The Substitute Bride

"Charles, I'm fine. It's just Leila, that bitch. She's doing something shady again. I heard her speaking with a man over the phone just now. She called him boss something, and she sounded pretty scared of him. I guess he was the one who forced Leila to steal trade secrets…" Melissa said as she held Charles' hand, her whole body shaking.

Finally putting herself in Charles' shoes, it all made sense to her now. Melissa also regretted everything that she had done.

Back in the Dream Garden, she had done what she could to help Leila trick Charles, even pretending to be sick. Melissa's eyes welled up as she was reminded of her foolish acts. In between sobs, she apologized to Charles, saying, "Charles, I'm so sorry for what I have done. Please, don't be mad at me, okay?"

"Mom, what are you talking about? I'm your son. Why would I be mad at you?" Charles comforted his mother, feeling sorry for her as he could see how guilty Melissa felt.

"Charles, I'm sorry that you had to find out like this. I wasn't sick at all. I have always been in good shape. It was all part of Leila's scheme. She told me that as long as I pretended to be sick, you and Sheryl would end up getting a divorce. Sorry. I really am…" With tears rolling down from her cheek, Melissa was too sad to finish her sentences.

Listening to Melissa's confession, Charles' face turned gloomy. He knew Leila had done a lot of bad things in the past. But he never thought that she would force his mother to pretend to be sick just to lay the blame on Sheryl.

Seeing Charles' clench fist, Melissa could see how angry Charles was.

"I'm sorry, Charles. I know you're worried about me. All those fights between you and Sheryl, and now Sheryl is long gone. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have trusted Leila in the first place." Teary-eyed, Melissa looked at Charles, begging for his forgiveness. Despite his mother's bad choices, Charles still felt something inside him aching for her.

"Mom, I know that this is all Leila's fault. I don't blame you. She will have to pay for what she has done. Don't worry!" Charles smiled and hugged Melissa, assuring her that Leila would pay for all their troubles one day.

Hearing Charles' assurance, Melissa finally felt relieved.

Being in Charles' arms, Melissa couldn't see the fire and anger in his eyes. All this time, Charles had been coming up with a plan. Now that Ferry was forcing Leila to take action, Charles had decided to make use of this chance.

A few minutes later, he finally calmed Melissa down. He said goodbye t

nstalled a detectaphone in Leila's cell phone, so he had heard the whole conversation just now. And he was desperate to know what the punishment Ferry was talking about was.

Suddenly, he received a message from David. "Excuse me," he told Leila.

"President Lu, this news just came out."

Charles read the message before he clicked the link below. It was about Leila and Holley.

Charles couldn't help but smile when he read the news. So this was the punishment Ferry was talking about. Charles wondered how he could let Leila find out about this.

He finished the dinner quickly and paid the check as Leila remained absent-minded. "Shall we?" he finally asked her. Leila just smiled and nodded.

On their way home, Charles said something to trick Leila into checking her phone.

Lost in thought, Leila only smiled at Charles. She really wasn't in the mood to check on her phone now. She scrolled her screen carelessly, browsing from one web page to another, and then there it was! She stopped scrolling as soon as she saw her name and studied the news.

"What's wrong, Leila? You don't look very well." Charles asked, seeing Leila's hesitation and thinking she must have seen the news by now.

"No-nothing. I just saw some rumors online, saying that I know Holley. Why would they think that I know her? And they also said that I had something to do with Holley's death. These newspapers would write anything just to boost their sales. I mean, Holley is dead. Why can't people just stop talking about her? I don't mind what they say about me. But Holley? I think people should give her some respect…" Leila explained to Charles, knowing that he would hear this news sooner or later.