The Substitute Bride

"Did you buy the tickets?" Sheryl asked calmly as she tried to control her emotion, after wiping off the tears at the corners of her eyes.

There was a strange indifference in Sheryl's attitude as she fixed her gaze at the screen while speaking with Damian. Damian was quite intimidated by her behavior, so much so that he couldn't make out how to answer her question. After giving it some thought for a moment or two, he decided not to deny it. He turned his head to look at Sheryl's that was turned towards the screen and said, "Yes, I bought them for us!"

"Why?" Sheryl asked.

"Because I wanted to invite you to see this movie, but I was afraid that you would refuse. So..."

Sheryl heaved a sigh and shook her head, expressing her disapproval of what Damian said. She maintained a long face and refused to look at Damian's face while talking. She spoke absolutely to the point and avoided any kind of casual conversation.

"Don't do this ever again!" Sheryl made her point clear in a cold tone.

Sheryl's words pierced through Damian's heart like sharp arrows. He felt deeply hurt, and it showed on his face immediately. Yet Sheryl didn't have the heart to look at his face for even once.

"Sheryl, don't you like..."

"Let's focus on the screen. The movie has started," Sheryl interrupted. Evidently, she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Sheryl's indifference made Damian get cold feet. He didn't know when, or how he might have said, or done something wrong to Sheryl. Not wanting to displease Sheryl any further, he swallowed the words down his throat.

He thought there would be other chances for the two of them to talk, so he decided to wait. During the movie, Damian tried several times to talk to Sheryl, but every time he turned his head toward Sheryl, her frozen expression stopped him from even uttering a word.

This was the first time Damian had seen Sheryl be so cold and indifferent. He thought that Sheryl must be in a bad mood this time. Helpless, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, thinking, 'Indeed, it is true as the saying goes–you should pay attention to what you say in front of a woman.' While Sheryl kept staring at the screen expressionlessly, Damian could not enjoy the movie either. Sitting beside Sheryl at that moment seemed to be the most difficult thing for Damian to do right now. He could even feel a chilly air coming out of Sheryl's body that gave him the shivers.

As long as the movie continued, Damian couldn't put his mind at ease. His entire attention was on Sheryl. As the movie came to an end, the lights in the movie theater were turned on. However, Damian was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice it. "Damian, the movie is over. I think I should go home now. You don't have to drive me back. Please don't bother yourself," Sheryl said as she stood up from her seat. After that, she headed towards the exit. Neither did she wait for Damian to reply to her, nor did she bother to wait for him.

"Sher, wait!" Damian pulled himself out of his reverie and chased after Sheryl.

Sheryl walked swiftly out of the theater, hoping to see Isla waiting for her outside the movie hall. Sheryl's eyes combed the entire place to find Isla, but she was nowhere to be seen.

'Did she just go back, leaving me alone here? How thoughtless can Isla be sometimes?'

Sheryl thought to herself. She bit her lips to vent the sudden surge of anger in her heart. She couldn't believe that Isla had just gone away without even informing her. Since Sheryl didn't have her car with her that day, she was left with no option other than to call a taxi.

She quickly slipped her hand into her handbag to find her phone. While Sheryl was dialing Isla's number, she saw Damian coming towar

t Sheryl was a wonderful woman, and he only wanted her to be happy. To make sure of that, Damian had made up his mind to protect Sheryl.

Damian kept gazing at Sheryl while he contemplated all this. The determination grew stronger and stronger in his heart.

Sheryl had no idea why Damian kept staring at her, nor did she know what was in his head. Yet she felt extremely uncomfortable to be alone with Damian in that way. As soon as she got into the car, she just told him to go to the kindergarten first, and then she remained silent.

Damian was happy that he was going to see Sheryl's two lovely kids. He was elated by the fact that Sheryl agreed to allow him to appear in front of her kids.

At Shining Company

Charles was winding up his day's tasks. He had just finished the last pile of papers on his desk. Suddenly, his phone rang, and Melissa's name flashed on the screen.

"Charles, I am hanging out on the street now. But I am facing a problem with hailing a taxi. I had the driver go back because I thought it would be easy to find a taxi. It seems that I have been wrong. So where are you now? Are you free from your work now? Can you pick me up?" Melissa asked.

Charles frowned as he heard his mother speak. He was worried as he learned that Melissa was stranded on the streets without any means to come back home. He immediately responded, "Where are you now, Mom?"

Melissa gladly shared her location in detail with him. Much to Charles' surprise, the place where Melissa was stuck at was just a few bus stops away from the kindergarten that Shirley and Clark went to. Charles could not help but grow suspicious.

The obvious question that came to his mind was, 'Why did Mom pick that place to hang out?'

"Okay, stay where you are. I will be right there," Charles told Melissa. More than anything else, Charles was worried. He feared that Melissa was too old to be safe when alone in that place. Charles cautioned Melissa, "Don't move around. Stop hailing any taxis. Just stay where you are and wait for me. Mom, you promise me that!"

"Okay, I won't move an inch, until I see you. I promise you, my boy!" Melissa said with a happy smile. She was so pleased that Charles cared about her so much.

Charles immediately opened the drawer, picked up the car keys, and rushed out of his office. He didn't even take a moment to sort out the messy files lying on his desk. Thinking that David could take care of the mess, he just wanted to reach his car as soon as possible.