The Substitute Bride

Cindy looked at her mother, considered for a moment, and then walked towards Abby. Fear was written all over her face. "Mom…" she called out.

Abby smiled at her little girl in encouragement. "Come. Don't be scared." She thought of what Cindy had been suffering through recently and felt guilty and sad. She held out her arms to the girl and hugged her for reassurance. Then she gently asked, "Can you tell me what Gina said to you?"

Cindy felt her heart pounding. She kept quiet, hesitant to answer her mother. Then she saw Autumn, who gave her an encouraging look while Abby kept repeating, "Don't be scared, I won't allow anyone to hurt you."

The girl shut her eyes for a moment. Clasping her hands together, she began, "She said you and Dad wouldn't like me anymore and would drive me away once the baby was born."

Just the thought of being sent away made Cindy break down and cry. Then she pleaded with her mother, "I promise to be a good girl from now on. Just please don't send me away."

Everyone who heard Cindy was aghast and felt pity for the girl in tears. Abby turned to Andy and said, "Look what you've done. You made Gina a part of our family, fed her, and let her stay in our home, but what did she do? She fed Cindy all this nonsense! Cindy is only a little girl and I won't let anybody hurt her." She hugged Cindy protectively. "If you don't ask Gina to leave, I will never go home with Cindy, " Abby threatened.

Andy was shocked at what Cindy said. He felt pain for his daughter after learning of her ordeal. He approached the girl, squatted in front of her and said, "Cindy, come."

She hesitated, and reached out to Andy. He looked at his daughter and saw the once cute and naughty girl gripped by fear after reliving Gina's cruel words. And she had suffered in silence, with no one noticing.

She stood quietly and then was hugged by her father. Cindy was still shaking inside. Andy gently asked, "Did she say anything else? Did she do anything to you?"

Cindy quickly bowed her head. "She…" Starting to sniffle again, she said, "She pinched me. And it was painful." Looking at her father, she went on, "Then she told me not to tell anyone about what happened."

Again, everyone was shocked by the revelation. They never thought someone so young could

to sit with her.

Autumn patted the seat beside her and said, "Come, sit beside me. I don't want to talk to you while you're standing."

Nancy considered for a moment, and finally sat down but not too close to Autumn.

Fortunately, Autumn didn't care about Nancy's cool demeanor. Instead, she smiled and said, "Here, I want you to have this."

She handed Nancy the red envelop containing all the money she got, and from its thickness, Nancy deduced it contained several thousand.

As surprised as she was over the gesture, Nancy quickly refused. "No, I can't accept it."

But Autumn was just as insistent. "Just take it." She put the envelop in Nancy's hands and pushed it towards her. "You deserve it because you have served this family for many years, helping Charles and Grandpa a lot by making sure everything ran smoothly."

"I'm sorry. I can't accept it, " Nancy repeated. She sat up straight and proudly said, "I only did what I am supposed to do. I have my salary and your grandfather already gave me a red envelop earlier. So it's not right to accept yours."

But Autumn would not take no for an answer and continued to persuade Nancy with a smile. "It's different from the red envelop you got from Grandpa. Please just accept it."

Even though she suspected Nancy was having money problems, Autumn was not about to ask her about it. But she really just wanted to help Nancy thus she insisted on giving the money.

"Mrs. Lu, I…" Slightly embarrassed, Nancy frowned, not knowing how to answer Autumn.