The Substitute Bride

"How long have you been awake?" Pamela stayed up late last night to take care of Burke, so she still felt a little groggy when she woke up. She looked at Burke and was about to tell him her identity but was interrupted by Madeline. She opened the door abruptly and let out a scream as she saw Burke awake. "Thank God, you are up and about!"

"Mom, you are just in time." Burke pulled Madeline's hand and asked her with a sense of urgency,"Who is she? Why is she in my room? Could you please tell me what happened last night?"

"Don't you remember her?" Madeline said in an interrogatory tone and added,"She is Pamela He. Don't you remember her? You played together almost every day when you were kids."

"Pamela?" With his eyes wide open in shock, Burke turned around to look at her carefully. He couldn't find any resemblance of her appearance as a child. "You have grown up now," Burke exclaimed.

"Yes, I most certainly have." Pamela said to Burke with a smile,"You have become quite a handsome man now."

Burke grabbed Pamela's hand and looked at her carefully, then he said,"Wow, you too are a much more beautiful girl than before. I like what I am seeing."

"OK, enough." Madeline accused Burke,"Pamela looked after you the entire night. Why don't you thank her?"

"Never mind, Auntie Madeline. There is no need for such formality," Pamela said in a sweet tone.

Burke's face grew dull the second he heard what happened and in a serious tone he said to Madeline,"Mom, how could you let Pamela look after me all by herself. It's simply inappropriate for a girl to do such things."

"It doesn't matter, Burke." Then Pamela lowered her head slightly and said to Burke in response,"I did that last night only because I wanted to do and it had nothing to do with Auntie Madeline."

"Okay, let's head downstairs first. Burke, give Pamela some room to wash up and ask her to eat breakfast with us after she is done cleaning herself," Madeline said to her son.

After Madeline went downstairs, only Burke and Pamela were left in the room. They felt a little awkward to stay alone with each other. They were very close when they were children, but now they hadn't seen each other for so many years and they were not kids any more. And especially with how las

you to propose. But I saw her yesterday and realized something too. So I need to tell you what happened." Madeline said to Burke in a serious tone.

"The first time I saw Leila, she was Charles Lu' secretary then. She was perched on top of an old man's legs and flirted with him brazenly. She even allowed the man to feel her up and down all over her body publicly, just in order to land a contract with him. I felt so disgusted with her and the way she conducted herself." Burke was shocked. He frowned and said,"Mom, it's impossible. Leila is..."

"Why does this seem so impossible?" Madeline interrupted him and blurted out in anger,"If you don't believe what I witnessed, you can investigate yourself to check whether I lied or not."

Burke fell silent. Leila was always cold and indifferent with him and he believed that was her nature. He couldn't imagine that Leila would give up her virginity just for the sake of a business transaction. He couldn't help but wonder whether he really knew her or not.

"Whether you will be with Pamela or not is secondary, but at least you know for sure that she is a good girl and her family's stature can match to ours. She is much better than Leila and that I can vouch for." Madeline sneered and said,"Leila guessed that I'm your mother and pretended to get close with me last night, but she ran off immediately as I asked her for some money to clear your bill. You deserve a better girl rather than such a cunning one who will abandon you in your times of need."