The Substitute Bride

Yvonne Ortiz fled from her wedding! As described by the media, this was to be the wedding of the century. However, now it might just become a joke!

Autumn Myers looked at herself in the mirror. She heavily stamped on the wedding dress lying flat on the floor and thought to herself, 'Why? Why do I have to clear up the mess created by Yvonne?'

"Go on! If you are still furious, there are ten more dresses that you can stamp on!" Wendy Myers, Autumn' mother, gave her a stern look.

Autumn's heart sank. She stood still and took a deep breath before she began speaking, "I'm in desperate need of money to pay Grandmother's medical fee. I'll marry Charles Taylor instead of Yvonne as soon as I get the money."

With a wry smile on face, Wendy shoved out her cell phone from her pocket, called her secretary and said, "Dillon, call the Hospital Administrator."

After hanging up the phone, Wendy went to see Autumn. Wendy was irked to see her in a bland wedding dress. She walked up to Autumn with a pair of scissors in hand.

With a dejected look she raised the scissors and said, "Don't you dare look at me like that. Despite you being my daughter, every time I see you, you remind me of your useless father. Don't blame me for abandoning you. People should be selfish and look out only for themselves."

Wendy cut open Autumn's dress, and made a big hole in the sleeve.

Wendy turned to the salesperson waiting outside the room and yelled, "Don't just keep standing there. The wedding dress is ripped. Get her a new one! Our Yvonne is not any ordinary person. She deserves the best wedding dress."

Autumn twitched her nose. It was the first time that Wendy admitted that she was her daughter. But she was immediately dejected as Wendy told the world Yvonne was her beloved daughter and she was only a substitute.

Autumn bit her cracked lower lip and laughed scornfully, "My father was indeed a useless man as he married a woman like you who is okay being the woman for Uncle Ortiz. I'd be more than happy to see other woman seducing Uncle Ortiz just like you did."

"Shut up! Don't you dare! " Wendy was enraged with anger. She raised her hand and was about to slap her right on the face. But then she saw Autumn's flawless makeup. Her mesmerizing beauty was enough to calm her down. "I won't argue with you today. Anyway, just get married with Charles and don't create a scene! Don't disgrace the Ortiz Family and Yvonne!" Wendy sternly instructed.

Autumn smirked.

Charles? The man was rich and powerful. His name had been linked to innumerable ladies. He had different girlfriends for every day of a year. 'Why does Charles want to marry Yvonne?' Autumn wondered.

"Just get through this wedding! Although you don't know Charles, it is quite a decent wedding. I feel really bad about abandoning you, but you will be a rich person and enjoy nice things from now on. It's time we write off all our old scores and start afresh!"

Hearing her mother's words, all the feelings that Autumn had long bottled up inside her gushed out in the form of tears. Tears were running down her cheeks. 'Even a vicious tiger will never treat its cubs the way my mother treats me.' She thought to herself.

Autumn grabbed the wedding dress fiercely while still trembling.

"Fine! I'll marry him! I promise you I will marry Charles in the name of Yvonne. But... from now on, I'm not your daughter. You have no right to interfere in my life. Besides, if anything happens to grandma, I won't spare you!"

"As long as you marry Charles, I will do anything you say."

Wendy had never been so nice to Autumn. This time she would do anything for her in exchange of selling her to Charles. Years later, when Autumn remembered this moment, she sighed for the unpredictable fate. This wedding which put her into despair then happened to give her the strongest protection later in life. Those things that she never thought would happen just happened.

"The wedding is going to start. Hurry up, bride!"

The wedding was conducted as scheduled. White wedding dress, red carpet, flowers, and guests... The wedding was as grand as the one people saw on big screens. But Autumn's heart was as cold as ice. She was emotionless.

Though it was a grand wedding, Autumn didn't even take a look at her husband. The guests present smiled at the couple, but Autumn felt that everyone around was simply mocking her as she was in limbo at the very first day of her wedding.

Although Charles held her hand tightly, she didn't even speak to him at all. After the wedding, Charles shook her hand off aggressively and said, "You go home first. I have work to finish."

Autumn was sent back with Charles' driver. She curiously asked him where did Charles go. It seemed Charles' driver was well aware about his whereabouts. The driver indifferently said, "Lily Villa."

"Lily Villa?" It was rumored that Rachel Turner, a female celebrity, lived in the Lily Villa. Autumn gave an uninterested smile. It seemed that the rumor was true and Rachel was indeed her husband's girlfriend. Charles must be hugging Rachel and comforting her at this moment. Since he already had a girlfriend, it wouldn't be hard for him to accept Autumn's offer.

Autumn had waited for Charles in their wedding room for a long time. The room was full of wedding vibes, but Autumn was not in the mood of romance or affection.

She thought Charles would not come back tonight. So, she got up and went to the bathroom to change her clothes and freshen up.

She spent a long time in the bathroom as she was really tired both physically and mentally. A lot of things happened today and she needed to ponder hard on them.

The heat was high in the bathroom and covered the mirror with steam. Autumn's mind was in a complete mess.

Wendy, Yvonne, Charles, and Rachel stuck in Autumn's mind.

She was losing her cool.

She took a warm bath. Thereafter, she wrapped herself in a towel. She used another towel to dry her hair. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Charles sitting in the room with a straight face.

The room was dark. Only a wall lamp was turned on. But the darkness in the room was nothing in comparison to the darkness on Charles' face.

In her more than 20 years of life, it was the first time that she wore such little clothes in front of a man.

On seeing Charles, she immediately turned around and got hold of her clothes. But Charles stopped her and caught hold of her. He threw her on the bed. "Seems like, you are so desperate to spend the wedding night with me?" Charles remarked in a taunting tone.

She only had a towel covering her. The water was dripping drop by drop from her wet hair. Though she had already wiped off the thick bridal makeup, Charles' eyes couldn't get enough of her bare face.

Charles could smell the fragrance of his own body wash. He felt as if she was overwhelmed by his strong sweet smell. The very thought of it ignited his lusty desire.

But he immediately regained his composure when the thought of Rachel's teary eyes came to his mind.

He and Rachel had been together for two years. He couldn't let her down like that.