The Substitute Bride

"What?" Charles, are you all right?" When Melissa heard that Charles was almost struck by a car, her heart almost skipped a beat. After scrutinizing Charles from head to toe, Melissa heaved a sigh of relief. She was finally assured.

"I'm fine,"

Charles said in a flat tone and then headed upstairs. At the moment, he was quite worked up. He couldn't even handle the matter with Sheryl properly, let alone Leila.

As Charles disappeared from her sight, Melissa turned to Leila. At this moment, Leila was the only person who could tell her what had happened.

Pulling Melissa's hand, Leila lowered her head as if in dismay. "Aunt Melissa, Charles, and Sheryl had a huge fight today," Leila said in a dejected voice.

"Really?" Melissa's eyes grew wide as she heard this. "Tell me what happened. You even got injured. I'm so worried." Melissa's breathing quickened. She heaved another deep sigh to slow her breathing down. She was so petrified at the moment, that even the news of Sheryl quarreling with Charles again, could not help to flush away her worries.

Even though Leila didn't know what exactly happened between Sheryl and Charles, she could more or less deduce from their reactions that they were having a heated argument. While narrating the incident to Melissa, she deliberately projected Sheryl as a villain.

"Did Sheryl say outright that she was in love with another man?" Melissa asked Leila, a mix of disbelief and anger in her voice.

Leila nodded her head, feigning a helpless look on her face. "Aunt Melissa, I love Charles wholeheartedly, and you know that. However, he only loves Sheryl. And that heartless woman betrayed Charles! I feel so sorry for Charles. What else can I do?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Leila lowered her head and started to sob. She behaved as if her heart was broken into pieces at seeing Charles being betrayed like this.

Melissa looked at the bandages on Leila's body with a lot of concern and felt sorry for her.

At the same time, every fleeting thought about Sheryl left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her heart filled with disdain, and she cursed her luck for having Sheryl as her daughter-in-law. As much as she regretted this, she couldn't help thinking how good it would be if Leila was her daughter-in-law, instead of Sheryl.

"Leila, stop crying now. You've never seen Charles like this before, have

r to sit down, Charles asked in a concerned voice, "Mom, how are you feeling now? Are you alright?"

Melissa still kept struggling with her breathing, her face getting paler with every passing moment. Charles almost freaked out, seeing the deteriorating state of his mother. He continued to speak with concern, "Mom, let me get you some water. Don't get angry. I'll listen to you."

Having no choice left, Charles had to agree to what Melissa said. The only thing that he could do right now was to stop his mother from getting agitated and to make sure that her health did not get affected by this.

"Do you really mean it? Will you do as I say?" Turning her head to Charles, Melissa eyed him with disbelief. She seemed to be a little relieved, as well.

Charles nodded his head. At the moment, the utmost priority for him was Melissa's health. Everything else would have to be pushed back.

"Alright then, divorce Sheryl as soon as possible. You know my health condition. I'm not sure whether my body will sustain it or not. You better listen to me. Otherwise, I might just die of anger!"

Melissa deliberately portrayed herself as a fragile patient and pretended that she would die at any moment if he continued to remain married to Sheryl.

Charles' mind was in a total mess at the moment.

Eventually, he managed to console his mother. And after she was more pacified, he helped her to go down the stairs.

When Leila saw that Charles was helping Melissa climb down the stairs, she sprinted towards them and asked nervously, "Charles, what happened to Aunt Melissa?"