The Substitute Bride

Wendy opened the door with sleepy eyes. Though Charles and Autumn would come home for lunch, she didn't have to do preparation for anything actually. The servants had gotten up early to handle it all. All she needed to do was to pretend that she had done all that.

She yawned and said,"Why do you come back so early?"

"I want to take my money and leave quickly. Joe and I are going on a date." Yvonne urged her mother to give her the money.

Wendy took out a bank card from her purse and handed it to her. "It's half a million in here. Enough for you to live a good life for a while. But... I will tell the code only if you stay for lunch."

"Mother..." Yvonne got angry. "You agreed for me to leave! You asked Autumn to marry him for me. When I was downstairs just now, I heard from the servants that they are coming here for lunch. How can I stay here! What if he finds out?"

"Don't worry. He won't." Wendy comforted her. She wanted her daughter to see how gentle Charles was. She wanted her to regret missing out on such a nice husband.

"I agreed for you to leave because I perceived him to be a playful bastard. I don't want you to suffer. So I agreed Joe to take you away. But now I think I made a mistake. So I must correct it."

"Just a lunch? Don't you have other prerequisites?" Yvonne said with a doubt.

"Of course not." Wendy knew she was going to persuade her. She continued. "I know you don't like Autumn since you were a little girl. Don't you want to see her life now?"

Yvonne remained silent for a while. Then she nodded and agreed to stay.

Charles and Autumn arrived early. They carried with them the health and anti-aging products that Gary had brought back from America. Yvonne, standing at the door, watched them get off the limo. She also saw Charles take over Autumn's stuff and hold her hand. Then they walked towards the door.

Autumn accidentally sprained her ankle. Charles worriedly asked her if she was okay. She shook her head with a smile.

Her smile made Yvonne jealous.

When they approached the door, Autumn saw Yvonne at the stairs. She went blank, and halted.

"Are you fine? Why do you stop midway?" Charles turned to Autumn and asked, but Autumn gave no reply. She just kept staring at Yvonne.

Yvonne got the chance to gaze at Charles.

She had heard of his bad reputation of being a playboy and a bad-tempered guy. But when she finally saw him, she realized that judging people on hearsay was the biggest mistake she ever made.

He worn a light blue checked shirt, with his sleeves casually rolled up till his wrist. With dashing eyebrows and piercing eyes, he appeared to be quite soft against the shadows on his face caused by the sunshine.

"I'm okay." Autumn switched back into the present when she noticed the trace of envy in Yvonne's eyes. She took Charles's arm and said with a smile. "Let's go in."

Charles nodded slightly and walked straight inside without even casting a glance at Yvonne. He even turned his head to Autumn to remind her to watch the step, which cut Yvonne to the quick. Without giving it a second thought, she called out Autumn. "Sister..."

Autumn clenched her fist, but loosened it soon. If it hadn't been for her, she wouldn't have to live in the fear of getting caught lying now.

How dare this culprit come back?

She turned to Yvonne and asked with a smile,"Excuse me, have we met before?"

"Yvonne, Charles, you are here!", Wendy greeted

Autumn and Charles. Wendy didn't go out to welcome them, because she knew that her dear daughter Yvonne was outside. She had praised Charles a lot, but she just didn't buy it.

So she decided to let Yvonne see what a gentleman Charles was!

Seeing that Autumn and Yvonne were about to have a row, she rushed out and stood in front of Yvonne. She said to Autumn,"Yvonne, don't you remember? This is your cousin Autumn. You used to play together when you were little.

"Oh, did we? Clearly, I am forgetting." Autumn responded coldly.

"She happens to visit us today, so I invited her to have lunch with us." Wendy smiled and continued. "It's so kind of you to bring me so many gifts. Come on in."

Wendy invited them inside. Yvonne was one step behind them. Wendy dragged her aside and said in a low voice,"What do you think? Isn't he different from what you have imagined?"

Yvonne cast a resentful glance at her and grumbled. "Mother, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why did we give Autumn a silver platter?"

To her, Joe was beyond comparison to Charles.

Yvonne could not help but complain. If Wendy had stopped her from running away with Joe, she would have been the one who held Charles' hand now. Then it would have been impossible for Autumn to earn her luck.

But she had completely forgotten that it was her who insisted on escaping the wedding.

"I came to know his true self yesterday, so I asked you to come back today." Wendy frowned. For her, Yvonne was the apple of her eye. Yvonne deserved the best of the world. "I'll send Autumn away with an excuse. You utilize that time to talk with Charles and build a relation."

Wendy tapped on Yvonne's shoulder. "Don't worry, my darling. I'll get you everything and everyone you want."

Wendy's promise made Yvonne happy. She even began to walk at a brisk pace.

When Charles and Autumn went in, Wendy called Autumn. "Yvonne, please help me in the kitchen and ask Charles to sit in the living room, and take some rest."

Wendy put on a kind look for disguise, held Autumn's hand and took her to the kitchen. She cast a glance at Yvonne to give her a hint before going inside the kitchen.

Yvonne read her mind. She stood at the entrance for a while before she brought a cup of tea for Charles. "Charles, here's the tea."

She stood next to Charles on purpose and then she ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed it. She pretended to fall while handing him the cup of tea, and tried to hurl her body straight into his arms.

She let out a scream. She thought herself attractive enough. And she was confident to successfully seduce him.

Unexpectedly, Charles refused to catch her and she fell on the sofa. The tea all poured down upon on her face. She looked funny with all the tobacco in her hair.

"Charles..." She gazed at him with sheer grief. Inside, her hatred towards Autumn deepened.

If they hadn't had this bitch between them, Charles would have given her a hand now without hesitation.

She didn't realize that for Charles, she was just a stranger and today was the first time they had met.

Charles looked at her with a cold stare. He had been on-guard against her from the very beginning. For one, he noticed that Autumn felt disgusted when she saw this so-called "cousin." And two, she did not act like a visitor here. She seemed to be quite familiar with this house. So when she handed him the tea, he was very vigilant about her move.