The Substitute Bride

"Are you okay?" Charles asked in a mellowed voice. He noticed the sudden change in her behavior.

Sheryl could hardly conceal her feelings. She was standing right in front of Charles; her hands in his hands; her heart beating against her chest; her face red and feeling hot as if she had fever. She always felt like a naive and vulnerable girl in her first love when she was with Charles. She never experienced this kind of a feeling with Anthony.

"I'm fine," Sheryl replied struggling to hide her feelings, as she hurriedly pulled her hands back. She turned her face away from Charles and reprimanded herself, 'How can I be so shameless? I already have a boyfriend and my own child. Why can I flush and my heart beat faster for another man?'

'Enough is enough. I have to keep a distance from him, ' she thought to herself.

Sheryl's hands were as cold as Autumn used to be, which convinced Charles even more. By this time, he was sure that the girl standing in front of him was none other than his own wife. He felt so incredibly peaceful to see her safe and sound.

It was already 10:00 pm, but Charles had no intention of leaving. With Sheryl by his side, he felt time elapsed faster than usual. He had not felt so secured and peaceful in the last three years.

Due to that small accident, Sheryl was in no mood to try out any other entertainment project. With a lot of hesitation, she suggested,"It's getting quite late. How about we... get back?"

Charles looked at Sheryl's face that reminded him of a scared rabbit at the moment. He felt he had been unreasonably rude to her which might be the reason behind her being so scared.

"Okay, then I'll drop you to your hotel," he replied promptly.

"Oh, no, thanks!" Sheryl refused his offer and quickly tried to look away. Her feelings were just beyond her control. What was worse, she was not even being able to stop them from showing on her face. The only way was to get away from Charles as soon as possible. "It's not much of a drive from here to my hotel. I can grab a taxi. You... you and Charlie go home. It's getting late and it's not good for Charlie to be awake too late in the night," she said.

Speaking these words, she just turned around and ran.

She ran with all her might as if she was being pursued by a ghost. As soon as she rushed out of the amusement park, she got into a taxi. In the meantime, Charles and Charlie left the park right after her. They followed Sheryl's cab secretly and stopped out of the hotel to see that she checked in safely. Charles waited at a distance to see Sheryl walk into the hotel before he turned the

ut Charlie in the best school, but she had her constraints.

She felt that being a father, Charles should take the responsibility of Charlie's education.

There was no doubt that it was a matter of concern for both of them. Indeed, Charlie deserved to get the best of education. Charles nodded at her and said,"Well, I see. I'll keep an eye on it."

Charles kept puffing the cigar which miffed Leila but she decided to say what she had planned to say.

"Charlie has spent his third birthday. I just hope that you can arrange a birthday party for him. The most I can do is to buy him a cake to celebrate his birthday. But... this year is really very special for him. After all, he met his father. That's why I wanted you to give him a party. We can sit together and have a meal. I'm sure he will be happy," she proposed. Leila could not wait any longer to execute the next level of her plan. Now that Charles had got bonded with Charlie, it was her time to come closer to Charles. Using Charlie's birthday was a good excuse to achieve her goal.

'Now that Charlie was unwilling to help, I have to help myself, ' she thought.

Charles frowned when he heard Leila say 'We'. The displeasure was right on his face. He never considered her to be his family. However, as a father, he was responsible for Charlie. There was no doubt that Charlie deserved a grand birthday party. 'I owe him a lot. Even if I give him the best everything in the world, I will never be able to compensate for not being there for him in his early years.

This is my chance to host a really special party for him. I will make it a grand one, ' he thought to himself.

Giving Leila a glance, he said,"Okay, I'll fix this party. I'll inform you the time and place."