The Substitute Bride

Noticing how anxious she was, Holley tried to reassure her. "Just take a rest in the hotel," she said. "Don't worry too much about work, and take a good rest," she further added.

Sheryl stood still as Holley patted her shoulder gently and bid,"Farewell, I'll visit you another day."

After finishing these words, the girl calmly turned her back and walked away with George. Stunned, Sheryl fixed her gaze on the woman's back as her shadow slowly faded.

Although she treated Sheryl in an ardent manner, it seemed as if she approached her with other intentions in mind.

'I've never met her before. What does she want to get from me? What's her motive?' she wondered with a frown.

"Autumn? Is that you? It's me, Eric," a man's confused voice reached her ears. Turning around to see if somebody else was there beside her, she found a man who was staring heavily at her.

Upon meeting her gaze, the man was dumbfounded by what he saw. "Perhaps, are you talking to me?" she asked. Stunned in confusion, she tried to examine the man from his head down to the shoes he was wearing. He wasn't familiar at all.

"It's you. It's really you!" Eric exclaimed, ignoring her question. "Where have you been all these years?" he started. "Do you know that Charles have looked everywhere for you, to the point that he almost lost his mind?" the man asked in one breath. Eric was standing behind her all this time from the moment he stole a glance at this woman who was emitting some familiar and elegant aura. As she stood there, Eric was captivated by her.

Soon enough, he realized that not only was she familiar but he knew her very well. The woman's name was Autumn. She was the same Autumn he knew very well, but he didn't dare to speak to her in doubt.

A person who had gone missing for three years showed up out of nowhere in his hotel. He couldn't believe that such coincidence would happen.

After hesitating, Eric finally took his courage to step closer and raised that question to the woman. When he saw her face, he knew right then that his assumption was correct.

The woman whom Charles had been looking for a long time was now right standing in front of him.

"Excuse me, but I think you got the wrong person," Sheryl replied, perplexed. "My name is not Autumn," she further added, hoping that the man would leave her be. Staring at Eric warily, she ended,"I don't know you. So please excuse me."

"It's not funny at all, Autumn. We might not have met frequently, but you could at least remember my face," the man explained. Noticing how baffled the expression of the woman's face was, he knew right then that something must've happened to her.

"

nd hopped on the car.

"Miss Xia, if there's a place you wish to go to, please feel free to tell the driver and he'll bring you there," Eric said to her attentively, as he stooped and looked at her. With the days passing by, Eric remained silent about Sheryl's presence and hadn't told Charles about such good news. To lessen Charles' possible anger towards him, he decided to treat Autumn well. This way, his friend would stop being mad at him sooner.

While looking around the city, Sheryl felt unfamiliar to almost every sight. Despite knowing that she lived in this city for a long time, she felt like it never happened at all. One of her intentions in coming to Y City was to see if she could remember anything while being around the area.

As the car drove pass a kindergarten, she asked the driver to pull over. As a mother, she became interested in such places.

With Shirley growing up, she was now considering looking for a good school to send her to.

Although schools in the United States provided a better study environment for children, she thought it would be better to let Shirley study in Y City as she didn't want her daughter to be a stranger to her country and hometown.

As she came to the kindergarten, she wanted to go inside and have a look. But she wasn't allowed to enter the school.

"Hello," a boy's low voice sounded, but Sheryl didn't hear it. Sheryl tiptoed in front of the school, and peeped through the gate's holes. She saw well-decorated buildings and newly-built drill ground. She saw a plate above the gate that drew her attention. She thought to herself, 'This is a bilingual preschool. Hmm, this place looks neat and conducive for Shirley's learning.' She then nodded approvingly. She finally found a good school for her daughter.