The Substitute Bride

Seeing that Sheryl was in a carefree mood, Isla's face suddenly turned serious.

"Sher, I'm not kidding. I think it's absolutely vital for you and your kids that you talk with Charles. He has no right to come by whenever he wants. This is what you should tell him, so you can be free of him and have your own life. You need boundaries! First, he stays away from the children in the future unless he asks for your permission to visit the kids. Secondly, he can't take the kids out of your sight. Besides..."

Isla was dead serious about the advice she was giving to Sheryl. Yet, Sheryl thought it was way too much, and she didn't want to listen to it.

She didn't even know Isla had such a serious side to her before.

"Isla, I have to drive Clark to Dream Garden later. After that, I will have to take care of Shirley in the hospital. I don't have much time left for being told what to do nor for scheduling time to talk with Charles." Sheryl changed the topic.

Isla widened her eyes in shock, uttering, "What did you say? Are you telling me that you are going to take your son to Dream Garden? I see you still haven't learned your lesson from yesterday's matter, have you? "

"What? Isla, come on. What do you expect me to do? Joan cannot take care of Clark right now since she has some private matters with her family to deal with. Furthermore, she will be gone for a while. I have to take Clark somewhere! Do you think I should take Clark to the hospital and let him stay there with his sister?" Sheryl shook her head, smiling ironically.

From this, Isla realized how complicated Sheryl's situation was.

"Okay, I understand. Well, how about taking Clark to my house. Let me take care of your son. I can..." Isla suggested after a while of hesitation.

Before Isla could even finish her words, Sheryl interrupted her and yelled, "Stop it! You can't do that!"

"Why? Don't you trust me? Don't you believe that I can take care of him?" Isla demanded in confusion. She kept staring at Sheryl, waiting for her answer.

With a helpless shake of her head, Sheryl explained, "No, I don't think you can. You are too busy to even take good care of your own kid. From what I know, your husband is the one actually taking care of your kid. And, yes, I really doubt that you can handle it with two! Also, now that we don't work together, I presume you are busier than before, aren't you? Are you still confident that you can take care of Clark?"

Sheryl didn't mean to refuse Isla so meanly. She knew Isla had only good intentions. However, as Isla's best friend also, she knew her so well, and she really didn't think it was a good idea.

Hearing Sheryl's words, Isla sank deeper into her thoughts. Thinking over all that was said, she knew what Sheryl had said really made sense. Indeed, having another kid in her house might cause a real disaster

wing from outside.

Nancy hurried outside. As soon as she reached the door, she saw Isla coming first to the door, gripping Clark's wrist behind her.

Beaming gaily, Nancy quickly took a step forward to greet them.

"Clark, come here. Are you hungry?" Nancy was so happy to see Clark. She waved at him in delight. Then she looked at Isla and said, "Isla, I am so happy to see you."

Isla smiled back toward Nancy without hesitation. She knew that Nancy was very nice to Sheryl. During Sheryl's hard times in Dream Garden, Nancy had been very supportive of her. Isla felt so grateful for that, as Sheryl once told her.

"Nancy, I am happy to see you too. I am just wondering if Charles is home?" Isla immediately asked Nancy.

Looking at Isla's condemning expression, Clark was afraid that Isla might let her ego get in the way and say something improper. Thus, he pulled at her sleeve and quickly told Isla, "Aunt Isla, I am very hungry. Can we go into the living room and eat something first?"

Upon hearing this, Isla grew suspicious, thinking, 'Such a crafty boy! I know what you are doing right now. You're trying to stop me from being too talkative.'

Before Isla could say anything back, Clark quickly took Nancy's hand and dragged both Nancy and Isla towards the living room.

'What a smart boy! Fine, you win!' Isla could only shake her head with a helpless, forfeiting grin. She chose to choke back the words she was going to say.

After sitting in the living room for a while, Isla kept looking to see whether Charles or Melissa would show up. She wanted to talk with them face-to-face, one-on-one. She felt she couldn't let Sheryl be silent any longer, allowing her to put up with everything alone.

In fact, she was here to demand justice, but it seemed that she failed to find anyone to vent her anger on. She wasn't able to capture a trace of Charles or Melissa's presence.