The Substitute Bride

"Without a doubt, there is nothing more I could ask for in a man. Jackson is handsome and excellent, and he is devoted to me. No woman would not want a man such as him. I am truly fortunate, don't you think so, Sheryl?" Under the guise of these seemingly harmless words, Belinda sneered at Sheryl. A woman such as her only had her beauty and body. To Belinda, Sheryl amounted to nothing more than a gold-digger.

Sheryl was not stupid. She easily picked up the venom in Belinda's words and smiled wryly.

"Truly. There is nothing more unfortunate than a woman who could not see beyond the surface of things. A woman such as yourself could surely see that I built Cloud Advertising Company with sheer sweat and blood," Sheryl said meaningfully. "I am not a woman who would resort to underhanded means for money. Besides, it isn't even a problem at all now, with the money paid by my divorce from my husband," Sheryl continued, casually mentioning the divorce. It was a private matter, but she knew that Belinda would understand what she meant if she became aware of it.

Hopefully, it would be enough to persuade her.

Belinda had an incredulous look on her face at Sheryl's words. "Really?" she asked in shock.

"It's true," Sheryl acknowledged. "We are all being played. I don't know who is responsible, but I am obviously the target. The person behind all of this tried to use you and Jackson to set me up. You have to believe me. I never wanted you and Jackson to be involved, and I hope the two of you can resolve things and get back to how things were before." Sheryl looked at Belinda as she spoke, her eyes reflecting her sincerity.

"Alright, I believe you," Belinda answered quietly. All her earlier animosity was now gone. Instead, it was replaced with guilt. She had wrongfully accused Sheryl without getting all of her ducks in a row.

Seeing that Belinda had been persuaded, Sheryl heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"Good. Now that this has been settled, I'll be going first." Turning to her watch, she left immediately.

Sheryl stepped out of the lift onto the first floor. With quick steps, she headed straight towards the door. Once she was out of Belinda's company, she spotted Jackson waiting. He stiffened the moment his eyes landed on her, concern written all over his face.

"Jackson, I am not here to talk to you," she blurted out first before he could say anything. "I talked to Belinda and explained everything. Now would be a good time for you to clear up your side of things. I'm sorry for dragging the two of you into this mess." Sheryl truly hoped that the two of them could reconcile.

"Please don't apologize. It was our problem. I should be the one thanking you for all you've done," Jackson answered, letting out a sigh of relief. Sheryl had already cleared things up with Belinda. Now, all that was left for him to do was to talk to Belinda, and surely everything would be back to the way they were.

After wishing him luck, Sheryl bade goodbye to Jackson and decided to go back to her apartment. She could finally breathe in peace after all that had happened.

Meanwhile, Charles was at the hospital, shaken to his core

ft the hospital, and she could still use her weak condition as a card to keep Charles by her side. The clock was ticking, and she felt that it would be best to stir things up a little more and show off her relationship with Charles to the public.

"Charles, would it be too much to ask? It's only a small favor. Won't you please do it? For me?" she pleaded, deliberately adding a tremble to her voice as a finishing touch. Her eyes had a glassy look as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

Charles had to clench his fists to prevent himself from wincing at Vicky's hurt expression. He felt no pity for her. Rather, he was disgusted.

Vicky's tears bought her time. As David was struck by confusion, she got out of the car and went over to Charles quickly, grabbing him by the arm and giving him an imploring look.

"Please, Charles. Won't you drive me home?" She tightened her grip as she tirelessly pleaded.

Charles tried to pull back his arm and disentangle himself from Vicky's grip, but it proved futile. Passersby were throwing them looks, and people started to whisper around them. Vicky purposefully raised her voice, trying to draw more attention from the people around. Left without other options, Charles conceded.

If the press got wind of this, it would be even more troublesome.

"Fine," he said flatly.

"Really? Thank you! You are so good to me, Charles," Vicky exclaimed, beaming with delight. She pushed herself closer into Charles' arms and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Startled by Vicky's abrupt gesture, Charles pushed her away.

However, the woman had not run out of tricks. She wobbled back and forth as if she had lost her balance, and the next moment fell to the ground. With a shocked expression, she looked up at him. "Charles…What's wrong?"

David almost couldn't believe what he had just seen. From where he was, he was sure that Charles hadn't used that much force, so how could she possibly fall down so easily?

Still, he contained his shock and was quick on his feet to help her stand back up. "Ms. Ruan, are you okay?" he asked half-heartedly.