The Substitute Bride

At the hotel

Laura and Junia stood in front of the hotel gate. They were waiting for Anthony to pick them up. Laura was slowly gaining confidence that she could dissuade her son from marrying Sheryl. Till now their plan had been working for them. After Laura pretended to faint, Anthony thought she was really ill and stayed with her most of the time. And she knew that Anthony had never seen Sheryl since then.

Both Laura and Junia were happy that their scheme worked.

Hence, both the ladies stood there sharing niceties with each other. Laura took this opportunity of Anthony's absence to pep up Junia a little more. Laura patted Junia's hand and said, "Junia, I have done everything I could to help you. Next it depends on you in terms of whether or not you can win Anthony's heart. You must grip this opportunity."

"Aunt Laura, don't worry. We have won half the game. Now Anthony has a good impression of me," Junia said smiling confidently. As both the ladies thought that they had out smarted Anthony and after all the games they played, he would most definitely move away from Sheryl, neither of them noticed that Anthony had gone out of the hotel.

Anthony had had a stomach upset, so he had gone into the washroom at the hotel. When he went out, he wanted to play a trick on them so he tiptoed to them. At that time, Laura was speaking with a smile, "A good impression on you? That's great. I don't have any other wish except that Anthony and you get married. Only then will all my efforts be worthwhile."

"Don't worry, Aunt Laura," Junia spoke with a big smile on her face. "I have followed your instructions and it has really worked. My disagreeing with your behavior in front of Anthony has helped me win his trust. Now he feels that I will give him sensible and genuine advice. Hence, he even listened to me when I asked him not to see Sheryl any more, ' she added with a confident smile on her face. "So now I think I have the opportunity to be with him," she added.

"That's really good," Laura said with a big smile. She felt relieved, thinking that Sue could finally replace that single mother in her son's heart who had no family background. 'Anthony is young and blind in love. He will never understand why I am doing all this. But whatever I am doing is only for his good. Perhaps he will understand when he becomes a father himself, ' Laura thought to herself. Then she continued her words, "I know my son. He wouldn't listen to you if you oppose him. But if you can make him feel that you are on his side, it will be very easy to convince him. I don't think that woman will be able to keep my son happy. You are destined to be my daughter-in-law." Saying this, Laura touched Junia's cheek lovingly.

"Aunt Laura..." Junia lowered her eyes as she blushed. She felt a little shy. "It is you who know your son best. If you hadn't pretended to be ill, I wouldn't have got a chance to approach him." She showed her great gratitude to Laura.

As both the ladies were freely speaking about how their scheme was working well for them, they did not even notice that Anthony was standing right behind them. After hearing their words, Anthony was dumbstruck.

A playful gesture that he had planned for surprising his mom turned out to be a great revelation for him. He just wa

ura was so enraged that her blood pressure shot up immediately. She fell on the ground and lost her consciousness. Junia was utterly scared and supported her with her arms. "Aunt Laura, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Junia asked concernedly tapping her on her face.

"Anthony, Anthony! Stop!" Junia called out to him from back out of fear. "Aunt has fainted." She tried to stop him from leaving.

Anthony stopped after hearing her cry. "Now, stop crying wolf," he said without even turning back at them. He stood right there just a few steps apart, resolved not to fall a prey to their trick anymore. "Don't you get bored of playing the same trick again? I have no faith in your words any more," he said with a hardened expression.

Then he stepped ahead and left the hotel premises ruthlessly. Junia watched him walk away as she knelt down on the floor holding Laura in one hand.

She then asked for help from a hotel employee and took Laura to the hospital immediately. After the doctor examined her, she said that a delay of even a few more minutes could have resulted in being fatal for Laura.

Junia was extremely worried and angry as she could not get through with Anthony over the phone even though she called him over and over again.

At the same time, she could even understand Anthony's position as well. 'If I were in his place, even I would have thought that Laura was pretending to faint. No one could believe this time it was true, ' she thought in her mind.

Eventually Laura opened her eyes. Junia was sitting on a chair in front of her. She took a deep sigh of relief and said in a tearful voice, "Aunt Laura, you really scared me just now."

"Good girls don't cry." Laura tried to pacify her emotions. Laura had a faint smile on her face as she said, "I am okay, don't worry."

Laura glanced around the ward to find her son in the room. Then she couldn't help but smile wryly. She asked Junia, "Where is Anthony? Did he just leave?"

"He…" Junia furrowed her brows as she didn't know how to explain to Laura. Then she smiled and reassured Laura softly, "Anthony has something urgent to solve. Aunt, are you hungry? How about ordering a take-away food for you?"