CEO's Substitute Bride

Chapter 39

Alyssa immediately dialed Hazel’s number.

"Hello?" An exhausted voice came from the other end of the line. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

“Did you buy the trending topic on Skylar’s topic?”

“Didn’t you refuse? Have you changed your mind? Wait, if you want me to do it, I could contact my friends right now.” Hazel said excitedly, clapping her hands together.

"No, it's not that. I just saw that her videos had gone up the trending search again. I thought you were the one who paid the site to get it up there.” Alyssa explained as she scrolled down the Internet. No matter how far she had scrolled, Skylar’s videos were everywhere.

“What? Really?” Hazel said and then made some noises. Alyssa guessed she might browsing the Weibo.

As expected, after a few seconds, Hazel burst into laughter. "Although I didn't do this, I'll send some flowers to whoever did. As I've said, karma's going to get her one day. I just didn't expect that it would be this fast!"

Even as Alyssa hung up the phone a few minutes later, she still couldn't get her mind off the trending list. She stared at her screen. How could it have gotten up there again even after the suppression of the Moore family?

Who did it? Could Skylar have offended other people? Perhaps they were the ones who wanted to give

her a taste of her own medicine?

It wasn’t impossible. In all her years of living in the Moore family, she had seen how Skylar acted. From being a large immature brat to an impatient and self-centered woman, she had offended quite a lot of people throughout her entire life. And some of them were even members of the upper class as well. It was possible that they'd all gang up on her.

Alyssa didn’t dwell this matter too much after all it had nothing to do with her. Looking at the time, she felt that Emmett should've finished his meal by now, so she headed to his study. Besides, they had quite a lot to talk about.

They didn't have time to even discuss the matters of what had transpired in the Interview, and with everything that had happened on the Internet, it was best that she present herself to him. Just to make sure that everything was clear with him.

The door of the study was tightly shut. Alyssa hesitated and then knocked on the door.

"Come in." A hoarse voice came from the inside.

Alyssa pushed the door open and walked into the study. Just like always, the man was still sitting behind his desk, with his back facing her. She could only see his long arms and broad shoulders.

Although she was used to this appearance, she couldn't help but be a little puzzled. Emmett didn't want her to see his face, yet he still bothered to go out when needed be. Didn't that mean that he was allowing the rest of the world to see his face?

From her knowledge and according to plenty of rumors, Emmett was an extremely isolated person. Not

only did he not go out, but he also hated socializing. The man was said to lock himself in his house for years, never going out...yet, from what she had observed, that wasn't exactly true. So why was he still hiding his face from her?

"What's the matter?"

Alyssa tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "Do you know what happened online recently? In Weibo?"

There was silence for a couple of seconds before he finally responded, "There's no need to mention what had happened in the past. You're my wife so you’d better behave. Nobody can touch you here."

Although his voice was cold, there was a sense of comfort in his words.

She pursed her lips upon hearing him. Somehow, there was something about his voice that sounded very similar to Justin. If his voice was less hoarse, they might even sound the same. Perhaps it was because they were cousins.

"Thank you." As she walked out, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Emmett was a little strange when it came to his appearance, he wasn't psychotic as some people who had been traumatized. Plus, he gave her enough space to do whatever she wanted.

Although Emmett was a little strange when it came to his appearance, he wasn't psychotic as some people who had been traumatized. Plus, he gave her enough space to do whatever she wanted.

Somehow, even in isolation, he already gave her ten times than what her own family had given her.

She walked downstairs to the dining room, only to see that it was empty.

Perhaps “Justin” had already left.

…

The next morning, Alyssa changed into more formal clothes and left for her interview.

Finally, she was doing something productive. These past few days, she had done nothing but go through with Skylar’s requests, as if she hadn't been doing it for the past twenty years. Even when married, she still couldn't shake her off! It was a waste of time.

All in all, her day went quite well. As she had graduated from a famous academy with high marks, the two company she had interview appointments with already expressed their willingness to hire her.

She was excited and a bright smile appeared on her face. Back then, Aurora had prevented her from engaging in any professional job after her college graduation. Not only because she didn't want her to succeed over her stepdaughter, but also because the woman had other plans for her. One of them included marrying her to Emmett.

Now that she wasn't under their roofs, she had all the freedom in the world, with equally plenty of options to choose from.

Alyssa decided to have lunch while looking over the company information for her next interview.

Not long after she sat down, she noticed a woman wearing a mask and a cap walking towards her. Before she could react, the masked woman grabbed the glass water in front of her and poured it down Alyssa’s head.

The water splashed everywhere, drenching her suit.

“Alyssa!"

Alyssa closed her eyes and wiped the water from her face. And then she looked at the woman.

It was only upon closer look did she realize that the masked woman was none other than Skylar.

With her current status, Skylar needed to disguise herself before heading out. That was the only way for people to not recognize her wherever she'd gone.

Otherwise, the hate she'd receive even just by walking down the street would be immeasurable.

"If you have something to say, then just say it. Don't beat around the bush." Alyssa raised her head. Her expression was extremely calm.

Alyssa's face contorted into one of anger and disgust. Glancing at the people surrounding them, she immediately lowered her voice and said fiercely. "You're the one who posted the video all over the internet, aren’t you? I won't let you off that easily!"

She really had underestimated this woman. Alyssa didn't expect her intuition to be this good.

But she wouldn’t admit it.

"What video?" Alyssa asked with surprise.

"I bet that you were just faking it all these years, weren't you? You weren't stupid at all. You're just waiting for the right time, weren't you?" Skylar said with extreme hatred.

Finally, Alyssa smiled. "I guess you know me better than my parents."

Jason and Aurora probably still thought that she was nothing more than a fool. After all, she had played dumb for so long that even if she were smart from the start, they wouldn't have believed it. For them, this entire thing must just be purely coincidental. Because how could their stupid daughter be manipulative enough to release these types of information to the media unscathed?

Besides, even if they had inkling that she was smart all along, it would hurt their pride more if they admitted to being tricked by the daughter they've abandoned. The shame that came along with it must be humiliating for them.

"You bitch!" Skylar raised her hand and was about to hit her.

Alyssa was about to dodge it when she saw a familiar figure walking over from the opposite side of the restaurant. The corners of her lips curled up and she gazed up at Skylar. This was going to be fun.

She didn’t dodge and her head swung to the side after receiving Skylar’s slap.

Henry had just stepped into the restaurant when he saw Alyssa being slapped in front of all these people. Before the masked woman could do it again, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, glaring at her.

Only then did he realize who she was.

"Skylar?"

"Henry!" The anger in her voice faded almost immediately, and her eyes shone with joy. It was as if they were faced with a completely different woman. “Please, listen to me. The videos and photos you've seen online, they were all posted by this slut! She's just jealous that I'm with you. Do you really not trust me anymore?"

Alyssa covered her swollen face and lowered her gaze, pretending to be the weakling everyone thought she was.

Honestly, she couldn't help but admire Skylar's self-centeredness. In her mind, the entire world revolved around her, and every woman in the street envied her. Just the thought it was ludicrous, yet it was enough to keep her sated.

Tightly biting her lips, Alyssa shook her head. "I didn't!"

Please, she wasn't jealous of Skylar to begin with!

"You're lying!" Skylar shrieked.

"Enough!" Henry gritted his teeth and shouted.

The two of them had yelled much louder this time, attracting the attention of the other guests. Although they couldn't see who the masked woman was, they were looking curiously, just like watching some

interesting drama.

Concerned about his reputation, Henry quickly lowered his head and said coldly. "Let's go to a room and talk.”

Then, he turned to Alyssa. His tone was much softer this time. "Alyssa, follow me.

Alyssas originally didn't want to follow them, but upon seeing her Skylar's desolate features, she couldn't help but nod and agree with them. To see Skylar being looked down on and despised by Henry so miserably.

When the three of them had finally entered a more private room, Skylar pointed a finger at Alyssa's nose. "Everything that you've seen was done by her. I'm innocent! The videos you saw? The photos? They were all photoshopped by this bitch!"

Having lied all these years, Skylar really came up with a clumsy excuse this time around.

Henry gazed at her for a long time, as if this was the first time he had come across her. His face was filled with disappointment, and he sighed. "Even up to this time, you're still lying!" All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Dissatisfied with the situation, Skylar pulled Alyssa forward. "Tell him what you did! Tell him that you're the one who photoshopped it! Tell him that you set me up!"

Although Skylar had a feeling that Alyssa was playing dumb, she couldn't help but still be convinced of how easily bullied the later was. Seeing the way she readily accepted her slap a few seconds ago gave her the illusion that she was still in control.

Alyssa gazed up at Henry before shaking her head. "I can't admit to something that I didn't do."

Henry had a good impression of Alyssa all these years, taking her for a woman who easily followed through with her family's commands. In his mind, she could do absolutely no wrong.

Seeing Skylar forcing her like this, he quickly pulled Alyssa behind his back. "If you still won't take responsibility, then I suggest you leave. Stop following me around."

Skylar had been contacting him for the past two days. He didn't want to talk to her, so he ignored all her calls. What he didn't expect was for her to follow him like some type of stalker!