The Substitute Bride

Chris kept her mouth shut. She thought to herself, 'Damn it! Why did I come here? Is it worth the bother to come here and embarrass myself?'

"Uncle Edward, do you know why Chris came here? She sincerely wanted to give you her most heartfelt blessing." Autumn who had been watching, cut in and said, "Yesterday your conversation ended in a bad note. She felt remorseful for it. But you must understand what kind of family she comes from. Since her childhood, a lot of which you missed, by the way..." Autumn slightly glared at Edward. "She envied the other children whose fathers would buy them cuddly toys and beautiful clothes. Although she had her grandfather and a good brother, she never stopped yearning for the love of a father. When the truth was finally revealed, she was wild with joy and couldn't wait to talk to you. However, there was some misunderstanding between you and her. And Chris has grown up to be a proud person that she doesn't admit her desire for your love and attention. This is why your relationship got worse and worse."

"Is what she said true?" Edward turned to Chris; his anger gradually dissipated. But he still doubted Chris' real intentions.

Rachel glared at Autumn and thought, 'What a nosy bitch! Now Chris will win her father over! You are surely happy about that. Bad things always happen to me whenever you are around!'

"Of course, " said Autumn, "You don't know that Chris cried for a long time after you left. She kept blaming herself and told me she shouldn't have fought with you. It was not her true intention to make things worse. So I came with her today to help mend whatever rift you two have."

After a short pause, Autumn continued with a smile, "Uncle Edward, try putting yourself in her shoes. After all, she has just found out that you are her father. And way before she could adapt to this drastic change in her life, you told her you were getting married. She wasn't quite ready to accept you as a father, then you forced a stepmother into her life! It takes some time to digest everything that has happened. You just need to give your own daughter time to do that. I'm sure that she will accept you and your new wife soon enough."

Since Chris was his biological daughter, his heart was softened seeing how unhappy she was. "Silly, whoever I am getting married to, you are my dearest and the most important

e you unhappy with that? Don't be so selfish."

She stared at Rachel with disdain and added, "You said that you wanted them to get along well. Is that just a big lie? All for show?"

"Autumn, there is no one else here in this corner. There is no need to pretend. Do you really not know what I am thinking about?" Rachel scoffed loudly. "Tell me exactly what you want? I have given up Charles. You have him now. Isn't that enough? What else do you want me to do?

Tell me what you want!" Rachel was getting frustrated. Autumn stared at Rachel indifferently, "There are a lot of men out there and many are obsessed with you. But you decided to choose a rich old man like Edward. I don't know yet what you actually want. But I warn you, if you dare do anything to hurt him, you will have to go through us and we won't let you off the hook easily. We will make sure that you pay. After all…

You made your choice and if there are consequences, you will have to endure them." Autumn mocked, "Don't tell me you actually love Edward. It's ridiculous. You may fool the press, but you certainly are not fooling me."

"Am I not?" Rachel responded with a sneer, "No, of course not. If there is anyone who knows well, the real reason that I chose Edward, it's you."

Autumn said nothing. She just kept staring at Rachel. She knew why Rachel chose Edward, but she was sure that Edward wouldn't lose too much. Autumn's silence encouraged Rachel to keep talking. She laughed with disdain, "Autumn, do you think you and that childish and immature Chris will beat me? You are dreaming!"