The Substitute Bride

"Please don't ask me why," Leila said as she turned her head away to avoid confronting him. "We're not meant for each other, Burke. Since we got together, I have never truly felt happy. Today... I was planning to tell you that I wanted to break up with you, but I didn't expect things to take such a turn..."

With a guilty smile, she continued,"I really appreciate what you have done and all that you said to me today. But if I force myself to accept you and get married to you, I am sure both of us won't be happy. And I don't want that for either of us. We both deserve happiness, love and a bright future. We should stop seeing each other, Burke."

"Now that you tell me you don't like me, why did you agree to date me in the first place?" Burke asked as his anger began to build up. With a heart-broken expression, he stared at Leila while saying,"If you refused me at first, I wouldn't have gone so ahead to propose, let alone expecting anything from you."

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Leila's face. If Ferry hadn't urged her to find a fake boyfriend, she would have never agreed to see Burke and lead him on the way she did.

"I'm sorry," Leila apologized sincerely again. She didn't know what else to say except that, her heart ridden with guilt for treating Burke the way she did. He was like a pawn in her plan.

Burke looked at Leila thoughtfully. 'She still looks like what she did ten years ago, but I feel that she has turned into someone else. Is she really the same girl I fell in love with almost ten years ago? It seems not...'

He had finally picked up the courage to make this grand gesture of proposing her in such a romantic manner.

Initially when he told his family his intention to marry Leila, no one took his side. But finally after much persuasion they gave him their consent. They agreed to let him marry Leila as long as he proposed successfully.

But much to his surprise and dismay, he had failed miserably.

Leila shook off Burke's hand and softly said,"I'm really sorry with all my heart, Burke. I strongly believe that you will meet a better girl. But you and I are impossible. I give you my sincere blessing for your future, the girl who marries you will be lucky and b

one she met.

Hearing this, Leila didn't feel offended. Knowing that Madeline Zhou, for a fact, met many people daily, she thought it was normal for her to forget her. She smiled at Madeline. "I was Charles Lu's secretary. You may not recall but we had dinner together several months ago."

"Oh well, I see," Madeline Zhou smiled back. "I remember you. If I am not wrong your family name is Zhang. Can you please tell me your full name?"

"I'm Leila Zhang," Leila replied cheerfully. Leila felt glad that Madeline Zhou still remembered her last name. Now that she ran across her, she intended to impress her by engaging in a small chat.

Madeline Zhou gave a faint smile and asked,"Oh, yeah, you were Mr. Lu's secretary. What are you doing here this fine day?"

"I came here for dinner and was just about to leave. How about you?" Leila answered cheekily, almost like she had known Madeline Zhou for a long time.

"I have something to do here. Miss Zhang, could you help me and arrange a meeting with Mr. Lu? I want to discuss business with him at the earliest," Madeline Zhou responded.

With an embarrassed smile, Leila faltered,"I... I don't work for Mr. Lu anymore. With that said I'm afraid that I won't be able to help you with this favor."

"Really?" Madeline Zhou responded, after taking a surprised look at Leila. "It's a pity. You are a competent and dedicated secretary. I noticed that during our last meeting and was quite impressed by your work manners."