The Substitute Bride

Anthony wanted to argue. "But…" he started to say. Then he stopped. More than anything, he wanted to help Autumn. She was still frail and would find it difficult to care for a child alone. He was uncertain if Leila was telling the truth or not. It was partly guilt that kept pushing him to persuade Autumn to go back.

"Stop convincing me to return to them," Autumn said impatiently. She knew that if Anthony kept bringing up the subject, she would get extremely anxious and irritated.

Autumn laid down her chopsticks and announced,"I'm full now. Thank you for preparing dinner. I want to rest now."

It was wrong to be rude to Anthony. Autumn knew he did not deserve such treatment. But she couldn't control her temper.

The doorbell ringing broke the uneasy silence. They jumped at the sound. Anthony peeked to see who was ringing the bell and saw Andy. He hid his agitation but dragged Autumn to the room while telling her,"It's Andy. You have to hide. Hurry!"

Autumn was dumbfounded. They shouldn't find her there. She never expected Andy to come to Anthony's house so soon. Autumn quickly collected her things and hid them in the room.

Fortunately, Shirley was still sound asleep. If she cried, Autumn knew it would be all over.

Anthony answered the door as Autumn went inside the room. He looked at Andy in confusion and asked,"Mr. Xu, what brings you here?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask you something," Andy replied pleasantly. All the while, he kept peering inside Anthony's apartment to check if anyone else was there.

"What is it that you need from me?" Anthony asked again. He stood at the door but did not open it fully and kept holding the edge to keep Andy out.

"Aren't you going to ask me in?" Andy said. He sensed that the doctor was displaying rather unusual behavior.

Andy's people had orders to monitor Anthony once he left the hospital. His routine was to buy food at the supermarket. Andy began to suspect Anthony was hiding Autumn because the amount of food he bought wasn't just for one person. That's when he finally decided to visit the doctor at home.

"Of course. Please come in," Anthony said politely. He still held the door and hesitated before opening it wide to let Andy in.

Andy looked around the house. He noted it was clean and everything was in order. "Mr. Xiao, your house is so tidy and clean. I'm impressed."

"I am very particular about cleanliness," Anthony explained. "So, I clean my house whenever I have free time." His temper was simmering, but he held it back. After several moments of silence, he asked

red her friend. She shook her head to indicate she was okay and he was not at fault. "Let me talk to him," Autumn said.

She asked Andy to follow her inside the room. As soon as he entered, Andy saw the baby asleep on the bed. He peered at her closely and found that she looked a little like Cindy, which stunned him. Then he looked around, and found himself asking,"Where is the other baby?" He remembered Autumn was pregnant with twins. "Didn't you have twins?" he inquired.

"There's only Shirley," she said quietly. Autumn asked her uncle directly,"How did you know I was here?"

"Only Shirley?" Andy almost whispered. It was a shock to hear Autumn confirm there was only one baby. "What do you mean? What happened to the other baby? Tell me what happened, please. Now that you're safe and sound, why haven't you gone back home? Everyone is worried about you, especially Charles," he talked non-stop. "Do you know that your disappearance almost drove your husband crazy? He's combed every square inch of Y City to search for you!" he claimed.

"That's none of my business," Autumn said coldly. She looked Andy in the eye and said clearly,"Never mention Charles in my presence. It's over between us. I will leave this house only when he stops searching for me. I'll go to a place where no one knows me. I want nothing to do with him anymore. Do you understand?"

Andy was flabbergasted. "Autumn, what are you saying?" He couldn't believe it was Autumn talking. "Charles is your husband, your baby's father. How can you say he's none of your business?" Andy massaged his forehead in confusion. He couldn't understand why Autumn wanted nothing to do with her husband now. Why was she so mad at Charles?