The Substitute Bride

Charles wasn't planning to go to Sheryl's room. All he really wanted was to pass by and make sure that the past incident wouldn't happen again. What he didn't expect was for Sheryl to walk out of her ward, especially this early in the morning.

The two stood there like flustered teenagers, as silence fell on them.

"What are you doing here?" Sheryl broke the silence.

Charles coughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just wanted to pay you a visit. Can't I?"

"You do what you do." She shrugged, averting her gaze at something else. She just couldn't bring herself to talk to him face to face. Whenever she'd see his familiar smile, she'd only be back to her awkward self again.

With one look at his smile, Sheryl couldn't help but scowl. 'Did he come here just to laugh at me?'

"Sheryl, can't we talk?" Charles frowned, eyebrows furrowing when he noticed Sheryl's darkened expression.

"Mr. Lu, I have nothing to discuss with you." Sheryl put a hand on the door to support herself as she backed away, raising a hand to further keep herself from Charles. She just couldn't be at ease with him, at least, not right now.

"Sher, I care for you." Charles moved forward, running a hand through his hair. He just didn't understand why Sheryl hated him this much. Where did he go wrong?

"If you don't have anything else to say, then I suggest you go home. You look tired." Sheryl pointed at the door, gesturing for him to leave. However, he didn't move one inch from where he was standing.

Charles stared in disbelief. He didn't know what to do anymore, or how to explain himself to Sheryl when he didn't know what was going on. He loved her, and he never forgot about her, but this time around, maybe she was the one who had forgotten.

Looking at her reddened face and angry glare, he felt helpless. Back then, Charles would wrap himself around Sheryl to comfort her. However, now, it seemed as if they were on two opposite ends of a plane.

"I..."

Sheryl interrupted, sneering. "What do you want? I've told you to leave, haven't I? Leave, Charles."

One look at her, and he knew she was serious.

Knowing

she hoped that they'd be a bit more relaxed.

Everyone had tried their best in keeping her from the Internet, but Sheryl wasn't stupid. She knew that there must be hundreds of articles out about her now, probably bashing her endlessly.

"Go back to you work, Isla. I'm tired. Thank you for today." Sheryl yawned.

"Are you really tired?"

"Yes, Isla. I'm exhausted." Sheryl emphasized, leaning back on her pillow as she succumbed to the warmth of her bed.

Isla stared at her before nodding slowly. "Okay, I'll leave now. Take care of yourself, yeah?"

After Isla left, Sheryl didn't go to sleep. Though she was tired, she couldn't help but start thinking of Damian and what he had done.

At the same time, Damian was also thinking of what he had done to Sheryl. He had done all he could to try and fix what had happened, even starting to communicate with his other relatives and friends to remove the news about Sheryl from websites.

Though he wanted to fall in love with Sheryl, Sheryl didn't like him. He knew that Sheryl didn't like these types of gossip. Besides, this did nothing but make their relationship drift apart.

"Editor Li, you must know about the news about me and Sheryl. Please help me to remove it." Damian called the editor of the newspaper company.

Editor Li was a relative of theirs, and though they weren't close, Damian knew he had no choice but to turn to him on this matter.