The Substitute Bride

Laura was furious and fuming as she held the phone to her ears. Her face went red and her voice trembled as she spoke,"Don't listen his nonsense." She tried to appease Junia,"As long as I am Anthony's mother, I wouldn't allow that girl to enter our home. I truly appreciate you and would do anything to see both of you together. But before that can I expect you to tell me the truth? Do you love Anthony? If you really love him, I will be on your side by all means."

There was complete silence on the other side of the phone. Laura waited for a few seconds for Junia to reply. With every passing moment, she was getting more and more impatient. Then she spoke out hastily,"Okay Junia, how about us meet up and talk? Just you and me? Of course, if you are not busy. You can take your decisions after I tell you everything about Anthony's girlfriend. What do you think of it? Just take your time to think about it and let me know."

After a moment of hesitation, Junia eventually agreed to meet Laura. "Okay," she said in a meek voice.

Then Laura hung up the phone and heaved a sigh of relieve. However, her anger towards Anthony was not yet pacified. She kept walking up and down the hall till Carlson came back at night. In fact, Laura was so angry that she didn't even cook the dinner.

Carlson marked that Laura was agitated the moment he walked into the living room. He promptly asked,"What happened? Did anything go wrong at today's date meal?"

"You should know your son! I really don't know what is going on in his mind. I asked him to watch a movie with Junia, but he bought two tickets in different rows. Can you imagine? I really wonder what magic that woman has cast on him that my son is so enchanted by her," Laura started to complain bitterly to Carlson.

"It has been three years." Carlson sighed and continued speaking as he sat on the couch and made himself comfortable,"The woman that Anthony loves may truly have something special. How about agreeing to meet her once? Since we have never seen her before, it is a little unreasonable for us to have such a prejudice to her."

Hearing the words spoken by Carlson, Laura fumed up all the more. 'Now even the father has joined the party, ' she thought in her mind. "So are you opposing me? Are you now on the same side with your son?" Laura looked at Carlson and interrogated wrathfully.

"I didn't mean that," Carlson explained immediately as he marked Laura's rage. "What I mean is that, we can make our decisions after

when she noticed the curiosity on her face.

"That woman…" Junia stopped to organize her words,"lost her memory. She doesn't even know who she was. Three years ago she was Anthony's patient. Because of her illness, she took a drug and lost all her previous memory. Although Anthony loves that woman, I can't allow a woman who can't even tell about her background to be a part of our family. So, that is the real story. Now tell me, what do you think of it?" Laura got angry at the very mention of that woman. 'How well-behave Anthony was before. Now he has always been opposing me since he has been together with that woman.' Laura could not stop her mind from the random unpleasant thoughts about Anthony's girlfriend that kept coming to her mind.

"Is… it real?" Junia's eyes were wide open as she asked Laura in great disbelief.

"Of course it is true," Laura heaved a deep sighed and replied as she kept stirring the mustard sauce on her plate. "Why would I lie to you on such an important thing?" Laura sounded remorseful as she spoke.

"So… does she have any family? Have her family tried to find her?" Junia couldn't resist interrogating.

"I don't know. The only thing I know is that Anthony resigned from the hospital and went to America with that women three years back. He has left everything behind for that woman. Since then Anthony has become her boyfriend. In America Anthony took care of her and barely came back home," Laura answered.

"Anthony is so kind to that woman!" Junia spoke narrowing her eyes. Laura could clearly see envy in her eyes at the mention of the dedication Anthony had towards his girlfriend. Laura became hopeful.