The Substitute Bride

Sheryl was very delighted to be surrounded by her family that afternoon. Little did she know that Charles was looking at her smiling face the whole time. Charles swore to himself that he would do anything he could to make her smile this way for the rest of his life while watching her laugh.

'I will protect her and let her lead a happy life no matter what, ' he vowed.

After their happy and scrumptious dinner, Sheryl and Charles walked Amy and Arthur to the gate. Then they took their kids upstairs with them as soon as they were back inside their home. Sheryl helped her son and daughter take a bath in the children's room and Charles headed to the study. She tucked her children in and just walked out of their room after making sure that they were asleep.

She tiptoed to the door, turned off the lights and was about to return to their own bedroom when a strong pair of arms suddenly embraced her waist intimately from behind.

The skin contact automatically made Sheryl blush as she said bashfully, "Let me go. I need to take a shower."

"So do I. We can shower together," whispered Charles in her ear with his bewitchingly sensual voice.

Sheryl refused his proposal at first. However, she wasn't able to control herself when Charles started bombarding her with sweet words. As much as she was trying to resist, she ended up nodding in agreement when he began raining her small kisses on her face and neck. With a cunning smile, Charles lifted his loving wife to his chest, entered their bedroom, and carried her into the bathroom.

The glass door began to blur at the same moment the water from the shower hit the floor. A blurry image of two silhouettes intertwined in throes of passion could be seen through the frosted door. Heavy breathes, passionate moans, and affectionate words filled their room as their bodies merged into one.

It was a phone call from a detective that woke Sheryl up early the next morning. Since Charles was still sleeping soundly beside her, she moved out of the bed carefully. She didn't even bother to wear her bedroom slippers and just walked barefoot to the balcony. She could still feel how warm and sensitive her skin was after Charles' kisses last night. She then answered the phone.

"Hello?" said Sheryl in a low voice. "Did you find any clue?"

"Yes, Miss Xia," replied the detective. "I got the information you need. When are you going to have time? We can meet anytime and I can give you the files."

"Let's meet each other after an hour. I will be in the same coffee shop where we met before," responded Sheryl b

e was my mother," she replied.

"I see," the detective said as he took the picture back. "The tomb Holley often visits is Wendy Ye's.

According to the investigation results, Wendy has another daughter named Yvonne Gu, your half-sister. She got arrested three years ago. She escaped from the prison later and no one knew where she went. I had a picture of Yvonne Gu. Holley Ye and Yvonne Gu don't look like each other at all. However, I suspect that Holley Ye is Yvonne Gu, who disappeared three years ago."

Looking at the confused Sheryl, he analyzed, "We both know that plastic surgery is a big industry in Korea. It's possible that Yvonne Gu fled there to have plastic surgery done. Besides, even though she changed her looks, her family name remained as Wendy Ye's. That's why I assume that she is your half-sister."

Shocked, Sheryl sat still. She let out a wry smile while looking at the pieces of evidences the detective began placing on the table.

She already had a guess about Holley's identity. However, she still couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as the man before her revealed the truth.

'Is Holley really Yvonne?' she wondered.

"Are you okay, Miss Xia?" asked the detective as he noticed how her face instantly lost its color.

Shaking her head, Sheryl replied in an almost silent voice, "I am fine. Please go ahead."

"Okay," said the detective. He then shot her a worried look before opening his mouth again. "I have been following her almost all the time recently. I found that she and George Han get on very well. George Han is head-over-feet in love with her. He will give her everything and anything she asks for. He even went to the extent of fighting with his mother for her."