The Substitute Bride

Isla's face turned gloomy as she said, "I'm still worried about Sheryl."

Aron nodded his head. He hugged her even tighter and smiled, trying to release her stress. He said, "It's not going to help even if you keep worrying. Why not go to sleep now and get some rest? Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"What if Leila bullies Sheryl?" Isla muttered, her brows stiff, and her eyes looked weary. Her mind was occupied by worries. How could she sleep now?

"Don't worry. Sheryl is not that gullible. She might look like she could be taken for a ride very easily, but she wouldn't just let anyone step on her. I am sure she will be able to handle it on her own. You must trust her." Aron knew that Isla's worries were not baseless. However, there was nothing much they could do at the moment. In fact, worrying about it would only end up creating a hassle for Isla, instead of bringing any positive outcome.

"You are right, Aron. You go to sleep now. I will wait for a while. If anything happens, Sheryl is going to call me. Don't worry about me." After Isla persuaded Aron to go to sleep, she walked to the balcony. She checked her phone screen repeatedly, hoping to receive a call from Sheryl.

On the cruise, Twilight, Leila had more or less recovered from the sprain, thanks to Charles, who had helped her by covering her ankle with ice.

Even though Leila was feeling much better, she pretended to be in acute pain just to keep Charles close with her.

"Charles, it hurts badly! What should I do?" Leila eyed Charles with a lot of pain in her eyes as if she was suffering substantially.

Charles inspected her foot and said coldly, "Your foot is fine now. The swelling is gone. Stay still. Don't move your foot. There's nothing seriously wrong."

"Then shall we go now?" Leila said as she looked at Charles with a worried face, skeptical that he would reject her.

"Just stay here for a moment. I still have to talk to the clients. I will come back after that," Charles said as he got up and took a couple of steps ahead.

"Charles, wait…"

Leila called out hurriedly. When Charles stopped and turned around, she put an embarrassed look on her face. She gave a smile and said, "Let me come with you then. After you finish, we can leave from there directly. You don't have to come back again."

"No. You can't walk now. Just stay here and wait for me!" Charles stated in a stern voice. Then he walked out of the room without giving Leila any time to respond.

Leila reached out

kind of an effect on him.

"Don't you feel disgusted with yourself?" Suppressing her discomfort and tears, Sheryl stared at him with an obstinate look.

"What do you mean? Sheryl, I…"

"Enough! Stay away from me!" Sheryl spat and turned around again.

Once again, Charles managed to catch her and took her in his arms. Sheryl struggled to free herself from his forceful embrace.

In the shoving and jostling, Charles suddenly fell overboard from the ship and into the sea.

"Charles!" Sheryl's hands clutched at the air, and her fingers barely missed reaching Charles' sleeve as he fell over the side of the ship.

"Charles!"

Sheryl's first instinct was to jump after him. The other guests noticed her attempts to save him and quickly pulled her back immediately.

"Are you out of your mind?" The person who came to save her shouted at her.

Sheryl's face was drained of all color. Terrified, she stared at the dark water, trying to look for Charles' figure but to no avail.

Some of the guests, who had witnessed the accident started to scream out loud in panic; while, some took prompt action and called for help. Within a few moments, the lifeguards onboard came, and they jumped into the sea.

Sheryl was horror-stricken. She dropped to the ship's deck and sat there with blankly staring eyes. It so happened that Anne and her friend had come out to get some fresh air. When they heard the commotion, they came over to see what had happened.

Anne found Sheryl still sitting on the deck in a traumatized state. She walked briskly to her and said, "Sheryl, what are you doing here?" Sheryl's eyes were frozen, bereft of any expression.