The Substitute Bride

"Ye, Charles is right. Nancy must apologize to you." While Autumn was standing awkwardly beside Nancy, she heard Gary's voice emerging from behind the crowd.

Suddenly everyone started looking in his direction. They parted away and made way for him as he walked over to Nancy. "Nancy, you have served our family for more than twenty years, and I have always thought of you as a dutiful servant who knows her place." He said, "Ye is not only Charles's wife and my granddaughter-in-law, but also the hostess of this family. I hope you can respect her the way you respect me and Charles. Is that clear?"

"Mr. Lu, in fact..."

"Enough. I have been watching it from upstairs for quite a while now, and have a clear idea of what has happened here. Now, either you apologize to Ye, or you pack your bags and go back to the countryside. Just make your decision." Gary was very disappointed with Nancy. She had served the Lu Family for a long time, and yet paid no attention to basic manners.

"Hurry up, Nancy. Charles and Ye have to go to work. They don't have time to waste on you." urged Gary.

Nancy stood there for a long time, and hesitated. This was a well-paying job. If she lost it, there would be no way left to support her good-for-nothing son and daughter-in-law. What's more, her grandson had just been accepted by a university, hence she was in need of money. She just couldn't lose the job now.

The Lu Family had been treating her well, anyway. After weighing the pros and cons, Nancy decided to apologize. She said to Autumn, "Mrs. Lu, I am sorry for what happened today. Please be assured that things like this won't happen in the future. Please be gracious and forgive me."

Listening to her apology, Autumn let out an embarrassed smile. Certainly she knew that Nancy's apology was halfhearted. However, she had no choice but to accept it. "We are family, please don't mention it."

After Nancy's apology, Gary addressed the people around, "Let me make it clear today. Anyone who dares to show Mrs. Lu disrespect in the future, will be banished from this house."

Gary then patted Charles on the shoulder and said,

ght that as long as she could win the heart of a wealthy man like Charles, she could manage to escape her terrible living conditions. This also explained her hostility towards Autumn.

"Linda, I can't imagine what could have happened to me that night if I weren't Charles's wife..." The mere thought of that night brought terror to Autumn. If Sam wasn't there, bad things could have happen before Charles came to save her. She wasn't annoyed by the way Linda treated her, but she was upset at her wicked intentions.

"I know I have done wrong, I'll change..." Linda explained anxiously, "I never imagined that you are Mrs. Lu, otherwise..."

"Linda, in fact, I do understand you.", Autumn said. She meant what she said. It was understandable for girls to have some vanity, especially girls in Linda's age. What's more, working with an excellent man like Charles every day might have set her standard higher when it came to relationships. It was perfectly normal for her to develop a crush on Charles.

However, there could have been many ways to express her feelings. Had Linda's pursuit for Charles been decent, Autumn would not have been angry. Yet Linda chose to reach her goal by stepping on others.

"It is quite natural for you to fancy an eligible bachelor like Charles. But you can try to win his heart openly. Is it really appropriate to bring down all the potential competitors just because you like him?"