The Substitute Bride

"What's happening here?" Charles asked. He was a little surprised to see the Zhao family in his house at this moment. Looking at Arthur, Amy, Abby and his grandpa one by one, he asked again,"Is there any problem?"

Noticing that none of the Zhao family was about to answer Charles' question, Gary sighed and explained,"They saw Charlie just now."

Upon hearing what his grandfather said, Charles furrowed his brow. He felt that any explanation would not do in front of them right now. He couldn't make Charlie just disappear. However, Sheryl was still his wife and no one could take her place. Seeing his reaction, Abby sneered,"Tell us about that kid, Charles!" Charles stayed quiet for a moment, so Abby added,"He's your son, isn't he?"

Abby didn't know what really had happened, but she felt awful for Autumn. Her husband had cheated on her when she was pregnant. Now she could understand why Autumn left Charles.

Heaving a deep sigh, Charles answered,"Charlie is my son and I won't deny it." He tried to explain with a bitter smile,"I didn't know his existence until recently. I can assure you that he is just a result of an accident. I didn't intend to hurt Autumn or cheat on her. Charlie's presence won't change anything. I love Autumn and it'll never change."

"I don't think so!" Arthur sneered and said to Charles coldly,"Autumn is my granddaughter and I respect every decision she made. Since she left you, I believe that she had her own reason. We would like to hear it directly from her so please take us to where she is right now. Also, I think it would be better if we draw a clear line between each other. Please leave her alone and we'll do our best to take care of her from now on."

"Please don't talk like this, Arthur! We're still in-laws, right? Give Charles a chance to explain everything to you. Even just for the sake of Shirley. She's Charles and Autumn's daughter. She's both our great granddaughter!" Gary tried to persuade Arthur. He had been waiting for three long years. And now that Autumn had come back, he wanted to make everything right. This matter must be resolved once and for all.

Unfortunately, no one from Zhao family was willing to listen to his explanation. Autumn had suffered a lot in the past years and for them, Charles and his family should be blamed for all of her miseries. They owned a lot to her, so they would try their best to make it up to her and protect her. Thus, they decided to take her with them. Meanwhile, they hoped that Charles would keep himself away from her. Anyway, he had hurt her so much and even cheated on her. So, it was only right for her to leave Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles didn't want to give up. He tried every possible way to persuade them to listen to him until he eventually made them sit down.

"I know it's hard for you to accept what happened. I could understand if you're all disappointed at me. I won't try to defend myself because I knew I was at fault. But, Charlie is just an acc

tter smile. She also didn't want to scare Autumn. All she could do was wish that things would get better soon.

The sun had just risen when they got the place that Charles told them. They waited outside the building for quite a while but Autumn didn't show up. Abby was already worried about her mom. She might get too much exhausted staying under the sun for a long time so she tried to persuade her that they must leave. They could just go back next time. Good thing Amy didn't resist. However, when they were about to go, they saw Autumn coming out with Sue.

Sheryl was wearing a jogging suit and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked healthy and energetic. On the other hand, Sue looked like she didn't get enough sleep last night. She was trailing behind Sheryl with a long face. She complained,"Can I just go back to sleep now, Sheryl? My holiday is almost over and all I want to do right now is just lay on my bed. Let's just go back, okay?"

"No, don't ever think that way!" Sheryl replied amusingly. Glancing at Sue, she said without any hesitations,"After so many days of rest, it's time for you to get some exercise now. Look at your cheeks, they're getting puffy. If you keep on staying at home, for sure your co-workers at BM Corporation will give you a special attention when you get back. You knew more than me what kind of people they are!"

"Stop it! Let's just talk about that later, okay? I want to go back to my bed now!" Sue snapped.

"No way! Keep your motivation going! You must always remember that you are a model. Have you forgotten your dream to become a super model someday? If you don't work hard now, how would you be able to make that dream come true? You might even lose your job as a model!" Sheryl encouraged her while pushing her forward. Finally, Sue gave in. As they were jogging, Autumn unconsciously glanced at Amy and Abby who were standing across the road. She couldn't understand why she felt something strange when their eyes met.