The Substitute Bride: Making Memories Of Us (Lois Stone)

Chapter 110: You Should Have Died Two Years Ago 

Anna had no choice but to leave the study.She stood for a moment outside, leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths to center herself.

Brian's increasingly indifferent attitude towards her was making her more uneasy with each passing day.

Brian never asked about the work that she was responsible for, but tonight he had offered to meet Wenny.

If this happened, he would find out that Wenny was Ayla, who he had waited and looked for two years.

And if Brian as much as saw Ayla, there would be no place for Anna in his life.

Only if Anna became pregnant with Brian's child would she have the chance to be with him.

Brian leaned back against the leather seat.

Anna had acted strange tonight, which caused him to wonder if something had happened.She had always allowed him to dominate her, and had never raised an objection, no matter what he did.

But ever since she had returned from Italy, her behavior had changed.

He trusted her, which was why he didn't restrain her too much.But he didn't like women who would cross the line.

Ayla prepared soup and four dishes and called for Lucas.

"It's time for dinner.You must be hungry.Aren't you?"

"I'll eat any number of dishes you cook," Lucas said, sitting down at the table.

"I can have only one meal every day if I eat the food you cook every night!"

"Okay, then you should eat all of this.We can't waste food," Ayla said, putting down a bowl of rice before him.

"I don't want to waste them," Lucas said, and practically inhaled the food.

As she watched him eat with gusto, Ayla remembered cooking for Brian, only for him to pick at the food.

He hadn't liked her cooking at all.

And when things had come to a head, she couldn't cook dinner for him anymore.

Maybe that was a good thing.

"Lala, why aren't you eating? The food won't taste as good when it gets cold," Lucas said, looking up as he realized that she wasn't eating with him.

She nodded.

Ayla ate slowly, but she didn't find the food delicious, because she recalled what Anna had said to her in the studio today. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Ayla knew that she shouldn't care, and that she should not pay so much heed to Anna's words.

Because even if she harbored all these feelings and thoughts and nursed a broken heart, she couldn't speak about these things to anyone.

The next day, Lucas received a call from Tatum, asking him to go to Thailand.

He couldn't refuse because he knew that if he didn't go, Tatum would come to him.He would then come face to face with Ayla, something that Lucas couldn't imagine the consequences of.

"I need to go out of town for a week. Are you okay with being alone?" Lucas said to Ayla, worry etched on his face.

"Don't worry.I'm not a kid anymore.Besides, I'll be busy with my work.Nothing will happen to me,"she said reassuringly.

But Lucas didn't believe her.He knew that once she began working, she would forget everything else, including eating.

Ayla dropped him off at the airport and went back to her office only after Lucas' plane had taken off.

She found Anna waiting at her office when she got there.

"You don't have to come to check on me every day, Miss Anna," she said shortly.

"Really? If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have found out that you were planning to skip work today,"

Anna retorted.She had found the flimsiest excuse and started to rip into Ayla.

Ayla walked to her desk and sat down before looking Anna dead in the eye and saying, "You don't have to remind me.I will finish my work on time."

"That's good," the other woman said and made her way out.

But before she left, she turned around and asked, "You won't meet Brian without telling me, will you?"

"Why do you ask me this?" Ayla asked, cocking her head to the side.

She wanted to tell Anna that she didn't have to remind her to stay away from Brian every single day.She was as far away from Brian as she could be.Wasn't Anna satisfied to have Ayla hiding here?

"Because Brian suddenly proposed to invite you to dinner last night."

Brian had given up on the idea eventually, but Anna wasn't sure if he wouldn't bring it up again.

Ayla was surprised too.

Although Brian liked to take control of everything, he would never offer to see a woman voluntarily, no matter what the situation was.

Moreover, she had found an excuse to avoid meeting Brian in Milan.

So even if he really wanted to see her this time, she could choose not to.

"Don't worry.I won't go," Ayla said.

She pulled out a design draft, looked at it for a long second, before continuing, "You don't have to come here every day if you don't have anything important to tell me.You can speak with Ellie.I'm afraid your frequent visits will affect my work."

She was sure she had made herself clear that she needed to be alone and in a quiet environment.

She didn't want to see anyone, so Anna didn't need to worry.

Moreover, Anna's appearances would only ruin her mood.

Anna looked at Ayla with obvious distaste as she said, "I don't want to see you either.If you weren't the designer that Ms.Evans had personally arranged for, I'd rather not have seen you for the rest of my life.I'd rather you were dead! You should have died two years ago!"

"I'm not dead.And it looks like I let you down.But you know what? I also wish I had never met you.I had hoped to live my life in Milan.But you were the one to force me.You don't want Brian to see me, so you are making me hide here.I have to sacrifice my freedom for one of the Clark Group's cooperation cases.And I've promised you over and over that I won't see Brian.But you don't believe me.So why don't you go to Ms.Evans and ask her to replace me with Linda instead? Wouldn't it be so much better? Then you wouldn't have to worry all the time."

Ayla was sad.She couldn't love the man she wanted to love.Her only choice had been to escape, but Anna kept forcing her to do things she didn't want to do.

Ayla had chosen to quit, which made Anna's worry unnecessary.

But that didn't seem to register in Anna's mind.

"You don't have to be so arrogant just because you are a good designer.All you have done is rely on men to become what you are today!" Anna said acidly before turning around and storming off, giving Ayla no chance to retort.

Ayla stood before the French windows.

The scenery took her back two years, engulfing her with a sense of deja vu.

But her feelings were different.She was different.

After that day, Anna didn't come to the studio again.

Every time she had any questions, she went to Ellie.

And since Ayla's off-duty time wasn't fixed, she'd ask Ellie to take off when the day ended, staying there herself long after the office time ended.

Lucas had gone to Thailand but he still called her every day to ask whether she was doing well, whether she had meals on time, and whether she often stayed up late, unmindful of the time.

And Ayla laughed at him every time, telling him that he was like a housekeeper.

But she knew that some men gave all their love to just one woman.

Lucas was one such man, and Ayla knew she had to accept him.

She felt a sharp pain in her neck, as a result of not moving from her chair for the whole day.Her neck throbbed as she lifted her head to look at the clock, shocked to find that it was already ten o'clock in the evening.She thought of Lucas' words and put away the design drafts, preparing to go back home.