The Substitute Bride

"Sheryl!" Leila shrieked out at the sight of Sheryl. Sheryl and her daughter were walking out of the hotel. Sheryl was taking Shirley out to grab some food. Watching Leila striding towards her furiously, Sheryl stopped and stared at her puzzled. Leila walked straight towards Sheryl and even before Sheryl could greet her she landed a tight slap on her face.

Leila's slap came as a hard blow on Sheryl as if she intended to take the life air out of Sheryl in that one blow.

Sheryl sank to the ground. She was completely flabbergasted. "Sher..." Shirley cried out with a concerned look. Shirley knelt down immediately and tended to her mom who was bruised and swollen on her face. "Who are you? Why did you strike Sher?" she berated Leila indignantly.

"Shirley, I'm fine," Sheryl assured her daughter, as she just got over the shock. Sheryl patted Shirley to comfort her, and then stood up slowly. Irritated by Leila's sudden attack, Sheryl frowned at her and asked,"Miss Zhang, what are you doing?"

"You know what you did. Do you need me to explain it to you?" Leila sneered. "You should feel lucky I just slapped you. I wish I could kill you now," she continued as she was still fuming and gritting her teeth.

"Did I do anything wrong to you? Why did you hit me without a reason?" Sheryl snapped back with a frown. Sheryl stood straight and demanded an answer from Leila. Sheryl was far from being a gullible girl who would take such bullies lying down.

"Why the hell did you come back?" Leila asked as she walked up to Sheryl slowly. Looking at Sheryl safe and sound, standing right in front of her eyes, she was trembling with rage. She literally wanted to disfigure her. "You could have stayed in America to lead a happy life. Why did you return to snatch my happiness? Since you came back, everything has changed. You have even turned my son against myself. What do you want?" she spoke, her voice trembling.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Sheryl replied. She knitted her eyebrows as she stated,"I never stole anything from you. Nor did I alienate Charlie from you. There must be some mistakes."

"Mistakes?" Leila snorted sharply. She turned to the passers-by and summoned loudly,"Everybody, this woman has her boyfriend and child. But she returned from abroad to steal away my man and son. Don't you think she is a shameless woman?"

Leila was dejected and completely broken as she went on venting out her anger on Sheryl. 'My son has deserted me, and my plan to get married to Charles is also spoiled. I want her to pay for what she did to me. I will never forgive her, never, ' she resolved.

By this time a large crowd had gathered around them. People s

Anthony that his wife belonged to him no matter if she had forgotten her past and embraced a new name and identity.

Following Charles's orders, though with a hesitation, David moved aside and made way for Anthony to go inside Charles's office. Fuming with anger, Anthony stepped into Charles's office and slammed the door behind him. As impatient as Charles was to meet him, Anthony also could not wait any longer to get even with him. The moment the two came face to face with each other, Anthony blew a punch on Charles's face.

Charles dodged his attack briskly. "Thank you for looking after my wife and child these years. But now I will take care of them," he spoke in a very cool voice.

"Stop it!" a panic-stricken Anthony shouted as he came over to Charles. He could not understand why Charles still behaved in such a composed manner after his wife had left him for so many years.

'Isn't he supposed to break down? Isn't he supposed to be exasperated and heartbroken? Why is he still confident that Sheryl will come back to him?' Hundreds of questions ran back and forth in his mind, making him puzzled and frustrated all the more.

Anthony was oblivious of the time Charles had spent in despair without Autumn. But Charles would never show the delicate side of his mind to his rival.

"You're such a bastard!" Anthony sneered, as he gnashed his teeth. As he spoke, he came at Charles and attacked him with full strength. Overcome with hatred and anger, he had no choice but to beat up Charles to vent his feelings.

Charles avoided his attack at first. But noticing Anthony was serious, he decided not to dodge anymore. The two men were caught into a fierce fight in a matter of few seconds beating, punching, kicking each other and literally trying to pull each other apart.