The Substitute Bride

"Shirley! Don't you ever, ever do that again! You really scared me to death!" Sheryl held her daughter in her arms tightly and mumbled,"Where have you been, sweetie? Why didn't you follow me? Never ever do that again! This is a crowded place, and you could easily be lost here."

Sheryl was very scared, but she blamed Shirley no more.

Shirley was her life now. She couldn't even imagine what she would do if Shirley got lost. She guessed that she would probably cry to death.

"Because I saw Charlie, Sher! Sorry! I was too excited that I forgot about you!" Shirley explained. Shirley apparently had no idea what was in her mother's mind at that time. Then, she acknowledged Sheryl with a big sweet smile.

Sheryl understood that there was nothing more she could do about what happened. Then she saw Charlie. Again, he wasn't alone. He was escorted by Charles.

"We'd better go home now!" she urged Shirley and pretended not to see the father and son. "You must not do that again, okay? You should know that it's very dangerous if no adult is around you!"

"Okay! Sher, I got it!" Shirley replied reluctantly and then walked with Sheryl to the exit. But she looked back at Charlie and was dismayed to part with him. Meanwhile, Charles just watched them and didn't do anything at first. When Sheryl walked away, he stepped forward in a hurry to stop her. But Charlie was faster than him. He grabbed Sheryl's sleeve and blurted,"Sher, are you mad at me?"

That was Charlie's second day at the Dream Garden. He was not able to bring anything with him since he secretly ran away from Leila's house. So, Charles took him to the mall, shopped and bought everything he needed. As Charlie picked up his stuff, Charles also picked some for himself.

Along with the clothes Charlie chose for himself, Charles also bought another set for a girl.

He expected that Shirley would live with him sooner or later and intended to make some preparations for her in advance.

After that, Charles took Charlie to the supermarket to buy some snacks. It was a real surprise that they ran into Sheryl and Shirley who were also shopping for groceries. Charles thought that even God was helping him.

"No, of course not!" Sheryl replied and gave Charlie an awkwa

arking lot, she put her hands on her burning face to sooth it.

She sensed how weird she was acting at that time.

She didn't know what invaded her mind.

They were so close that she smelled his breath and thought that he was going to kiss her the next second.

But he didn't. What she didn't know was that he really intended to kiss her, at least in his mind.

Charles felt that he was exploding at that moment. The woman, whom he had been thinking of in the past three years, was sitting beside him now, but he had to pretend that they were strangers. It made him feel like an idiot.

The car pulled over at the entrance of Dream Garden. Nacy rushed out the moment she saw the car. She almost retreated when she saw Sheryl's face. She asked with her eyes wide opened,"Is that... Oh my God!"

Nacy had never seen Autumn in person before. She came to work in the house after she'd gone. Although she didn't know Autumn, she saw their wedding photos every time she cleaned their bedroom. The woman in front of her now was just the same as the one in the photos.

"Nacy!" Charles stepped out from the car. Before Nacy could utter something more, he made an introduction,"This is Sheryl Xia, a friend of Charlie. Please take the stuff from my car inside the house for me!"

Then he turned to Charlie with a smile and urged him,"Come on! Show Sheryl and Shirley our home."

"Okay!" Charlie replied cheerfully. He got off and grabbed Sheryl's and Shirley's hands and headed to the house.