The Substitute Bride

"Ms. Xia?" Phoebe saw Sheryl as she turned around. She immediately blushed when she saw that Sheryl was standing nearby.

Phoebe's face turned crimson red. Josef smiled knowingly as he pulled her into his arms. He nodded at Sheryl and said politely, "Hello, Ms. Xia."

"Josef, you'd better treat her well. If you hurt her, you should know that I'm a very well-connected woman," Sheryl teased. She was just joking because she knew she didn't need to worry—Josef seemed like a good man, who truly loved Phoebe.

"You don't need to worry about that. That's not going to happen," Josef replied confidently.

Sheryl felt more assured when she heard Josef's promise. She smiled at Phoebe and went upstairs.

After Sheryl left, Josef seemed to remember something as if it had just dawned on him. He looked at Phoebe and said, "Phoebe, does Ms. Xia know what's going on in the Shining Company?"

Phoebe pouted and sighed helplessly, "She's always convincing herself that President Lu's fine, so Ms. Zhao and I are very worried about her."

She knew that she could be honest with Josef because she trusted him. Thus, she told him everything that had happened to Sheryl.

When Phoebe had finished, he stroked his chin as he spoke, "There's something I think you should tell her or who knows what's going to happen."

"What is it?" Phoebe couldn't help but feel nervous when she saw the serious look on Josef's face.

Josef solemnly pulled Phoebe into the car. He quickly looked around to see if anybody could hear them. Then he said gravely, "I think Leila's up to something. Since Charles is missing, Sheryl's the one who has the right to intervene in the company's affairs. She's the wife, after all. I think you should tell her to be careful and maybe, take charge because I don't think Leila cares about the company at all."

Even though Phoebe didn't know what Josef's reason was for calling Leila suspicious, she still decided that she needed to talk to Sheryl as soon as possible.

"Okay, I'll talk to her. I have to

ad happened.

Sheryl saw the unease on Isla's face. She then smiled and burst into laughter as she reached out to pull Isla's hand. "Isla, I'm fine. No, I didn't find out anything. It's just that Josef told Phoebe that Leila is up to something. Charles and I weren't exactly on the best terms, which was why I refrained from intervening in the company's affairs..."

She tried her best to explain as much as she could, so that Isla wouldn't ask any more questions.

Isla seemed hesitant as she listened to Sheryl.

"Promise?" Isla urged. She needed to make sure that Sheryl wasn't lying to her.

Sheryl couldn't help but be amused. She simply nodded her head to ease her best friend's worries.

"All right, I guess I was just worried." Isla shifted the topic of conversation by asking what Sheryl had planned to do today before leaving.

When Sheryl was left alone in her office, she returned to her contemplations. After careful consideration, she decided she needed to talk to Melissa and tell her that Leila couldn't do just whatever she wanted in the company.

Sheryl hesitated for a while before she took out her cell phone and dialed Melissa's number.

While Melissa really didn't have cancer, her health was still deteriorating from all her worrying about Charles. When she heard the phone ring, she was sprawled across the couch.