The Substitute Bride

"I see, " replied Charles. He did not care about Sam's thoughts for Autumn as he trusted her. "Let's go inside. They are waiting for us, " he said to Autumn.

He then took Autumn by her hand and walked straight into the house, leaving Sam behind with a frown.

Almost immediately after they entered the living room, Yvonne walked up to them with a grin on her face. "Did you have a pleasing conversation with Mr. Lin?" she asked. "Despite having been abroad for many years, he still has feelings for you. If my first boyfriend was enchanted by me this way I would be ecstatic!"

"Are you?" With a sly smile Autumn replied, "Of course you would. After all, you are a precocious girl. You started dating boys since the beginning of middle school. Do you even remember your first boyfriend?"

Without an appropriate come-back Yvonne angrily stammered, "You..." She attempted to create an impression of being innocent and lovely on Charles. But as Autumn aired her dirty laundry in front of Charles, it was only natural that Yvonne was upset with her half sister's words.

'If I continue this conversation, Autumn will only reveal more of despicable past to Charles, ' Yvonne muttered to herself. In an attempt to save her pride, she turned to Charles and said in an injured voice, "Charles... don't believe what Yvonne said. She made up every bit of these fictitious stories."

Charles didn't respond and he pretended like he did not hear her. He walked past her to the table, still holding Autumn's hand firmly. Keeping up the charade, Wendy acted like she hadn't witnessed the spat and greeted them with a warm smile, "Take a seat here."

Charles took the seat on Autumn's left side while others were taking a spot to sit. When Sam entered, he only found the spot beside Autumn empty and calmly sat there.

Autumn felt a pinch of embarrassment and also awkward to sit between Charles and Sam.

Yvonne slowly came and grabbed the spot beside Charles. While pouring a glass of wine for him she said, "Charles, try this. This is my... uncle's favorite wine that he has kept and matured for years."

Brushing off Yvonne yet again, Charles handed that glass of wine to Autumn, wh

will not.' He continued, "A woman like you can never be equal to Little Ye."

"If you care so much about her, you can take her with you." Wendy said coldly, "Even a sage cannot treat everyone equally, let alone me. I can't love Autumn as I love Yvonne. It is only natural for me to be impartial to Yvonne. However..."

"She is my daughter, too. I don't want to see her lead a hard life. You have known each other since you were children and have grown up together. If you decide to get together, I will be happy for you." Even though Wendy gave him her blessings, Sam understood that her intention was to steer a clean path for Yvonne and that she said everything for her sake.

Sam responded with a sigh, "All of this is pleasing to hear but if you really treated Autumn as your daughter, you wouldn't have sold her out for Gu family and your rude daughter."

Yvonne asked furiously, "Who gave you the right to speak in our matters and how dare you blame me?" As soon as she uttered these words, Wendy shouted at her, "Please shut up now! You have only brought us trouble and shame."

Yvonne was shocked and hurt, this time she kept silent. Wendy turned to Sam and said, "Sam, I know you haven't been able to forget Autumn after all these years. As long as you want to be with her, I can help you."

After a long pause and hesitating, Sam asked, "What is your plan?"

Wendy gave a rather comforting smile. She knew Sam would accept her advice.