The Substitute Bride

Charles had apologized to Franklin, thinking it was Leila who was behind everything.

Franklin said he didn't mind because he had a hand in it as well. However, he knew that he had made a fool of himself by trying to be smart.

When Angel heard this, she looked at him in disbelief and shock. She had never thought that her father would be willing to endure assault for her.

Hugging herself, Angel looked once more at the marks and bruises on her father's skin. It hurt to even look at them. She had not laid a hand on him, yet, she felt as though she had caused these marks herself. All of this happened because of her.

Guilt was slowly consuming Angel. Her father had had to go through all this because of her naivety. Yes, she wanted Charles, but now, she realized that her father's health was far more important than any man's affection.

"Father, I don't want Charles anymore. Please, don't go putting yourself in harm's way for me in the future. You don't need to try to bring us together. No more of this silliness, okay?" Angel's voice cracked, and her eyes welled up with guilty tears.

She didn't want Franklin to go to such lengths again to try to win Charles' favor. It was time for this to end.

Franklin nodded his agreement with tears in his eyes. He knew that she was thinking clearly and that her mind was made up.

Angel appeared calm and reasonable, and Franklin thought there was no reason to disagree with her. He was willing to do whatever she asked of him.

"Can you really move on?" Franklin asked. He still couldn't believe what his daughter had said.

He recalled what Angel had been like in the beginning. Back then, she would rather die than be away from Charles. Could this accident have changed her mind that quickly?

Angel saw her father's disbelief and smiled. "Father, Charles is a special man. But no matter how special he is, he isn't as important as you are to me. Moreover, no one in this world can treat me better than you do. If being with him means that you might get hurt, I would rather not be with him."

She meant every word. It was clear that forgetting Charles wouldn't be easy, but it was the right thing to do.

As soon as Charles asked the question, David became visibly emotional. He said, "Mr. Lu, since you asked, I'm going to be honest with you. I feel confused. Leila just got us a project and made more than one billion for the company. People are happy about it, but do you know what has happened these last two days?"

David paused for suspense, prompting Charles to frown.

When David realized what he had done, he hurriedly continued, "We lost another hard-to-get project because the price was 0.5 percent lower. Do you think it's possible that this was merely a coincidence? Or do you think they're somehow connected?"

"Who owns the other company?" Charles knitted his brows as he looked at David.

"Ferry Fang,"

David replied. He was just as puzzled. Leila and this Ferry Fang probably did not regularly and directly contact each other. If so, how were these two projects related?

Ferry Fang?

Charles recognized that name. He had to pause and think.

This man found his way into Charles' life again, and it was certainly not a coincidence. Did Ferry have something to do with the Shining Company?

"Investigate Leila's relationship with Ferry. Don't miss anything. And check what Ferry's up to recently. I want to know everyone and everything that has to do with him." Charles shot David a serious look. There was no trace left of the easy-going smile that had been there just moments earlier. He had to know what was going on.