The Substitute Bride

For a moment, Leila's eyes flashed with surprise. Then, as if she had just remembered, she shook her head and told Melissa, "Aunt Melissa, that's not necessary. I'm here to spend time with you. I'm not going anywhere without you." She seemed slightly at a loss as to what she should do.

"You silly girl, why are you so stubborn?" Melissa pretended to be angry at Leila.

But Leila was insistent that she was not going anywhere.

Melissa was left with no other choice. She spoke directly to her son, "Charles, Leila just arrived in Malaysia. Don't you think you should take her sightseeing?"

Charles felt slightly uncomfortable that Melissa had forced him into such an awkward position. He really didn't want to spend time with Leila, but since his mother was being so persistent, he didn't have any other choice. He casually glanced in Leila's direction but remained silent.

Leila caught sight of Charles' unfriendly look, and she immediately knew that Charles wasn't keen on spending time with her. Not wanting to make things worse, she quickly told Melissa, "Aunt Melissa, I think I'd better get some rest first..."

"Leila, be a good girl. Just go out and have fun with Charles. Don't worry about me," Melissa said to Leila with a determined look.

Then she turned to Charles with the same determined look. "Charles, dear, I just want the two of you to have some fun together. Is that too much for this sick old lady to ask?"

Towards the end of her monologue, her gaze turned to a sad one. Seeing the look on Melissa's face, Charles was forced to agree.

"Okay, Mom. I'll do it,"

Charles agreed, feeling helpless. When his mother was being so persistent, there was nothing else he could do. Her health wasn't in good condition these days, and he didn't want to make her unhappy.

Suddenly, Leila secretly felt excited at his words. But she pretended to be a bit reluctant to agree. She knew it was the best strategy to use Melissa's illness, although it would be much better if Charles willingly wanted to spend time with her. So she tugged on Melissa's hand and told her, "Aunt Melissa, I'm really worried about your health. Even if I go out, my mind will always be worrying about you, so I won't really enjoy myself."

Leila's words pleased Melissa that Leila really cared about her, and Melissa liked her even more for that. Beaming with pleasure, she told Leila, "Don't worry about me. Charles has been taking good care of me. Now I just want to rest in the hotel. You two go out and have fun. I'll be waiting here for you to come and tell

to spend time with him by her side.

There was nothing more that she wanted to ask for. In her mind, Charles was already hers and always would be. It was only a matter of time before they ended up falling in love, so she didn't bother trying to rush things.

They walked out of the shop with Leila holding the paper bag tightly. She appeared very excited about her purchase and seemed almost giddy with happiness. Even though Charles was trying to pay as little attention to her as possible, he couldn't help noticing how happy she was.

It made him slightly curious. 'Did she buy it for someone she loves? If it was just a friend, she wouldn't be so excited about it. But she's never talked about anyone before. I really hope there's someone else.'

Despite his curiosity, Charles refused to ask Leila about it. He merely quickened his pace, not caring if Leila could keep up with him. He didn't even bother looking back to see if she was following him.

Leila noticed his faster pace; and, she tried to quicken her stride too, but she couldn't keep up with him.

Her eyes moved quickly as she thought of something. She quickly jogged to keep up with him, and right before she was about to catch up, she pretended to trip. Unfortunately, she miscalculated and ended up actually falling. Unable to catch herself in time, she hit her elbow on the ground, hard.

Even though she had only hit her elbow, she felt so much pain that it seemed as though her elbow was on fire. She guessed that she had broken the skin.

"Ouch!" Leila cried out. It was just a small injury, and she could have easily gotten up on her own. But she pretended that she couldn't as she stared at her own broken flesh in horror.