All Chapters of A Dance of Substitutes with Mr. Vanderbilt: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

It had been three years of marriage.Justine Thorpe finally found her husband, Ash Vanderbilt, in the OB-GYN clinic of a hospital. He hadn't shown up for three months.However, he was not alone. Another woman—his mistress—was with him.She bore more than a passing resemblance to Justine. Her name was Jenny Thorpe, and she had been living as Justine's replacement in the Thorpe family for 16 years.Justine had suspected her husband of having an affair for at least six months, but she never imagined it would be with Jenny. Not that the revelation was entirely surprising, now that she thought about it.Everyone in Sol's upper class knew that Ash's true love had always been his childhood friend.Justine was the devil who had gotten in the way.Seeing Ash and Jenny together somehow relieved Justine. The mystery was finally solved.She watched them enter the elevator. Ash's delicate eyelashes were lowered as he spoke softly to his companion. Justine had never seen him this gentle befo

Ash sneered and went through the door.Justine watched his hulking frame, suddenly recalling hazy memories of her teenage past: a younger version of him, tall and lean, with his back against her.Despite her earlier calm, she felt a sharp pain in her chest."Justine…" He had stopped by the door and turned to face her. "I no longer answer to my grandfather, Justine. So there's zero chance of you going back to being my wife after this. Don't regret it."And most importantly—don't give Jenny shit. You've tormented her enough."Ash understood how obsessive her love had been.Justine's life was so devoid of meaning that the only two things she had were ballet and him. This was why Ash was convinced that Justine's sudden change of attitude stemmed from spite after seeing Jenny.Once she calmed down, he was sure she would regret this decision.His job was to ensure her regret was futile. She could no longer return to him—and he would never accept her.Justine was kind and courteous t

The woman on the other end of the call sneered. "Sure as hell. She's obsessed with kissing up to those old couples! You can count on her to show up at every Thierry family event."The Thierry family were Ash's maternal relatives, wealthy for generations.Ash's father had perished during the Vanderbilt family in-fighting, forcing Ash to return from abroad as soon as he could. His uncles had nearly stolen his birthright within the family business.At that time, even if Justine hadn't appeared, Jenny would have already discarded the engagement arranged between her and Ash. He was a broke man with no future, abandoned by his elite family.Who could have predicted that Ash would gain his maternal grandfather's support by marrying Justine and fulfilling the Thierry family's wish?With Felix's money, Ash had risen back to prominence and wealth.Meanwhile, the fool Jenny had chosen to bet on failed spectacularly. He had lost everything and dragged her down with him. If not for Ash's inte

Ares Vance had died from drowning while attempting to rescue someone. His body had washed ashore only after half a month.The corpse had been so bloated and disfigured by the elements that no one could recognize it was him. This was why Justine had so much trouble accepting his death. She had forbidden anyone to display his photos during the funeral or place them on his grave.The mason looked at her in confusion.Justine hopefully gave him a piece of paper. [This is my favorite picture of him. Please add it to his headstone. Thank you.]The mason nodded. "Ah, of course, young lady!"With that settled, Justine bought her ticket. She still had some unfinished business to attend to.She would return here—her real home—soon.-While at the airport, Justine decided to finally respond to the messages left by Ash's lawyer.She had deliberately ignored everyone from Sol during the funeral, her mind occupied by a growing suspicion of conspiracy.There were too many strange elements s

Jenny bled from the encounter and was rushed to the hospital.By the time Ash arrived, two other acquaintances were already there: Charlie Thorpe, Jenny's adopted father, and Sue Summers, her adopted mother.After Justine had gone missing as a child, Charlie and Sue had taken Jenny in, telling everyone she was "the missing child". They treated her as if she were their daughter, cherishing her deeply.Even after the Thorpes' old patriarch managed to bring the real Justine home, the couple continued to dote on Jenny, giving her all their attention while neglecting Justine."Ash is here!" Sue cried out, wiping her tears. "I'm so glad to see you! I can't believe Jenny would keep her pregnancy a secret after coming back from abroad! How could she stay with you when you're married?! If Justine finds out…"She paused as if a sudden thought struck her. "Wait. Does she know?""Juju does know, Aunt Sue. But—""I knew it! How could my darling Jenny get into such an accident?! Something sme