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Chapter 13
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Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 14
VALERIA"Ugh!"After trying for the umpteenth time to write the perfect musical score and failing, I let out a grunt of frustration before roughening up the paper in my hand and throwing it to the side to join many of its companions.Sitting on the soft woolen rug, I grabbed a handful of my hair and leaned my head against the bed before staring without focus at the ceiling. This has been my state for the past few days - staying cooped up in the room and continuously trying to put the inspiration I had for my new song into writing. In fact, even my meals had to be personally delivered into the room by a helpless Zane.But quite unfortunately for me, my creative process wasn't going as smoothly as I would like.The familiar sound of a guitar strumming - the default ringtone of my phone brought me out of my depressing thoughts. I gave the phone which was carelessly placed a hand stretch away from me a dismissive glance, not really feeling like picking up the call however, when I caught
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 15
VALERIAIn a private room in the Everlasting Night Bar, a high-end nightclub/bar, I sat on the U-shaped sectioned sofa with my legs crossed together while my chin rested on my hand.Present in the room with me in the room and sitting right next to me was none other than my best friend, Chris Leone. Exuding an air of sophistication and charm, Chris's striking silver hair was well-groomed and styled in a way that accentuates his chiseled jawline and high cheekbones. His warm brown eyes were also bright and inviting, giving the impression of a friendly and approachable personality.The glistening earrings he wore however added a touch of rebelliousness and edginess to his otherwise refined appearance and at the same time, further increased his charm.Truth to be told, Chris was one of the most drop-dead gorgeous men I have ever came across in my life, both in reality and on TV, and as far as I am concerned, if there was one person who could rival him in handsomeness, it could only be Za
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 16
"Hey guys!" A cute looking guy in his early twenties whose two tiger teeth showed when smiling said as he stepped into the room.He was Andy Morgan, the band's bassist and also my childhood friend together with Chris.Following right behind was a girl with a sweet and innocent looking appearance on whose face hung a soft smile.She was none other than Jenna Thompson, the band's keyboardWith an obscure expression on my face, I let my eyes linger on the latter. Looking at her harmless appearance, no one could have ever thought that she would actually do such a thing, at least, I had never even dreamt of that possibility. To me, all the three people here weren't just my band mates, there were also my very important friends who I held dear even more than my so-called family. So, the thought... no, it was a fact... the fact that one of them had betrayed me sent me reeling.I had agreed to Chris's suggestion to come here only for one reason - to get an explanation and maybe give this frie
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 17
JENNAListening to Andy's tattletale, I only cursed him in my heart for not knowing how to keep his mouth shut however, I wasn't at all worried that I would be misunderstood by the others, namely Valeria and Chris. That might be the case in the beginning when I just joined and always acted and spoke cautiously for fear that I would give out the wrong impression and also because I was afraid they would discover the real intention behind why I had joined the ban. However, I am not sure if it was because I had came to them when they really needed someone, but I gradually came to realize in the long run that they really had accepted and treated me like a true member of their crew, family background and status apart. It was from then on that I relaxed and stopped acting so cautiously around them and finally managed to completely integrate into the group.The confidence that I only had come up with a casual excuse coupled with my deceptive appearance and that they would all believe me was
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 18
VALERIA'Shit!' I cursed in my heart the moment Jenna blurted out the fact that I was married. From the corner of my eyes, I even caught Andy spatting out the pastry he was munching on in shock.Like I had said earlier on, I still haven't been able to come up with a way to come clean about my impromptu marriage to my two childhood friends. Actually, Andy wouldn't pose much of a problem since the heartless guy barely cared about anything else other than eating and having fun but Chris... that was the real problem. In the long years of our friendship, I had come to discover that he didn't like it very much when I hid things like this from him. An example would be like when I had decided to date my first and last boyfriend, Ethan and had unintentionally forgot to tell Chris about it, with him finding out only when he coincidentally saw me and Ethan behaving somewhat intimate together.He had gotten so angry that he had even ended up ignoring me for more than a week. Since then, I tried
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 19
VALERIAOn stepping out of the private room, I had no plans to head out immediately since I remembered Zane saying he would be in the room next door to ours.Standing in front of the above-mentioned room, I hesitated for a bit on debating whether he would still be inside or not. In the end, I however chose to knock on the door when I thought of the fact that although it has been a while since we got here and separated, it still wasn't long enough to make him so impatient that he would leave without informing me.After giving the door three gentle knocks, I patiently waited for a response. About a minute later, the door was opened from the inside and I came face-to-face with Zane's impeccable face. "Miss Hale. You are here." I heard him say while I was in a daze.Not sure if it was the lights or something else... but I can't help but feel that Zane looked even more sexier than usual tonight.Something seemed different about him... But what exactly was that?My gaze moved away from hi
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 20
ZANE'Did I hear Valeria say what I think she said?' " I thought to myself in disbelief."Miss Hale..." I couldn't help but call out questioningly.Before I could say or ask anything more, she cut me off and said while looking straight into my eyes."Call me Valeria and yes, you heard me right. I did ask you to... kiss me. So do it."Excitement bubbled inside of me on confirming that I had indeed heard her right. It was the excitement of a hunter when a prey finally walked into the trap he had meticulously set up. After so long, I could finally know whether Valeria Hale really had some kind of effect on my unspeakable condition.I should have taken action sooner but unfortunately, on the day we signed the agreement, she had made a condition that I was not allowed to touch her and although she still had no idea that I was actually her nominal husband, I had no intention of breaking that promise.So, just like what I had said that day - that what if she was the one who took the initi
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 21
VALERIAJust like a Chinese Proverb says, ‘Plans never keep up with changes’, that was exactly what happened to me after the kiss with Zane happened.After I ran back to my room that day, with my heart feeling like it was going to jump out of my chest any time soon, I made a resolution to avoid the man.I had always thought of Zane as a gentleman, however, the way he snatched the initiative from me after I kissed him followed by his stormy kiss made me realize that he was definitely not one. But I had no idea why his hidden badness only excited me even more.Although I had started the kiss as a way to determine whether Zane was sent to monitor me by Mr. Devil and to also see if I was indeed that attracted to him, it somehow ended up developing into something else... His kiss aroused something deeper in me and made me want to sink forever into his arms, in fact, I was sure that if I wasn't because of my sudden shortness of breath, I would hardly have been able to refuse even if the ki
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Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 43
VALERIALater, in the car.Yes, I wasn’t able to win against him in the end. Or to be more specific, he didn’t even give me a chance to.From the corner of my eyes, I could see him wearing a serious expression as he scrolled through his tablet.‘He looks really good in glasses…’Before my thoughts could drift further along that path, I snapped back to reality with an inward yelp.‘For goodness sake, Valeria! Is now really the time for your nymphomania to act up?’Regardless of the suffocating awkwardness in here that was getting increasingly impossible to ignore?Seriously!?After giving myself a good scolding, I sat upright and thought, ‘No, I can’t let this go on.’I have to do or say something! Anything!So, without fully processing the thought that suddenly popped into my mind, I found myself blurting out, “I plan to move closer to school—I have an apartment there.”‘What the h*ll was I saying?!’ I screamed internally after a belated reaction.However, after calming down, I realize
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 42
VALERIAAfter a good night’s sleep, I got up from bed early, washed up in preparation to start my first day as a college senior—yes, the seemingly never-ending summer break became officially over yesterday.Speaking of which, I would have forgotten all about it if Chris and Andy hadn’t given me a call and sent a message one after the other to remind me yesterday’s morning.I tend to forget about stuff like that, they said, and that, if I were to be honest with myself, was nothing but the truth.I, indeed, have always had trouble keeping track of events, holidays and even my own birthday--like I know and keep the date at the back of my mind, but on that particular day or the day before, I always manage to forget about it for some reason. Thinking of how the duo had made a tease bet on our gc to see whether I’ll still remember by today, I shook my head and smiled to myself.Following after, I gathered my thoughts, looked at the items spread out on the bed and tried to see if I had miss
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 41
ZANEValeria was avoiding me.If I had only been suspicious before, now I was certain.Today marks the third day of which I have seen neither hide nor hair of her. Of course, this wasn’t that unusual in her case considering how I have been witness to her staying cooped up in her room for days, neglecting to eat while working on her music.Eventually, I had to step in and personally deliver her meals to her room.However, when I asked Arlo about her yesterday, I was told she usually comes down to eat breakfast after I leave for work.If that doesn’t make it glaringly obvious that she was avoiding me—especially when it had become the norm for us to eat breakfast together—I don’t know what will.But let’s say that the first and second day were nothing but coincidences; today happens to be the third day, so I will verify in person whether it's indeed a coincidence or a deliberate avoidance, like I suspect!With this in mind, I gave my chauffeur a call, instructing him to drive-off and ret
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 40
VALERIAIn the days that followed, Madeline did as she promised and came to me multiple times to ‘continue’ from where we left off our prematurely interrupted conversation.She was a persistent one, honestly.One time, I remember asking why it had to be me or rather, our group of mavericks.Her answer was, “You guys seem really cool to me, and it made me want to get to know you better.”To the adult me, such words would barely have made an impact, but for teenagers obsessed with the word ‘cool,’ it was everything!It doesn’t matter how mature a teenager was, being called or known as one of the cool guys was simply the ultimate compliment.So it was hardly surprising that I quickly threw caution to the wind and allowed her into our small circle of friends. Of course, the annoyance from Jack’s constant threats/demeaning words, in addition to my twin sister, Vanessa’s passive-aggressive ‘persuasion’ couldn’t be omitted as contributing factors.When I came back to my senses later on, I di
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 39
VALERIAUntil a little over a decade ago, the Hales weren't exactly considered a top-tier aristocratic family in Meteor City because then, the prominent and well-known ones were just three — the Baltimores, the Astors and the Roosevelts — in no particular order.In short, we call them “THE BAR.”On the other hand, we could, at best, be considered the unofficial fourth along with the Morgans — Andy's family.Of course, this was just my dad's personal thoughts.Thoughts that I have come to understand were nothing but a product of his inflated pride considering how wide the gap between our families and THE BAR was at the time.That being said, whether it was due to coincidence or not, each of these five families had children in Grade 6 Class A, and just like every other aristocratic school, hierarchy existed among the students.The children of THE BAR, for example, were an exclusive and close-knit clique while the rest of the students had only two options; either become their sidekicks w
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 38
VALERIANot knowing when I finally fell asleep, I woke up to find myself in total darkness and immediately panicked.As someone who suffered from fear of the dark, I always made sure to leave the nightlight on regardless of whether I was yet to fall asleep or not.‘So how could it possibly be this dark?!!!’ I thought to myself in agitation as I groped around trying to find the direction where the bedside table was.As I did this, I also wondered if the nightlight might have gone out due to a dead battery but this possibility was instantly ruled out by me. For no other reason that I might forget any other thing, but the one thing I would never do is charging my nightlight — that was just how important it was to me.All of a sudden, I stopped groping all around as I realized something strangeI seemed to be standing?And that was not all, I no longer seemed to be in my bedroom either because if I was, how was it possible that I haven’t bumped into anything except empty air after all th
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 37
ZANESurprisingly, the faces of the two men showed visible signs of struggle the moment they heard the question but upon thinking of the fact that they were likely ex-military men who had been through rigorous training, it became a matter of course.However, if it was that easy to overcome the effects of the serum, it wouldn’t be as rare and pricey as it currently was. Sure enough, their pitiful struggle only lasted a few seconds following which the drug took control and made them answer mechanically.“We actually have no idea who the other party is since he placed the order through the dark web, but judging from how inexperienced and easily led around he was during our chat, we guessed that he was likely a newbie to the platform.”“At first, we really had no plans to take the order because not to mention that the commission he offered was laughable, the fact that even top-tier mercs steered clear of any mission related to Mr. Harrison had long made us at the bottom rungs wary.”“But
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 36
ZANELong after Valeria left, I sat alone in the study with a lot of thoughts running through my mind.It wasn’t until I heard a ‘ding’ sound that I came back to my senses. Picking up my phone, it was Mason who had sent me a message.[They have been brought over]Upon reading this, the look in my eyes immediately turned cold.I almost forgot that I was yet to hear an explanation for what happened today. Because of them, the dark part of my life which I wasn’t ready to tell Valeria about almost got exposed in advance.Well, since they were gutsy enough to do so, they’d better be ready to face the consequences for I always make sure to repay a favor tenfold!With this thought in mind, I stood up and walked over to the bookshelf and turned the mechanism slightly following which the bookshelf slid to the side to reveal a narrow entrance which was just enough for one person to pass through.After reaching the end, there was a door with a biometric scanner right beside it. I calmly placed m
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 35
ZANE'I have been careless.'That was my first thought after Matt, my driver broke the news that we were being followed.As the leader of the biggest mafia organization in the country, AMETHYST, I have never been short of enemies (both internal and external) who aimed to take my life. For this reason, I never went anywhere without my convoy of bodyguards following right after me.But today, I had made a decision very uncharacteristic of me.Why?Because apart from the fact that I was being considerate of the fact that Valeria still didn't know of my identity as a mafia boss, I also didn't want to cause too much ruckus at Mr. Carson's birthday banquet.It was a form of respect to an ally.A loud bang sound suddenly brought me back to my senses.At the same time, the driver, Leo also spoke out, his voice cold as he suddenly swerved the car."They are aiming for the tyres, sir."After humming to show I heard him, I gave Valeria one last glance and then said to him."When I count to three
