The Substitute Bride

"Haven't I had enough?" Laura repeated Anthony's question in an angry tone. She couldn't believe that her son would think she was being unreasonable. Laura got infuriated when she heard what Anthony said. She didn't think that Anthony would still stand by Sheryl, no matter what happened! Now, not only did he ignore her feelings, he had condemned his own mother! She sneered and said, "What has gotten into you? I'm doing it all for your own good. How can you blame me for that?"

"That's enough!" Anthony shouted. He didn't think that he was wrong, either. "You keep saying that you did that just for me, but do you really know what's good for me? Do you know what I really want?" he asked. His tone was cold and clipped. "All you've given me are material things I don't want. From my childhood until now, you've meddled with my decisions. You controlled everything. You made decisions for me without even considering what I would feel. Those decisions were made for your own good, not mine!"

Anthony was fuming. It seemed that all his feelings bottled up inside of him all those years, being under his mother's control, took over and just blew up. "You..." Laura began. But she, too, was too angry to continue.

Sheryl was standing near them, silently watching everything. "I don't want to be involved in your problems. Anthony, please take care of your mother. But make sure she stays away from me or you won't like what I'll do."

Even though Sheryl tried her best to be polite with her statement, Laura still thought she was looking down at her. Laura demanded that Sheryl apologize for speaking to her so arrogantly, but failed, as Sheryl had no intention to continue their conversation. With Arthur and Amy, Sheryl left Sue's house.

Amy could no longer contain her anger towards Laura. How could she talk that way to such a nice person like Sheryl? "Laura has gone too far today," Amy said. "It was not your fault! How could she blame you? Sher, don't be afraid of her. If she dares to trouble you again, call me and I'll help you take care of her."

Still reeling from what had happened, Amy remained angry. It was all because of Anthony, she thought. "And if Anthony dares to come after you again, you must call me, too. I'll help you take care of him as well."

"Thanks, Grandma Amy. I know you care about me so much. But trust me, and let me handle this myself," Sheryl assured her. "Now I just hope they will never bother me again. If they would just leave me alone," Sheryl said what she really wanted. She didn't want anything to do with them anymore.

"I agree. You would be so much happier without them," Arthur agreed. He said to Sheryl, "I really don't know why Anthony has changed so much. But if Graig were still alive and he saw this, he might die out of anger."

Sheryl didn't want to think about Anthony anymore, and why he had

und, telling everyone that she's your girlfriend. I'm telling you, this girl is not good for you. Sheryl might even be better than her. Even though Sheryl was once married, at least she runs in the same social circle as us, unlike this Sue."

"That's enough!" Anthony shouted. He frowned at her and continued, "Haven't you said enough? And can you actually hear yourself? When I was with Sheryl, you were so convinced she was bad for me and now you're saying that she's not? What do you really want, Mother?"

"I… I don't want anything." Laura pulled her lips into a thin line and continued, "I just don't want any of those two girls for you. Whatever fun you're having with Sue, I hope you know enough to not take your relationship seriously. Do you understand?" Laura knew that these girls just didn't deserve her son.

Anthony couldn't help but smile bitterly. He knew what Laura really thought of Sheryl and Sue, so he went along with it. "Wow, Mother. If I didn't know any better, I'd actually think you're quite open-minded." Laura's eyes narrowed. "Is that supposed to be a joke?

Don't ridicule me like that. And besides, all I'm saying is that you're not bound to lose anything if you just treat your relationship with either of these girls as child's play."

"Enough!" Anthony felt upset and frustrated, knowing that he could never understand what was going on in his mother's head. "Why have you come here anyway? If you have nothing nice to say, you should go home now."

"But what about you? Why don't you come back with me?" said Laura worriedly. She added, "It's impossible for you and Sheryl to be together again. And I don't think you and this girl can have a happy ending either. What's the point of you staying in this city now? Why don't you just quickly pack your bags and come with me?" Laura didn't even bother to hide her eagerness, trying to get her son to come home with her.