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Chapter 78
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2023-06-05 16:27:42Related chapters
The Substitute Bride Chapter 79
Van went back to the party only to inform Ash that she wanted to go home. "Okay." Ash didn't argue. It was like he just knew something was off but she was grateful he didn't pry. "I'll take you home if you want." "No you can stay and enjoy the party I'll just ask the chauffeur to take me." He shook his head vehemently. "I'm not letting you go home alone, not in your delicate condition. Besides, it's a boring party with business associates I see and converse with everyday." Van knew she couldn't argue further. "Okay let's go." Ash shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "So you don't catch a cold."Van smiled appreciatively. "Thanks." His gut twisted. What delicate situation were they talking about? Was Van gravely ill? Jake was in time to catch bits and pieces of their conversation. He was seething when Ash's hands went around her shoulders, it should be him doing all that for her, it should be his jacket around her
Last Updated : 2023-06-07The Substitute Bride Chapter 80
Van shut the door to her bedroom behind her with a soft click and sighed, suddenly feeling bone tired. "Van." a familiar voice called out then a soft hand was reaching for her. Van found the switch beside the door and light flooded the room. Van found herself staring into the caring eyes of her best friend. "Rella, how..?" "I missed you." Rella said. "I wanted to see you, to see how you're doing." Van embraced her friend tightly and that's when the dam opened. Van wasn't the overly emotional type, she'd never cried so hard even when her father died. She clung unto her best friend for what seemed like hours until the sob became soft whimpers.It must be the baby Van thought miserably she read somewhere that being pregnant makes one emotional, irrational and irritable to say the least. She groaned when she realised she still has a few more months of this rollercoaster ride. "I met him tonight." She said quietly and Rella understood who she
Last Updated : 2023-06-07The Substitute Bride Chapter 81
"Everything? " " Yes everything. I think it's time. I mean it's not fair to him, it's not fair to either of us. I have always known it's the right thing to do but I couldn't myself to tell him." She stared at her friend, her eyes shining with tears, her lips wobbling. " It would crush him." "I'm so sorry Rella I wish there was something I could do." "There's also the issue of my not being actually married to him. Van it's all just a lie. " " What? B.. but you were the one at the wedding, you signed the marriage certificate."Rella shook her head miserably. " It's not my name on the certificate A signature is useless." " How did you come to the conclusion that you two are not married for real? " "Christian. "Van's eyes went wide. " How does Christian know that did you tell him? " " No. It's a long story. " " Is he threatening you is that why you want to come clean to Stefan? " " No he knew for
Last Updated : 2023-06-10The Substitute Bride Chapter 82
"He's grown up to be a decent young man like his father."If Van had to sit there at the dinner table for another minute as grandfather continued to praise Jake she knew she was going to lose her appetite or worse get sick. "If only Perla had listened to me she would've lived a better life and not have been miserable with that good for nothing."That was her father he was talking about, the man who loved her and Karl unconditionally something the old man didn't possess. Should Van mention to him that if her mom had married Jake’s dad then Jake would’ve ceased to exist but she was in no mood for an argument. "Can we talk about something else?"The name Jake Calloway is giving me indigestion she wanted to add but wisely left it out.Grandfather glared at her. "You know i've had it with your insolence for one day. I don't know what problem you have with that cultured young man but you need not be rude about it, I just might accept his proposal."Ash stiffened but not too
Last Updated : 2023-06-11The Substitute Bride Chapter 83
Van told herself she wouldn't cry, that she wouldn't feel sorry for the things she had to do to survive and for turning out she way she did but her grandfather's words had cut deeper than she let herself believe which was why as soon as she slammed the door to her bedroom shut her eyes were already leaking. She furiously wiped her eyes but it was like a broken faucet. Damn him. He doesn't know what's like being her, he'd let her father die because he didn't like him, he should be the one feeling guilty for abandoning them and taking her mother from her, he should be doing penance instead, he was judging her condemning her until she was beginning to feel like everything he said about her was true. Damn Jake Calloway for coming into her life and wrecking it to a point where making amends seemed almost impossible.Her phone was ringing and she wiped her tears and reached for it on the night stand. "Hello?" "Van it's me." Jake was bouncing on hi
Last Updated : 2023-06-13The Substitute Bride Chapter 84
" Baby? You mean… " his eyes fell on her flat tummy awe and he moved closer. "We.. I.. am going to be a father?" He laughed with mirth, the sound echoing across the park. "I can't believe this is real, I'm going to be a dad." He said incredulously his hand reaching for her stomach but stepped back. "This doesn't change anything Jake." The mirthful grin slipped from his face to be replaced by a frown of confusion. "What do you mean if course this changes everything." This is why she didn't want him to know about the baby just yet, he'd pressure her into coming back to him. "I am not having this conversation with you right now." "Why did you keep it from me I had the right to know?" He demanded. " Jake… " " I have the right to know I'm going to be a father. Were you ever going to tell me? "She scoffed." Of course I was going to tell you only when the time is right." " And when is that? " " I don't know! " She sna
Last Updated : 2023-06-13The Substitute Bride Chapter 85
" Ash! " Van yelled. Where had he come from? Was he following her?Jake staggered, caught by surprise but when he finally regained his stance he brought a hand to his lip that was now split and bleeding he glared at Ash before he swung his fist and caught Ash by the side of his face. The two men traded blows, grappling each other while Van yelled for them to stop. "Stop this for the love of God! are you two animals?"They ignored her.Ash fell backwards and Jake was onto him before he could breathe landing blows after blows. A searing pain sliced through her mid section and she gasped out suddenly. Slamming her eyes shut, she took a calming breath breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth a few seconds later the pain ebbed. "STOP." It must've been the conviction in her voice because Jake froze mid strike and looked over his shoulder at her. "Have you two no shame?" She glared at them both. Ash's nose was bleeding, she realised when he pulled him
Last Updated : 2023-06-14The Substitute Bride Chapter 86
She was pregnant.Rella stared at the piece of paper in her hand, the result of the further tests that was carried out after she fainted at the charity ball and elation mixed with fear, apprehension and uncertainty punched through her knocking out the breath out of her. Rella thought back to the events of the few weeks, she'd been too busy being a Diamond bride attending functions and various charities to notice the little changes in her body the most noticable being her fainting spell which she'd dismissed as stress. A baby. She was going to have a baby Stefan's child. A little person that would take after her or Stefan or both of them. This changes everything. Rella felt panic bubbling up until she was sick. She rinsed off the acidic taste in her mouth after she was done and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear as she caught her reflection in the mirror imagining how she would look a few months from now. Her fingers instinctively splayed over her lower ab
Last Updated : 2023-06-15
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The Substitute Bride Chapter 105
Walking down the aisle towards the man of her dreams had always been Rella's dream. Yes she was a hopeless romantic and right now her focus was on the man at the altar. There was just him, everyone else seemed to fade away and when he smiled up at her there was no doubt in her heart it was all for her. No more pretense, no more lies, no more deceit, she wasn't walking down the aisle towards someone else's fiancé in someone else's dress no, she was walking down the aisle towards the love of her life who sees the real her in her own gorgeous wedding dress. Stefan was impatient for the ceremony to end not because he wanted to get it over and done with like the last time but because he couldn't wait to have her all to himself. Never in a million years had he ever thought that he might end up madly in love with anyone to the point that he couldn't start a day without her infectious smile and he couldn't end his day without tasting her lucious lips. They exchanged their vo
The Substitute Bride Chapter 104
" I've missed you so much it hurts. " Stefan murmured against her neck. They managed to make it back to the bedroom before he could devour her on the stairs. "I've missed you too." Rella said a moan escaping her lips. She cupped his engorged member and Stefan stiffened and pulled back. "I think we should stop before things get a bit too heated." "Why? In case you haven't noticed I want you too." "I don't want to hurt you. You just came out of the hospital." "I'm not an invalid you know." "I'm just being cautious." " Such a spoil sport."Stefan chuckled. "why don't we get you to bed… " "You're leaving, please stay." Rella protested. "I'm not leaving." Stefan assured her before he climbed in after her and gathered her in his arms. "Try not to wiggle too much." "Like this?" Rella said wiggling her behind against his crotch.Stefan hissed out a curse while she snickered. "Fiend." It
The Substitute Bride Chapter 103
Stefan realised too late that he didn't get flowers, but no matter he was going to get her back first and then he'd give her all the flowers in the world. He punched the doorbell in anticipation, a woman in her late forties almost identical to Evie Cortes stood by the open door and Stefan knew without a doubt that he was at the right address. "May I help you?" "Uh, good evening ma'am my name is Stefan and I have come to see Rella.Marjorie stared at him long and hard then assessed him from top to bottom and her eyes widened for a second before it was gone in a snap. "Rella isn't here." She told him and Stefan's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. " What, but I was told she'd be here? " " You were told wrong. I haven't seen my niece in a while. "She must be lying. Stefan thought. But what reason does she have to lie to him? If Rella wasn't here, if she didn't come here at all then where could she be?This isn't how he envisioned the day would end. No,
The Substitute Bride Chapter 102
Stefan smiled as he took out the gold band with a heart shaped diamond atop it. It couldn't be more perfect conveying all of his feelings at once. She's going to love it he was sure of it. "You've found her." Stefan shut the jewelry box before he turned to find his grandfather leaning on his cane by the bedroom door "The love of your life." Because that's what the ring is meant for, his grandmother's ring given to her by his grandfather before they got married which has been passed down the family for many generations now. "Not yet in a manner of speaking but I will." "When I saw your grandmother for the first time I knew she was the one and I did everything I could to make her realise that I was the one as well." His grandfather explained. " I know we haven't been able to see eye to eye since your parents died and I know that you think me controlling and insufferable but I try my best to raise you well. Everything I've done good or bad were all for you
The Substitute Bride Chapter 101
Stefan made a mad dash home after he was told she discharged herself. He didn't wait to kill the engine before he was flying out of the door and running towards the house like a mad man. "Rella!?"He yelled out her name. "Sir is something wrong?" Henry the butler asked meeting him halfway through the living room. "My wife, is she here?" "Madam hasn't been back since both of you left yesterday." "You're sure?" "Absolutely." Stefan walked past the old Butler and made for the stairs holding on to the possibility that she might've come home without Henry's knowledge.He pushed open their bedroom door calling out her name once more but there was no answer. He threw open the closet to find everything intact; no item was out of place. She'd taken nothing with her. Stefan staggered back, it was all he could do to avoid breaking down completely. He whipped out his cellphone and began making calls. " I'm sorry Stefan I don't know wher
The Substitute Bride Chapter 100
Rella's world had slowed down in that moment when she saw Stefan's horror mirroring her own, when she realised that they were both thinking the same thing. Everything that happened after that was a blur. She heard him yelling to someone to bring the car around and then he was lifting her up. The ride to the hospital took a lifetime. "I'm sorry but your wife's had a miscarriage…"They were too late and now the doctor is saying she's lost her baby. She tuned out the doctor's words after that first damning sentence. Everything was spinning and she couldn't breathe. Rella started sobbing while Stefan turned and left the room–he probably couldn't wait to get away from her. The doctor was still talking to her but Rella had since tuned her out, her voice getting drowned by the silence in her head–normally there'll be a roaring–but there was utter silence that Rella was afraid she wasn't in her skin anymore.Rella was oblivious to when the doctor left the room and Van was there w
The Substitute Bride Chapter 99
It was on a magical evening one month later that her best friend Van and her husband Jake Calloway renewed their vows and it was everything they both could've hoped for. Family and friends who weren't present the first time they said their vows were present today. Van was surrounded by family she thought she never had and right there under the arch in the shape of two swans decorated with daisies, her friend said her vows again. Rella was happy for Van of course, after everything that's happened her best friend deserves to be happy but she was also jealous, she could not help this foul feeling churning in her guts that made her wish she was in Van's place instead surrounded by so much love and not in this sham of a life she was living pretending everything was okay. But this day was Van's happy day and so she smiled throughout the whole ceremony unitl her cheeks ached. Rella glanced sideways at Stefan who was sitting beside her, she knew if he could help it he'd be far from her
The Substitute Bride Chapter 98
Van hated hospitals. Especially when it reminded her of her dad's condition, and how much he suffered before his passing. Hospitals are filled with gloom and despair. People die in hospitals and she couldn't shake up the thought that Jake might die just like her father.No, she had to believe that nothing would happen to Jake, that he wouldn’t share the same fate as her father because she didn't think she had it in her to survive another tragedy. Jake’s friends; Christian, Dave and Max, were all there including Rella her best friend and her husband Stefan Diamond who's also Jake's friend. They'd arrived a few hours ago and were as worried and afraid as she was but they were trying to make her feel better instead. Rella had held her hands through out the waiting period while Jake was being operated on and Van had cried on her shoulders voicing out her fear. Her grandfather had called to hear how Jake was doing after Jake was transferred to the recovery room some time late
The Substitute Bride Chapter 97
Over the next few days it was safe to say that Van's relationship with Jake was getting better. Jake was determined and patient. If there was anything she loved about him it was his resilience and ability to focus and get what he wants. Van also loved his warm smile, his strength and his ability to love no matter what. She felt giddy with his courting, like she had the first time he asked her out. Van pressed the phone against her ear and smiled a good natured smile like she never had in a while. Her heart almost on the verge of exploding with joy and happiness and everything that was good. "Look out the balcony, I have a surprise for you." Jake told her and when Van looked out she saw him standing outside the gate holding out a banner that read: I love you Vanessa Wilkins Montenegro. Van still wasn't used to being referred to as a Montenegro but she was certain she would get used to it pretty soon. After her father’s death Van thought that she and her
