The Substitute Bride

"So, what happened after that? Did he find her?" The love story of Charles and Autumn had captured Sheryl's imagination. Who could resist such a wonderful story? Charles loved autumn deeply. She believed that a love like that was a gift from God and being separated from one another was a great tragedy.

Isla shook her head, throwing Sheryl an ironic look. "Autumn has been missing for three years. I'm her best friend and I nearly gave up on finding her. But Charles has never given up looking for her and insists that Autumn is still alive."

'Loving Autumn so much, Charles must have felt instinctively that his wife is still alive, ' Sheryl sighed. 'It's hard to imagine what he must have been through during those years. It's his firm belief that Autumn is alive that keeps him going.'

Sheryl had no idea why their story tugged at her heartstrings and why she cared so much what happened to them.

"Something is off…" Sheryl said as an afterthought. Frowning at Isla, she asked,"If Charles truly loved Autumn to such an extent like what you said, how come he had an affair with Leila and had Charlie as a result?"

At the mention of Leila, Isla's countenance became grim. "Nobody knows for sure what kind of relationship Charles had with Leila. Before Autumn vanished, Leila had been scheming to steal Charles away from Autumn through any means possible. She had many tricks up her sleeve. Later, she also disappeared around the same time as Autumn. When she came back, everybody was shocked to learn that she has a little boy. I also don't know where the boy came from."

Sighing, Isla explained to Sheryl,"Miss Xia, Leila is a person of no consequence. Charles has never been interested in her. Even with her son, she can't change anything. In Charles' heart and mind, Autumn is the only woman that mattered."

"Why exactly are you telling me these things?" From the beginning, Sheryl had an odd feeling that Isla was trying hard to explain Charles and Autumn's story to her. It was as if she was explaining Charles' side of the story to her. But what could be her relation to all these things?

Whoever Charles loved, Autumn or Leila, was not her business. She w

t forcing her to make a decision.

'The more tolerant BM Corporation is to me, the more nervous I become, ' Sheryl thought.

While walking back to the hotel, Shirley surprised Sheryl by asking,"Sher, can I play with Amanda later on?"

"Do you like her?" Sheryl asked her daughter, surprised. She couldn't believe that the two girls would be so compatible with each other.

Shirley nodded excitedly and said to Sheryl,"I like Amanda and I want to live here."

Sheryl smiled but said nothing.

To stay or leave, was now the biggest dilemma in her mind. Even if she decided to stay, she didn't know how to say that to Anthony.

They found Charles silently waiting for them at the hotel when they arrived.

Her first instinct when she saw Charles was to grab Shirley's hand and turn away. But Charles had already seen them and hastily caught up with Sheryl. Catching Sheryl's arm, Charles knitted his brows and asked,"What's going on? Why are you avoiding me?"

"Let me go!" Frowning, Sheryl shook off Charles's hand agitatedly. Looking up directly in his deep eyes, she asked,"Mr. Lu, are you kidding me? Is there any reason why I should avoid you?"

Charles' eyes narrowed. He had no idea what had happened. 'Why did Sheryl suddenly changed her attitude with me?'

"Sher, what's the matter with you?" Holding her chin up so she could meet his eyes, he asked,"Are you still angry with me because of Leila? If so, I apologize to you. I…"