His Perfect Substitute Bride

At exactly the same time five days ago, Wyoming Wilson was busy preparing poached eggs on toast for breakfast when she received a call from her manager informing her that she had been called to audition.

At the time, projects became scarce. If she does not find another job soon, she does not know where she is going to get enough money to pay their rent and buy basic necessities. 

Their resources were depleted by her father’s accident. And what’s more, they left an outstanding debt at the hospital which she agreed to pay in six monthly installments.  

Two months had passed but she had not been able to produce the money to make a dent on their hospital debt.  

The promise of a new project suddenly gave her hope. 

With a smile on her face, she ended the call and continued preparing breakfast for her dad.   She put the food she prepared on a tray and went out of their small kitchen.

She walked barefooted, humming softly to herself while treading the recently waxed wooden floor before knocking on the door of their one-bedroom apartment. 

“Dad?”  Without waiting for a reply, she got in, holding the tray carefully with her two hands. 

Upon hearing Wyoming, John Wilson used both hands to pull himself up to a sitting position. 

Seeing the effort it was taking her father to sit on the bed, Wyoming quickened her steps, put the tray on the bedside table real quick, not minding if it was in a precarious position, and very gently assisted her father to sit up.

“Dad!  You should have waited for me.  Don’t strain yourself too much.”  Wyoming nagged. 

“Don’t worry too much about me, dear.  I am fine.”  Her father assured her.

But Wyoming eyed him with skepticism.  

“I am.”  Her father smiled, touching her cheek affectionately. 

Wyoming sighed. She fussed around him, helping him find a more comfortable position before setting up the foldable bed table above his lap and placing his tray of food atop.  

Her father started feeding himself while Wyoming looked on.

“Go on back to the kitchen and eat yourself.  I am fine here.”  Her dad told her off, munching on his toast and poached eggs, but Wyoming insisted on staying behind. 

Although the doctor assured them that her father is healing as expected, Wyoming could not help but worry. After all, he is the only living relative she had left. 

Her father is her only family. She did not know anything about her mother, even her name.  Only that she opted out when she was born. 

While she was growing up, she used to ask about her mother, seeing other kids with their moms bringing them and sending them to school, but her dad does not like to talk about her.  

Every time the subject of her mom sprung into their conversation, her father would always have this wistful look in his eyes and Wyoming would stop pressing her father for more information about her. 

She knew that he missed her.  

And while she was glad that her dad chose not to remarry, she was worried about him, too.  

“When you get better, make an effort to go out, dad.  Enjoy yourself.  Date.” She suggested while watching him eat. 

Her dad sputtered. 

“I am forty.  Who would be interested in dating an old, almost invalid man like me.”  John said matter-of-factly, but there is a tinge of bitterness in his voice. 

“Dad!  The doctors said that a few months of therapy and you will be able to walk again.”

John stared at her daughter pointedly. It was as if he was telling her where they were going to get the money for his additional treatment when they could not even pay his debt in the hospital.  

“If you are thinking about the money, do not worry.  Liz called me and she said that I had been invited to audition for a major role, dad.  If I get it, I could pay the hospital and we can work on your additional treatment.”  

Hearing her talk about her work, Wyoming saw her father stiffen. 

Her father had been trying for years to talk her out of her wanting to become a famous actress.  

It became a sore topic between them, but she was persistent.  

She wanted to be an actress.  She wanted to prove to her father that she could make it big someday. 

Of course, ‘that someday’ has not arrived yet.  It proved elusive to this day.

Wyoming sometimes felt that it was only sheer tenacity that kept her going. Every time her name is being bypassed after auditions, she would feel frustrated and down, but she would not show it to her father.

She does not want to listen to his “I told you so’s” and give him enough reason to talk her out of her dreams.  

She does not understand why her father seemed to have an aversion to the entertainment business. As far as she knows, he was never repulsed by anything as much as he did the world that she was choosing to embrace. 

He would often support her in her endeavors until she told him that she wanted to become an actress. 

That was when he set his foot down and told her unnecessarily that he was opposed to the idea. 

Right now, they are in a stalemate.  It was like her father would look the other way whenever talk of her work would come up or his body would become rigid like what happened a while back. 

“When’s it going to be?” Her father cut through her thoughts, surprising her.  It was rare for her dad to be interested in her work and she thought that he was finally warming up to the idea of her becoming a great actress. 

“Tomorrow.” She said excitedly.  

Seeing his unusual interest, Wyoming started to talk about her audition. 

“It’s a church wedding scene, Dad.  Liz said that the producers asked specifically for me.  I hope that this is the big break that I am dreaming about!”  Wyoming sighed dreamily while her father looked on. 

When her dad finished eating, Wyoming cleaned his bed before going out to deposit in the kitchen the dirty dishes. 

There was a lightness to her feet while she trod the short distance from the bedroom back to their small kitchen. 

She was still pumped in excitement. 

She wanted to shout to the whole world.   

She loaded the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and started cleaning the spotlessly clean kitchen to spend her boundless energy. When it did not do the trick, she went to look for her phone and dialed Jeremy’s number.  She waited while her call was being put through, but no one answered on the other end. 

She tried again and frowned when on the fourth try, her call just like the first three were left unanswered. 

When she put her phone down on the counter, there was an indulgent smile on her face. 

Jeremy must be busy with his online games and he was on a ‘do not disturb' mode. 

When he was not doing shows or shoots, Jeremy spent most of his time with online games. She did not understand why he was so addicted to those games. But then, Jeremy does not understand as well her compulsion for cooking and being a neat freak so she thinks that they are even on that score. 

Deciding that her news could not wait, she grabbed her purse. Then, she poked her head inside her father’s room to check on him. 

Her father smiled when she saw her. 

Seeing he was awake, she informed him, “Dad, I am stepping outside for a while, do you need anything?” 

When John shook his head no, Wyoming closed the door and dashed out of their apartment. 

Outside their apartment building, Wyoming got on a cab waiting by the bayside.  

“The Olympus Tower.” She instructed the cab driver and waited while they pulled away. 

While in transit, she still tried to reach Jeremy one last time, to no avail. So, she put her phone back inside her bag and sat primly in the backseat of the car, and patiently waited for the cab to reach their destination.  From time to time, she looked out the window to busy herself with the city view. 

But it did not detract from her excitement. She was antsy to get to Jeremy fast. 

When she reached the place, she quickly got out of the taxi to go inside Jeremy’s apartment building. She bypassed the reception area and went straight to the elevator bay. 

She was on time. An elevator car stopped on the floor to unload some passengers. Wyoming recognized him as one of this year’s promising actors who received a citation from a prestigious award-giving body.   He was talking to his manager when their eyes met. 

Wyoming saw the actor looking her way and gave her a shy wave which she responded with a short wave as well.  The little exchange snatched his manager’s attention away from the actor and to her. By this time, the manager was giving her a thorough once-over.

Feeling emboldened, Wyoming also waved at the manager before stepping inside the open elevator and quickly punched Jeremy’s floor.  

She was all smiling while aboard the elevator car.  She could not help but feel a little thrill imagining Jeremy’s reaction when she finally told him that she was invited for an audition for a lead role.  

She bet that his eyes would go out of their sockets in surprise. 

The elevator stopped and she got off hurriedly.  She was still smiling while she walked the short distance to Jeremy’s apartment.

Her brows furrowed when her hands reached the knob and twisted it open.  

It was not locked. Jeremy was always careful about security. He would not intentionally leave his door unlocked. 

What if something bad happened to Jeremy? 

Her heart started to skip in her chest.  She started to think of the worst scenario she could think of. 

Without thinking, Wyoming rushed inside the unit on tiptoe. She wanted to catch the thief. It was pitch black inside. She blinked several times to make her eyes adjust to the darkness. 

Her ears perked up. 

She heard muted sounds in the kitchen, she walked there still on tiptoe so as not to make any noise, but as she got closer to the kitchen, her heart’s beating quadrupled.  

This was no ordinary burglary. 

The sounds became louder - someone moaned and she shuddered at the sound. 

Wyoming acted quickly.  She patted the wall to check for the light switch.  She turned it on and the whole kitchen was illuminated in light. 

The sight that greeted her was very much far from her mind.  She felt her cheeks burn at what she saw.

At first, she blinked her eyes to continue to adjust to the lights, but the next second, she was staring at the two nude figures drenched in sweat and in the throes of copulation. 

Her eyes smarted when she recognized the naked man before her.

A pain so intense pierced her heart.  How could Jeremy do this to her?  

Wyoming did not know whether to laugh or to cry at the scene before her.  She felt numbed, weak.  

If it were not for the instantaneous aching of her heart, Wyoming would have laughed at the comical expression on the faces of Jeremy and the woman she was doing in his kitchen when they discovered her unwanted presence. 

Wyoming felt shy to herself.  She had to look away or maybe it is best to get away.

“Wyoming!”  

Surprised at being caught in the act, Jeremy pushed the woman he was entangled with and searched haphazardly for his clothes.  He put on his pants before running out of his unit chasing after Wyoming’s retreating form. 

He caught her at the elevator bay, pressing her fingers on the down button. 

“Wyoming, listen.”  Jeremy’s rambled as he tried hard to explain desperately what she saw, but she was beyond listening. 

Wyoming saw enough.  She already knew even without Jeremy’s futile attempts at explanation that he had betrayed her.  

He lied to her. 

At this thought, Wyoming bit her lip as pain seared her heart.  

She choked at the lump in her throat when she realized that Jeremy broke her trust. 

He broke her heart.  

Wyoming swallowed hard and in a harsh voice commanded, 

“I think you should get back and finish whatever it is that I interrupted,”  Wyoming said frostily.  Her eyes looked pointedly at his semi-undress state while Jeremy had the gall to look slightly embarrassed.

He quickly zipped his pants, without bothering to turn around.

As he was doing that the elevator doors opened.  

Wyoming grabbed his momentary distraction and moved to step inside the waiting elevator.  She wanted to flee and get Jeremy out of her sight as fast as she could. 

She could not endure another minute in his presence. The pain he inflicted in her was excruciatingly painful.

She does not know if she could look him in the eye after what she saw.  

She felt disgustingly defiled. 

This is not the Jeremy she had known and loved.  This carnal man before her was not her sweet Jeremy. 

But she was prevented from leaving immediately because the car would not move.  The doors were still flung wide open. 

She looked back and saw Jeremy with his finger pressed to the open button preventing the elevator door from closing. 

“Are you coming?”  An elderly passenger inquired impatiently at Wyoming before looking pointedly at Jeremy who had the gall to look innocent while he continued to hold on to the control button.

Feeling embarrassed to be caught in public like this, Wyoming stepped out of the elevator and walked briskly to the stairs.  Jeremy followed her. 

Jeremy caught her by the arms.  She pulled her arm from his hold.  She shivered in revulsion when their skin contracted. 

“Don’t touch me!”  She snapped, turning her head around to glare at Jeremy’s begging eyes.

Wyoming screeched to a stop.

Caught off guard, Jeremy loosened his hold on her.  It was the moment Wyoming was waiting for. She had been trying so hard to control her emotions but Jeremy’s insistence to follow her here had her temper rising.  

Her hand formed into a fist and whacked Jeremy in the face. 

“Ugh!”  Jeremy did not expect her attack, rubbing his aching face with his palm. 

Wyoming gave him a good punch.  He could feel a burning sensation on his skin.

His cry of pain bolstered Wyoming’s anger. She was so not done with him. 

She lifted her legs and kicked him in his groin area. 

“Wyoming!”  Jeremy writhed in pain. He started jumping up and down.  The pain in his nether regions was too much. 

While he looked stupid jumping up and down he was staring disbelievingly at Wyoming whose face showed her anger and something more. 

“That is for breaking my heart, motherf***er!” She spat before leaving him writhing in pain.