The Substitute Bride

Susan was stopped by a stranger when she was on her way to catch up with Sheryl. It was undeniable that the evening dress which Cary had picked out for Susan was brilliantly exquisite.

He was drawn to it the very first time he saw the evening dress. He had thought, 'Susan would look absolutely gorgeous in this dress.'

And sure enough, Susan looked so glamorous in the exquisite evening dress that she caught everybody's attention as soon as she walked in. Her attractiveness gave birth to gossips about her mysterious identity. Everyone wanted to know which renowned family she belonged to.

The elite circle was so close knit that all of them knew each other. But even after asking around, nobody knew anything about Susan.

Susan stared at the man who was blocking her way. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, tensed.

It was Susan's first time attending such a grand banquet and she was already extremely nervous.

"What's your name?" The man who stood in Susan's path was a popular and notorious playboy in the business circle. He didn't really care about what other people said. The moment he saw Susan, he was flipped. When he noticed her out of place behavior and her nervousness, he knew that Susan didn't belong to the elite circle.

Susan began to feel extremely awkward. She looked around in a frenzy, hoping to be saved from this situation. She had no idea who this man was or how she was supposed to deal with him.

"I... My name is Susan," she politely replied. 'I guess it's all right to give my name at least, ' she thought.

"Susan..." the man repeated, as if he were testing the sound of her name from his lips. He continued with a gentle smile, "It's a beautiful name. Would you like to be my date for the night?"

He was very much interested in her and didn't want to let go of the opportunity to get close to her. However, Susan was shocked by his sudden request. She didn't even want to attend the charity dinner in the first place, let alone be anyone's date.

"I'm sorry,

se gaze and she quickly fled away from him, hiding her tomato red face.

Cary smiled warmly as he gazed at her retreating back.

Sheryl was standing beside Charles and they were discussing a negotiation with a client. She was so into the conversation that she didn't notice Susan's presence behind her.

Susan waited for her silently without interrupting their dialogue.

When Sheryl was finally done, she saw Susan and walked straight to her. "You could have come and talked to me," Sheryl said.

Susan smiled shyly. "I didn't want to disturb you."

Sheryl eyed her from head to toe and said with a gentle smile, "Cary has a very good eye. This dress suits you so well that even I can't dart my eyes off you."

"Sher, please don't flatter me. This is really overwhelming," Susan said uneasily. "I don't feel comfortable in this. All I want is to take it off as quickly as possible."

"Why do you want to take it off? It's so beautiful," said Sheryl with a sweet smile. "Besides, you'll have to get used to such occasions for the future. This is just a rehearsal."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked in a stunned tone.

"It's nothing," Sheryl replied with a grin and then she quickly skipped to another topic. "Have you seen Holley around here?"

"Holley Ye?" Susan frowned and asked, "She is attending this banquet as well?"