The Substitute Bride

"This has nothing to do with you. You better go first," Sheryl persuaded. As much as Coral was kind-hearted to offer her help, Sheryl was kind enough as well to leave the former out of her own trouble. "I can handle it," she asserted, though she did not believe her statement herself.

"How can you handle it?" Coral asked, forcing a bitter smile. "You said it yourself. Holley has arranged people to keep an eye on you. How can you run away with so many eyes following your every move?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Sheryl repeated, trying to get this innocent girl as far away from her problem as possible. "I have to deal with this myself. It's none of your business. So you better move away now, or else you won't be able to steer clear of this thing when Chuck Zhang comes back and finds out about you helping me. I don't want you to get involved in this."

Her words surprised Coral. Even in the midst of such a dangerous situation, the woman in trouble only thought of Coral's well-being and how to keep her away from the problem. Instead of dragging Coral into her dilemma and clinging to her for help, she pushed away from the only help that seemed to within her reach.

Hesitantly, Coral offered Sheryl the dazzling poison that was disguised as a glass of wine. When Sheryl saw the drink, she felt her thirst and fatigue creeping on her body. With everything happening, she thought a drink could help calm her nerves so she raised the glass to her lips.

As she was about to take a sip, Coral could not help but recoil abruptly. Her sudden movements shocked the older woman.

"What's wrong?" Sheryl asked, concerned. "Nothing... Nothing's wrong," said Coral, despite being filled with overwhelming guilt. The young model was so close to blurting out the truth, but she managed to stop herself just in time. Once she was able to control herself, she pretended to be calm and nonchalant while watching Sheryl drain the remaining contents of the glass. Silently, she lowered her head.

"Why are you still standing there?" the woman asked, and gently shoved Coral away. "There's no time to waste," Sheryl reminded Coral to leave. "Be quick. Go. Otherwise they'll notice."

"Sheryl..." Coral began, and looked at her with such remorseful eyes. Just when she was about to say something, she thought of the money that Holley promised to give her, and suppressed the urge to tell the truth once again. 'This is for my sister, ' she reminded herself. 'I can't back out now.'

"What?" Sheryl asked suspiciously. It appeared as though the younger model wanted to tell her something, but every time she tried opening her mouth, she would bite back whatever was on her mind.

"It's nothing!" Finally making up her mind, Coral decided to stand by her decision. "Just that... I'm sorry I couldn't help you," she apologized. She was, indeed, sorry. However, it wasn't only for being unable to help, but for letting herself play a terrible role in whatever horrific plan Holley had.

"This has nothing to do with you," Sheryl repeated firmly. With the way Coral was looking at her, she could tell the woman seemed to be filled with guilt. The least Sheryl could do was to reassure the yo

isapprovingly. What he heard definitely shocked him. How could a man be that brutal to women? "I couldn't tell from his profile that he is such a ruthless person," he said.

"Exactly," the man said taking a swig of his drink. He then continued, "Nowadays, there are just too many people who hide vicious beasts inside of them."

In an attempt to see the evil man's true color, Cary took another glance at Chuck. It was only at that point when he saw the face of the girl. Now, he was not the most righteous person to pass judgment around, but the face of Sheryl caught him by surprise.

When he found out that the woman this supposedly terrible man had paid to have for the night was Sheryl, he fell into an extreme daze.

'She's Charles' wife, isn't she? Why is she here in this party?' he thought.

Before he could even figure out the answer, he decided to walk towards Chuck and stop him from taking away the woman. If Mr. Lin's stories were accurate, she was not safe with him. "Mr. Su, where are you going? We haven't finished talking yet, have we?"

"Later, Mr. Lin. I have some personal business to deal with right now," Cary retorted without turning back. In the first place, he had no intention of interfering Chuck's business. But the woman he was with was Sheryl, a project planner whom he highly appreciated. She was also Charles' wife, and if he could do Charles' a favor by saving his wife, that would instantly establish a stronger business tie with the man. Stronger partnership most likely equated to a lot of profit. So it was an easy decision to make for a businessman like him.

Speeding up his pace, he caught up with Chuck before he entered the lift. "Mr. Zhang, what's the rush? Where are you going?"

The man with wicked plans was startled to find that the person who had called out to him was Cary. "Mr. Su?" he asked uncertainly. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here for your party," Cary replied with a big grin. "I heard your company needs an investment. Can I have some of your time to discuss a business opportunity?" He paused, studying Chuck's interested look. "I'm interested to invest."