The Substitute Bride

"Yes, you are right. That is what I was referring to." Leila responded with excitement and then added, "I am sorry, Mr. Lu. I should not have bothered you with something so trivial."

"It is fine, Leila, " replied Charles indifferently. Charles didn't say anything else as he knew that Leila was diligent with her work, so he was just relieved to have such a hard working employee. "It is quite late now. Please go back to taking some rest, " added Charles briefly.

However, as Leila heard this from him, she felt so cheerful by his warm and caring words though he didn't mean to. "Okay. Then good night, Mr. Lu."

As soon as she finished her sentence, Leila hung up the phone, as her heart felt like it was beating outside her body uncontrollably.

In fact, she deliberately called Charles to gauge the situation. She knew very well that Autumn may persuade Charles to discharge her from her duties. Therefore, she had to take a few extreme steps to establish her importance.

After Charles ended the call, Autumn adjusted her posture, turning back to him while Charles held her from behind gently. They fit perfectly in the arms of each other like a jigsaw puzzle. "Did I wake you up?" He whispered to her in a soft tone.

"No, " replied Autumn quickly in an indifferent voice. Indeed, she was very envious, but she just didn't know how to express what she felt so she decided to remain silent instead.

"What's wrong? You sound unhappy about something." Charles could sense her mood change, but he couldn't figure out what had happened to cause it. He asked Autumn several times before he finally got an answer out of her. "It is past midnight. What was the matter that could not wait and needed your attention at this hour? Did she really have to call you at this time?" Autumn did not reply directly but said politely.

However, Charles understood her perspective. Upon hearing it, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Well, I will explicitly tell her not to call me at night next time, okay?" He tried to comfort Autumn who was acting like a pampered child in the moment.

Charles coaxed her as if she was a brat within a few moments Autumn finally was comforted. "Let's sleep now. It is quite late. You still have to go to work tomorrow morning."

The next morning when Autumn woke up, she found that Charles had left for work. Within a moment, a feeling of emptiness filled the room as she realized Charles was not there.

Meanwhile, all employees were highly motivated and jumping with joy and high spirit as they realized they had successfully won the project from Giant Promise Company. They were eager to have a party in the bar while Autumn also didn't want to decline their request as she was worried that she would dampen their enthusiasm towards work.

Autumn immediately called Charles to share the good news while she was also determined to join the celebrations at the party and then she would go home so

inish her sentence, she was interrupted midway by Wendy. "Don't have such a one-track mind. Timing matters the most. It would not have been good news for us if she is going to do that at such a critical time. But let's just wait and watch. I know she is just waiting to break all the relations with us, but there is no way she can do so."

Yvonne remained silent. She had suffered many hardships in recent past and now she simply followed Wendy's directions and words.

Furious yet indignant, Wendy bore a grudge on Autumn. She was waiting for the right opportunity to release her wrath upon Autumn.

Autumn's good mood had gone down the drain after she saw Yvonne and Wendy in the bar. She felt uneasy, and with that excuse and she got out from the bar. As she was about to go home, she happened to receive a call from Sam.

"Hello, Autumn. This is Sam. I need you to do me a favor."

"Hello. What's the matter?"

"I am in front of the fountain of Eaton Square. Could you help me bring Chris here?" Soon Autumn realized what he intended to do, so without a second of hesitation she promised to help him. She would absolutely love to be the peacemaker.

The moment Sam hung up, she called Chris. Indeed, Chris was in a bad mood as she didn't see Sam when she went to the company.

"Hello, Chris. Where are you? Are you at home now?" Autumn had figured a full proof way to bring her all the way to the fountain, so she said ahead, "Chris, I have drunk too much and I have sprained my ankle. Could you please come to pick me up? I am feeling helpless."

"Autumn, are you okay? Where are you? I am coming to get you right away." Chris asked her with concern.

After giving her the address, Autumn hung up the call. She did not intend to hang around and hinder Sam's plan so, instead she drove to Shining Company. Charles was still working an extra shift, so she bought some snacks to him as she was worried he would go hungry without another meal.