The Substitute Bride

"Come on, David. I know this is not the case." Charles smiled and added,"You just said you and Alice still had time to spend together, but actually it's been a long time since your last date with her. Am I right? You've been serving as my assistant for so many years, and I do care about your personal life."

David stood in front of Charles with his head hung downwards. He was speechless out of embarrassment.

Charles heaved a sigh and said,"She has been through a tough time. She is badly in need of help. She has to take care of a three-year-old boy and she needs this job to provide her some income to support both of them."

"What?" David was completely taken aback when Charles said that Leila had a son. He asked,"Do you mean that Leila got married?"

"I don't know whether she got married or not." Charles added,"All I know is that she has a three-year-old son. And no company is ready to give her an opportunity because she has a son to look after. Companies usually take this as a liability to appoint a single mother who has no support system. As an old employee of this company, I felt it is my responsibility to help her out. Moreover, she had been very efficient in her work. So it would be good for the company to have her back."

David could not believe that Charles was ready to forget her misconducts in the past. "But... Have you forgotten how she treated Mrs. Lu in such a devious way. How can you forgive her?" David arched his brow as he asked Charles.

It was true that Charles hated her for what she did to Autumn several years ago. But he had thought about it and after much consideration decided to forgive her. It had been over three years since Autumn had disappeared. Charles felt it was time to let the bygone be bygone and start afresh.

After Autumn disappeared, Charles had very little interest in his own life. Maybe if he could help anybody who was in need, he could ease a bit of his own pain.

"To be honest, I hated her when I came to know about what she had done to Autumn." Charles smiled and explained to David,"But it all happened in the past, so many years ago. Autumn has disappeared for several years and I think it's time I should let go of the hatred."

Charles looked at David who was patiently listening to him and said,"All you need to do is to take her as a common colleague. And after so many years in between, who knows, she might have changed for good. What is the harm of giving her a second chance? Don't you think so?"

Dav

houlder.

He completely negated the idea as he arched his brow and said to Alice,"What nonsense are you talking? How could it be possible for Mr. Lu to be the kid's father?" He asked in a rather scolding manner as if to shun the very thought of it.

"I was just guessing randomly." Alice touched her shoulder and caressed the area that was slapped by David. Then she continued in a serious voice,"Let's think about it clearly. The kid is three years now and that means Leila was pregnant before she was fired from Shining Company. I even remember that she had no boyfriend back then..."

Alice's analysis sounded reasonable and it sent a chill down David's spine. He shuddered by the thought of it.

"Okay, enough. Stop guessing! Let's have lunch now." David didn't want to think more about this issue and decided to put an end to the topic for the time being.

Leila was sitting alone in the secretary's office of Shining Company. When Alice and David were going to have lunch, Alice invited her to join them, but she cast a glimpse at the closed door of Charles' office and rejected with a smile,"No, thanks. I don't want to be the third wheel when you are dating. I have some unfinished task and I will go once I finish it."

Leila just needed to be left alone in Charles's office. The excuse of work was just to avoid Alice's invitation. Hence, she decided to stay back because Charles hadn't left his office and waited for him on purpose. Every moment in this office was important for her. More so when Charles was in the office. She had a long way to go. She had to win back his confidence... her real unfinished work! She really needed to focus!