The Substitute Bride

"Okay!" Leila said, nodding her head in agreement. Chris then left and made her way to Gary.

The sun had set in the horizon. The old man recently took up a new hobby — gardening. And he took great pleasure in the activity. An area in his backyard had already been set aside as his garden. When Chris arrived, he was taking care of the flowers.

She headed to the backyard and saw Gary removing weeds. He wore a leather apron and had a sickle in his hand.

Chris paused at the entrance of the garden. She took a moment to watch her grandfather working with his flowers. Smiling, she called out,"Grandpa!" Upon hearing her voice, Gary straightened and turned towards the girl. "What brings you here? As you can see, I'm busy," he said.

"Grandpa, can you leave your flowers for a while and come with me? Our guests have arrived," the young woman urged. When he didn't move, Chris became impatient and walked towards the old man. She thought of dragging him out with her.

"Stop! Stay there. I'm coming," Gary exclaimed. He had just finished watering the flowers, so the flowerbeds were a bit muddy. Gary feared his pregnant granddaughter might be injured walking on wet soil, so he did not want her to come closer.

He may be old, but Gary was sturdy and walked towards his granddaughter steadily. Then he stopped and brushed off the dirt on his clothes and apron. "Who are your mysterious friends? Are you not going to tell me?" he asked curiously.

"You'll know when you see them," she replied with a mysterious smile. Chris was determined to surprise her grandfather. The old man took off his apron and strode towards the house. He stopped as the girl grabbed his arm, looking puzzled. "Aren't you going to change clothes before meeting our guests? You have mud all over them," she pointed out with a slight frown.

Gary looked at his clothes and agreed with his granddaughter's assessment. So, he headed upstairs to put on clean clothes. As he came down the stairs, Leila was fidgeting on the couch, her expression tense. She felt so uneasy that she didn't even notice the boy was no longer beside her.

Leila's presence was a complete surprise for the old man. He remembered the time Autumn and Charles were fighting a lot over this

ked carefully. Then he sighed. "Your brother is obstinate. And even I can't force him to do something he doesn't want to."

"Grandpa..." Chris pleaded, her brows furrowed. "I'm doing all this for Charles' sake. Autumn has been away for three years. I can't bear to see my brother hurting from her loss for the rest of his life. I only want to help him."

She saw the hesitancy in her grandfather's face. But she was not going to give up. "Charlie is such an adorable kid. Can you bear to see him growing up with only a single parent?"

"Is that boy really Charles' son?" he asked with narrowed eyes. 'Is grandpa softening up?' Chris wondered. "Of course he is!" she assured the old man.

Reaching out for his hand, she squeezed it for comfort. She went on,"You saw the boy yourself. He looks exactly like my brother. No one will doubt he is Charles' son."

Then Gary burst out,"What has Charles done?" The situation truly bothered him. 'I'm glad to see my great-grandson, but I just don't like his mother, ' he thought.

"How could he have cheated on Autumn with Leila when they were so good together?" A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"Grandpa, it's not time for this," she cautioned her grandfather. "It's done. Charles and Leila are old enough. And if they get married, it will be a good thing for all of us. Don't you think so, grandpa?" she prodded.

Gary said nothing.

When they finally came out of the study, Gary kept staring at Charlie and couldn't take his eyes off the boy.