The Substitute Bride

It was almost two in the afternoon, and the sun still shone brightly against the old building in the suburb. There were no people in sight. Even the building would be mistaken as abandoned unless someone would actually dare to check out inside.

Clark moved a bit, still lying on his side. His eyelids moved as if trying his best to wake up from a dream he wanted to end soon. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar environment. He could feel the coldness of the tiled floor against his cheek.

Although he was young, he had experienced a lot of things. With that being said, he had learned to stay calm in an unfamiliar environment. Even when faced with danger, he never cried or made any fuss. He just opened his eyes and quietly observed his surroundings.

Seeing he was surrounded by a dark and damp space, Clark figured he would have to be inside an old small house somewhere. The dusty floor meant whoever lived here wasn't into regular cleaning. Looking up at the roof, he could see a lot of small holes and noticed how the light came through them from outside. It seemed that the house was no more than a shabby cottage. There were no windows, just bare walls. Staying alone in the empty room, all that he could hear was the sound of the wind blowing.

'Am I in the suburb now?' he asked himself.

Having gone for an outing to the countryside a few times with Sheryl, Clark looked back at those memories with optimism. Sheryl once told him that the more desolate the place was, the wilder the wind became. It was general knowledge that his mother once taught him, which he had learned by heart. Also, he realized that he had been kidnapped. But he had no idea why the bad guys kept him in such a remote place.

The thought that he might never be able to see his parents or Shirley again tormented him. He was too young to die. But no matter how sad he was, he decided that he would not cry or show any signs of weakness. He had to stay strong.

His mother once told him that a real man would never cry in front of others, no matter how scared and hurt he was. Otherwise, he would only be looked down upon as a coward.

Clark recalled what had happened earlier that day. Back in kindergarten, before he lost consciousness, he remembered he had gone to the bathroom. Then a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses came in. The same guy suddenly hugged him from behind, covering his mouth with one hand.

He had tried to call for help, but then he had felt too weak, and his vision had started to blur. Then everything had gone black as he finally lost consciousness.

Moving his body, Clark found that his limbs were flexible. It felt like his legs were a little numb because he had stayed in one position for too long. Still, it did not prevent him from standing up.

Right now, all his attention was focused on the old wooden door a few feet away from him. He was optimistic that he would be able to get out and find his mother as lo

the suburb. It was a starless night, but the full moon was enough to light up the sky. Meanwhile, the villa remained well-lit even from the outside.

Stella cut another piece of meat on her plate while chewing her food. She sat alone in the kitchen, having dinner. Looking at the dishes she had just cooked that were left untouched, she shook her head.

Not knowing why, the woman upstairs had begun to refuse to eat again. She didn't even come downstairs to check what was for dinner. Maybe she wasn't hungry after all, even if she had not eaten anything the whole day.

On the other hand, Stella was not in the mood to care about the woman. At this time, all she was worried about was whether Charles would wake up as soon as possible. After all, in this villa, she was only expected to listen to Charles' orders.

Since David came to her last time, Stella had kept an eye on Vicky all the time, making sure she was aware of Vicky's every move.

According to what she had seen so far, Vicky didn't seem to have any signs of weirdness. On the contrary, Stella found it was time to take care of herself. She felt starved to death, so she decided to sit down and eat.

Thinking of this, Stella shook her head helplessly.

She had just started with her meal when she heard the doorbell ring. She grew alert and thought, 'Who would come here at this time?

Is Mr. Lu awake? Did he come here to settle the old score with Vicky?'

Stella felt refreshed with those thoughts. She put down the bowl and chopsticks, and then quickly rushed to the door.

Just for security purposes, before opening the door, she cast a peep through the door hole and was shocked to see who was behind it.

'How could it be... Mrs. Xia?'

Stella knew Sheryl very well. Although she had never served in Dream Garden in the past, she was very familiar with Sheryl. In fact, she knew that Sheryl was the only woman that Charles loved the most, and she was the real hostess of this villa.