt Melissa. Whether we can succeed this time really depends on you. Sheryl is forcing Charles to agree to a divorce, and Charles keeps putting it off. The only way to solve the problem now is to pretend to be sick again, and this time, say that you're sick because of Sheryl. Then you can ask Charles to choose between you and Sheryl. I am pretty sure that he will choose you over her, and he'll have no other choice but to sign the divorce papers."

To Leila, Melissa pretending to be sick again was the only way. They had to force Charles to make a decision, and after what they had already tried, things were urgent. Charles was so indecisive, and he needed someone to push him.

"Sure. I'll do that."

Melissa was completely at a loss and also completely desperate. She would say yes to whatever Leila told her. She believed that Leila was the only person who could help her fix this dilemma.

Gradually, Melissa calmed down as Leila continued to comfort her.

In the Cloud Advertising Company

Sheryl couldn't focus on her work at all. She knew that Charles had gotten the summons. She checked her phone from time to time. She waited and waited some more, expecting him to call her. But he did not call her, nor did he leave her a text message. She felt like her faith in him had been fading, little by little. Maybe it was time to let go completely.

It was the most typical thing that women did. Even though they were the ones who wanted the divorce and who signed the papers, they would always hope that their husbands would beg them to stay and forget about all their troubles.

And that, in truth, was what Sheryl was hoping for. Although she had no choice but to divorce Charles, given her current situation and Ferry's threat, she still hoped that Charles would call her. But, she had waited such a long time, and her patience was wearing out. No word could describe how depressed she felt.

Eventually, she gave up.

In order to distract herself, Sheryl walked out of her office an

y from her. She was worried about her. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Sheryl drove back home immediately. She wanted to give her kids a surprise, and so she would wait for them at home.

In the Dream Garden

Charles had gone back home with Leila as usual. But then he got the summons from the court. Since then, he barely spoke a word, and his face was dreary. Neither Melissa nor Leila dared to say anything, afraid that they would hurt Charles' feelings.

While at dinner, he found an excuse to leave the table.

"Aunt Melissa, I'm going with Charles. Wait for us at home," Leila said as she quickened her pace, trying to catch up to Charles.

Before Melissa could say anything, Leila had disappeared after Charles. Melissa shook her head and swallowed her words.

Leila didn't dare catch up to him only to ask where he was going. Instead, she followed behind him sneakily. Charles went to a bar, and Leila followed him inside. Somehow, she felt like this was the perfect opportunity.

Once she was inside, Leila found the bartender and gave him some money, asking him to replace all Charles' orders with really strong and hard liquor. Leila swore she would make the best use of this situation to ruin Charles' relationship with Sheryl completely.

For the next three hours, Charles drank non-stop, and by the time that he was heading home, he was stumbling.

Leila gave money to the bartender again, asking him to find someone to take Charles home. After all, a weak woman like her couldn't carry Charles home, especially when he was drunk.