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Chapter 40
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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 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 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 1
VALERIAPa! The sharp sound reverebrated through the living room.Due to the sheer force of the slap, my head was tilted to the side involuntarily and my ears kept on ringing.Time seemed to slow for me at that moment and I instinctively reached to touch my stinging cheeks while trying to process what just happened.On feeling the burst of pain coming from the part I touched, I belatedly reacted."You hit me?" I asked, my voice tinged with incredulity as I directed my gaze at the culprit—my mother."Just because I helped Nessa in escaping this damned marriage? A marriage that shouldn't have even existed in the first place?!" In response to my outburst, I saw a flash of heartache in her eyes but before I could barely manage to convince myself that she hadn't meant to really hit me, the words spoke next instantly broke apart my self-deceit. "You shouldn't have helped your sister in escaping the marriage! Now what happens when the subordinates of that man arrives to bring her away, uhn?
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 2
"Yes! How did I not think of that? !" The woman I called mom was the first to stand up and clapped her hands in excitement. Her eyes that shone brightly as she stared at me only served to make me feel disgusted since they made me feel the same way as a dog would look at a piece of fleshy and delicious bone.The description could be considered very disrespectful, especially when the person in question was my biological mother but that was how I felt.I heard her continue saying, "Nessa and you hapoen to be identical twins and most importantly, when we made the agreement with that man, we never specified which daughter it would be!""Shut up!""Mom!"The moment my mom finished saying the.last sentnce, my dad and Aaron both shouted simultaneously at her and for some reason, their reactions made my heart sink.If I hadn't seen it wrong, they seemed afraid and amxious...But afraid of what?Those two weren't people who would lose their composure normally..Wait!What had her mom just said?
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 3
Even if I were to die in his hands someday, at least it was better than staying in this den of snakes and scorpions that I call family.After making a decision in my heart, I calmly wiped away the tears on my face before standing up to face the three of them and then I couldn't help but thinking. How was it that I did not realize how selfish, hypocritical, detestable and mercenary these people I called family were all this while?Let's start with mom. She appeared to love her children very much but in fact she loved the luxurious life that only my dad could offer more. Therefore, she would never allow anyone, not even us, her children to disrupt or hinder it. And as for the man in question, he seemed like a stern and loving father normally but was in fact an hypocritical bastard who wouldn't hesitate to sell his daughter for glory as long as it brought enough benefits.As for Aaron... Like the others, today has made me realize that the brother in my memories who always had a warm and
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 4
AaronIt should be said that the issue that was hanging over their heads like a sword had been resolved however I knew that none of us who were still in the living room felt completely relieved about it. Myself in particular had a heavy heart as I gazed in the direction which Valeria had disappeared to with mixed feelings in my heart. Unable to completely understand what was really going on, I turned to my dad to talk to him about it but before that, I noticed my mom's fidgety appearance first. I didn't even have to make use of my brain cells that much to figure out what was on her mind, especially when she seemed not to be able to take her eyes off the direction of the stairs - wasn't she just worried and panicked about Valeria's dismissive attitude towards her? To be honest, sometimes not even me myself could figure out the exact kind of person my mom was even with how smart I consider myself to be. But as far as I had observed, she was a person who seeks only what benefits her an
Mr. Devilish's Substitute Bride Chapter 5
VALERIAUpstairsInside my bedroom, I was busy stuffing my clothes and other necessities into the suitcase when I heard the door open. I looked over casually and the shadow of my mom's shrinking figure reflected in my eyes and on seeing that it was her, I disinterestedly withdrew my gaze and continued with what I was doing. Only then did I ask in an emotionless voice, "What is it that you want?"Behind me, I didn't see how my mom's face instantly fell after I said that but she probably thought of why she was here in the first place and instantly forgot or rather set aside her dissatisfaction with my attitude."Valeria, I... I had no idea that that was what they were planning from the start If I had known I would have... would have...""You would have what?" I turned around and asked in a tone literally dripping with sarcasm. "You would have risked the anger of the man who held your financial lifeline in his hands and the man who would also have that power in the future and told me
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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
