The Substitute Bride

"Aunt? Why are you here so early today?" Sheryl greeted Melissa as she found Melissa standing in front of Shirley's ward.

Melissa looked haggardly. It seemed like she had endured a sleepless night. She took a look at Shirley, who was still fast asleep and gestured for Sheryl to be quiet. "Shh! Don't wake her up."

"Aunt Melissa, you don't look good. Didn't you have any proper sleep last night?" Sheryl asked with concern. She made haste to get up from her seat and approached Melissa to prevent Shirley's sleep from being disturbed.

Melissa took a moment or two to overcome her initial hesitation and decided to tell the truth to Sheryl.

"Sher, come to the balcony with me. I have something to tell you," Melissa said as she held Sheryl's hand and pulled her out of Shirley's medical ward.

Sheryl was anxious at seeing Melissa be so unusually disturbed this morning.

She followed right after Melissa to the balcony. When she was about to ask Melissa what happened, Melissa turned her head, and Sheryl could see that her eyes had gone red.

"Auntie, you..."

"Sher, Charles met with an accident last night!" Melissa looked at Sheryl and spoke in a feeble voice.

Melissa's words made Sheryl's heart sink. She tried to deny the information she had just heard, thinking she must have heard it wrong. She asked Melissa once again to re-confirm, "Aunt Melissa, what did you just say?"

Melissa knew that Sheryl would not be able to accept the news so easily, so she repeated, "Charles had a car accident last night. Because it was too late, I didn't call you."

"Car accident! Are you serious? How is he now? Is he okay? Where is he now?" Sheryl asked in a trembling voice. In an instant, Sheryl's face changed dramatically.

"He has been in a coma after the surgery. But the doctor said that he was only in a temporary coma, and he is kept under observation in the ICU."

"How? How did it all happen? How could he have a car accident? Didn't he go to see Vicky yesterday?" Sheryl blurted out.

Until Sheryl had mentioned that, Melissa was not aware that Charles had gone to meet Vicky. The more she thought about that malicious woman, the angrier she got.

"Sher, listen to me. Charles doesn't like Vicky at all. It's she who keeps bothering him. Yes! She must have lied to Charles last night and told him to come to see her. She has used such tricks on him many times, but Charles is so softhearted, that..."

"He is not softhearted. He is doing all

dren's father. Now that something bad has happened to him, how can I back out from taking the responsibility of taking care of him?" Sheryl tried her best to convince herself that she agreed to look after Charles only because he was the father of her kids.

"Anyway, I will make sure Charles will live up to you after he wakes up. If that woman still harasses him, I will call the police," Melissa exerted.

Sheryl couldn't help laughing and said, "Aunt Melissa, now you are flattering me."

"Not at all. I'm serious, Sher. I will make Charles leave that woman. Henceforth, I won't allow any other women to bully you. You're the only daughter-in-law I have in my life. No matter who she is, I won't accept any other woman as my daughter-in-law."

"Aunt Melissa, don't say that..." Sheryl was so touched by Melissa's words. She had never thought that Melissa and she could get along so well until now.

What she didn't expect was that Melissa would take a stand for her.

But it didn't matter. Whatever had happened between them in the past was over now. As long as Sheryl didn't forget where she started, good luck would be with her forever.

"Sher, the more I know you, the more I like you. Particularly, your kids are so well behaved. They are more sensible now. They know a lot for their age. They will always be with you."

"Well, they are actually very sensible." Sheryl couldn't help laughing when she thought of the two children.

The candid conversation between Sheryl and Melissa was interrupted when Shirley woke up and shouted, "Mom, Grandma, I'm hungry!"

Melissa and Sheryl smiled at each other and rushed into the ward.