The Substitute Bride

Nancy finally left Brent's room. In the dark, Brent's eyes lit up, as if he had a secret only he knew.

With Autumn's condition now more stable, her hospital visits were less frequent. After a refreshing shower, she went to bed. Soon after, Charles arrived.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "It's late. Why are you still awake?" he asked. Charles loved coming home to Autumn and greeted her with a smile.

She smiled back at her husband and replied,"I'm seeing my ob-gyn tomorrow. And somehow, I can't sleep thinking about it."

Charles was a little concerned. He quickly decided to help ease her worries. "Take it easy, love. I'll go with you tomorrow." He lifted Autumn's chin to look into her eyes. "And why are you worried? I'm sure you and our babies are fine," Charles assured his wife. "Relax. Have sweet dreams. I'm just going to take a shower and join you."

The following day, Charles brought Autumn's breakfast to their bedroom so she could eat in bed as soon as she woke up. Autumn was pleased with the attention. After eating, Charles drove her to the hospital.

Autumn was about to kock on Anthony's office when Lisa came hurrying out. Her eyes were red. When she realized who it was at the door, she threw Autumn a very dark look, and that confused the pregnant woman.

Autumn could never forget how friendly Lisa had been during their first meetings. But lately, Autumn noticed a change in her attitude each time they ran into each other. It seemed like Lisa was looking at her with hatred.

Charles prodded his wife to enter. "Go on. I'll wait for you out here." He took Autumn's bag and turned to sit down in the hallway.

Autumn tapped on Anthony's door. When no one answered, she knocked again. Still, no one answered. With a little hesitation, she pushed it open and entered. At the sound of the door opening, Anthony scowled and growled without looking up,"I told you not to bother me. Can't you understand…"

He stopped when he saw Autumn standing inside his office, with a shocked look. "What are you doing here?" he asked quickly, suddenly feeling awkward.

Autumn replied,"I have an appointment with you today, remember?" She tried to compose herself. Anthony's loud voice shook her badly.

Anthony quickly checked his calendar and saw that he had indeed forgotten about Autumn's regular check-ups.

"I apologize for the outburst earlier," he said. Leading Autumn to the examination table, he instructed her to lie down. "I'll be with you in a minute." He turned to put on his white coat, breathing deeply to calm himself.

"You looked angry. And Lisa was in a rush to leave as I came in. Was she crying? I noticed her eyes were red. Did you two have a fight, Anthony?" Autumn asked as Anthony walked towards her.

"No, it was nothi

when I turned to look again." She shrugged with resignation.

"Let's go home then," Charles suggested. "You should be very tired from being out so long today," he added.

Autumn nodded. She was feeling a bit tired already. On the drive back to Dream Garden, she kept thinking of Leila. She wanted to find out what the woman was doing. 'Was she following me?' Autumn wondered.

So many questions came to mind, but the most important one was where could she find Leila.

The baby stuff purchased in the morning was already at home by the time they arrived. Since Autumn was having twins, they bought two of every item, including the cribs. The cribs came with an unexpected challenge. The owners had to assemble them themselves.

"Oh my goodness! The babies' cribs are just piles of wood!" Autumn cried out as she stared at two stacks. "What are we going to do with them?" she asked, looking helpless.

Her husband came to the rescue. "Don't worry. I'll put them together," he said confidently. Charles buckled down to work immediately. He rolled up his sleeves and began sorting the pieces. Autumn offered to help, but he brushed her aside.

He did not realize assembling a crib was like a giant puzzle, and he wracked his brain all evening. By eleven o'clock, there was not even one crib put together.

Autumn, who was sitting down watching her husband, stifled her giggles. She started to make fun of Charles. "Oh, it seems the high and mighty Mr. Lu has a weakness after all."

Charles blushed in embarrassment. "Er… I'll have someone come over to assemble it," he said. He couldn't believe a pile of wood got the best of him.

'Well, everyone has to be bad at something, ' Charles thought and he finally discovered his weakness.

It seemed that to assemble a crib was more difficult than to achieve his company's annual sales.