The Substitute Bride

Sheryl was a woman whose heart was filled with compassion – she would carry her good intentions around with her, even if it meant that she had to go to the extent of reasoning with her grandmother Amy, who was a challenge she was always reluctant to take, but, not tonight, because this time she had to be tough enough to negotiate with her granny since she insisted on bringing Sue home. The poor woman Sheryl took in was too shy to decline her considerate offer. When they finally got home, Amy had her arms crossed; she was doing her best not to succumb to emotion as to not express any feelings of remorse. Sue thought the sophisticated lady looked firm and keen, maybe even too tough for any man and she thought right – the head of the house always wanted things verified before she could allow anyone inside their abode. Sheryl was trying not to get intimidated by her grandmother's exterior and composed herself, knowing the strict lady her elder would hold her accountable and knowing real well that she looked like she was up for the job. Sue was feeling the tension when Sheryl asked her to help herself to the guest room and take a shower. The worn out woman immediately followed the orders of her host and as soon as she left, Amy no longer waited to talk about the elephant in the room. "Sher, isn't this girl… Why did you bring her back into our home?" asked the old woman who was clearly in distress.

"She is my friend, Grandma. Please, don't worry," Sheryl explained nervously. "About Anthony's involvement in this certain issue… Well, I actually don't blame Sue for whatever happened. It wasn't a pretty conflict to be caught up in, but I don't think it's right to blame her either."

The grandmother was surprised at her granddaughter's remarks. Upon hearing it, she gathered her own thoughts on the situation. "But you know…" Amy said with her brows now knitted almost too closely to each other. She was about to rebut her beloved child into a debate but along the way she got caught up trying to search for the right words for the sake of the conversation, but before she could even formulate an idea or a thought that would put the young woman back to her senses, Sheryl interrupted her trail of thought and tried to pick the lock to her grandmother's sympathy towards the woman she decided to shelter in their home. "Believe me when I say that she is absolutely a woman to pity, Grandma," explained the woman in hopes to convince her grandmother. "I can't hold back and just let her carry on like this knowing that she has nowhere else to go. Do you think she can go anywhere else if you shoo her from the only home that might be the only home kind enough to take her in?"

The older woman scoffed, "Pitiful? Why? What happened to her that you should feel pity towards her?" Clearly dumbfounded, the senior took time to pause and became more open to the situation; Amy thought of the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe her grandchild must have a good reason for what she had decided to do. However, the elder wanted questions right away so she bombarded the young woman with questions, wanting to know the answers to all of them – if she was going to open her home to people she couldn't trust, then she must first get to the bottom of the entire situation.

Sheryl knew that if she wanted her grandmother to agree with the big decision to take Sue in, she had to narrate the full story in detail to her beloved grandmother with patience, not sacrificing a single loophole. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for her to get the woman of the house to get convinced that whatever she was doing was the right thing to do.

Minutes had passed when Sheryl told the sorrowful story of Sue to her attentive grandmother, who offered nothing but her ears. The young woman dotted the whole story with a sigh, still feeling sympathetic over whatever Sue had to suffer. It was bad enough to be mistreated by other people, so Sheryl was sure nobody would want to be mistreated by their own family. She once again persuaded her grandmother to let Sue stay. It was not long after that when Amy, who happened to be the one to raise such a compassionate child, was able to empathize with their visitor. "Oh, I'm sorry I ever judged her. That poor woman… Tell her she can stay for as long as she wants and tell her to live here as if this is her home until she can find another roof to put over her head."

Sheryl was delighted

me and I'm really scared. I'm afraid that they won't stop hunting for Anthony's money when they find out that I'm related to such a delightfully rich guy; I know them and I know what they can and will do. How am I supposed to live a life with Anthony if my family will always be breathing down our necks?"

Having heard Sue's huge confession, Sheryl thought of her own experiences and after hesitating for a while, she finally decided to have a piece of her name in the same story. "Mimi, the story I told you about Charles is only the second half. Would you also like to hear about the first half of the whole story as well?"

Sue looked doubtful but nodded; she wasn't about to hide her curiosity.

Sheryl took a deep breath and regained her memory, flashback after flashback. When she had gathered all the elements of her story, she came to realize that she had been Sheryl for so long that she had forgotten to remember her life as Autumn. She thought carefully and recalled every little detail, making sure not to miss anything. It was as if she was re-watching her favorite movie in her mind; it was still so real and vivid to her.

These memories were so deeply embedded to her soul that no power in the world could ever take her memories away.

She started telling Sue about the marriage arranged by Wendy then slowly worked her way up to everything else: the efforts of Rachel and Yvonne to split her and Charles up, the pregnancy, the memory loss, and whatnot. After an hour and a half, Sheryl finally came to a conclusion, "Then, I finally approached the second chapter, which was the part I conveniently told you first about."

Sheryl anxiously forced a smile and gave Sue the most important piece of advice that she learned from all her past dwellings of cruelty. "Mimi, I was just inferior as you are when I first married Charles. I was in no way confident; I was insecure and anxious that I would never be half the person Charles deserves. But, it was Charles who taught me that love can be just as simple as love – no more, and no less, regardless of everything else that is not love. You are no different, Sue. Make Charles and I your cautionary tale; we illustrate what you should do instead, don't we?"

Staring at Sue with the eyes of affection, she continued to persuade the young woman before her to expel all her worries. "If you really love Anthony, then you definitely shouldn't give up. I'm sure that if you let him go, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Sue finally responded, "I can't believe you've been through so much hardship. It must have been tough." She then smiled as it all made sense to her. Now, she could finally understand why Sheryl could say the things that she said.

'She's been through so much with Charles, ' Sue thought to herself. 'And they also have children. The tie between Anthony and Sheryl will in no way ever amount to that of Charles and her. No wonder she loves him so much.'