Chapter 1 A Substitute Bride

'It's with great excitement we revealed to you that our business couple Luke Arnoult and Willa Arison have finally gotten engaged. We hope to see the happy couples get married soon...'

"What?" Gillian Arison's eyes widened in disbelief and her body shook. Her heart began to pound, and she shook her dizzy head in shock.

"Impossible. No, it can't be possible. Sister and Luke, how can?" Luke Arnoult, her boyfriend, and Willa Arison, her sister, how can they get engaged today?

It should be Gillian Arison and Luke Arnoult who got engaged. What are the reporters saying? What are they showing on the TV? What nonsense!

Gillian rubbed her eyes like crazy, and she saw that the image on the TV hadn't changed.

Willa Arison, her sister, was in an exquisite and expensive pink gown while Luke Arnoult, her boyfriend, was in a blue suit. The two people were holding their hands looking like a perfect couple.

Gillian froze, and she looked stunned; her whole figure seemed to have been dealt a huge blow.

Gillian's eyes began to dart around the room like crazy. Her steps halted upon seeing that the time was 7:23 p.m. Her pupils constricted in horror.

She had been asleep all day on her engagement day? No way!

Today was the official engagement of Gillian Arison and Luke Arnoult, Gillian's boyfriend since middle school year two. They had been in love for years, and she had been expecting today since forever but...

Gillian's eyes flashed toward her phone to pick it up. She dialed Luke's phone number, and soon he picked it up.

However, in the background were cheering noises which made her slowly come to the realization that the news report wasn't wrong. The two and their whole family had betrayed her!

Gillian's body shook and tears pooled to her eyes. So she wasn't dreaming? "Luke, what's happening? Why are you getting married to my sister? It should be you and me, ri..."

"Are you naive, or you're pretending to be, Miss Gillian Arison?" Luke sneered. "The only reason I've always been after you is to get close to Willa. Willa is the heaven, the heir and legitimate daughter of the Arison family while you're the mud, the infamous illegitimate daughter of the Arison. Why will I marry you when Willa is the perfect wife for my Arnoult family?" He taunted coldly.

"What? That can't be possible!" Gillian yelled and fell on the bed, shocked to the core by the news she had just heard.

She couldn't believe that the reason Luke had been with her was to get close to Willa. Why? Just why?

Luke had always told her that he loved her, regardless of her status or what others think or say! Before she could give a reply, the call was cut off by Luke. And by the time she'd dialed Luke's number once more, he had blocked her.

Tears streamed down Gillian's eyes, but she quickly wiped it away and dialed Willa's phone number, her body trembling.

As soon as Willa picked up the call, Gillian bellowed in anger, "Willa Arison, how can you do this? How can you be so shameless to get married to Liam? He is your brother-in-law..."

"My brother-in-law?" Willa scoffed in disdain as if she had just heard the funniest sentence. "Luke and I have been together for over two years, the family and the media could testify to it, what do you mean?" Willa calmly retorted.

Gillian's eyes widened in shock. "That. Didn't. Didn't you say it's just about the company's share? Isn't it to boost the two companies..."

"Aww, baby sister." Willa cooed. "That's why Luke is engaged to me today. To boost the company's share, my dear naive sister." Willa conveyed making Gillian pale. "If I were you, I'd use this timeframe to eat. After all, the drug will soon knock you out again."

Gillian's eyes widened in shock. "You. You drugged me?" She had been wondering how she slept on her engagement day when she had been prepared for it for the past three months.

It turns out. It must be the dinner she ate last night. Her dad and his step-wife must have known about it! No wonder they asked her to eat with them. It wasn't because they cared, and they wanted to celebrate her. No, it's because they have a wicked mission to do today.

"Yes, I drugged you." Willa interrupted indifferently. "And one more thing, my dear naive sister. The eldest daughter of the Arison family had gotten engaged to the Arnoult family, guess who's getting married to that Augustus' retard from the Albrecht family." Willa revealed wickedly.

"What? You bitch!" Gillian's eyes widened in shock. Because the Arison family was at their lowest, they sought out the Albrecht family for help.

The Albrecht family had agreed to invest 50 million dollars in the Arison corporation as long as the eldest daughter of the Arison family got married to Augustus Albrecht. And Mr Arison had agreed immediately.

Augustus Albrecht, the genius heir and the youngest billionaire in the country, was the most eligible husband in the country.

However, after a plane crash three years ago, he became a retarded handicap, giving the wealthy Albrecht family a big blow.

Gillian couldn't believe that that was the plan. To have her marry into the Albrecht family in Willa's stead. "Willa..."

"Mom, Dad. Yes, I'll be right there." Willa said to the person on the other side.

Before Gillian could say a word, the call was cruelly cut off from the other side, leaving Gillian stunned, frightened, cold, betrayed, and angry.

She felt a shiver run through her spine at her family's heartlessness toward her. She thought they would care about her at a point, but it turns out that she was worth nothing to them.

A thought suddenly flashed in her mind. That's to escape the Arison family and evade the marriage with Augustus' family.

Gillian would rather not be married than get married to Augustus Albrecht.

Willa had gotten engaged to Luke Arnoult after all Gillian's hard work, which means her father knew about it and he had no intention to stop her from getting married to Augustus.

Their plan all along was to make her a substitute!

A thought on how to solve things came to her mind. That's to escape from the marriage.

Gillian picked up her phone and hurried toward the door while staggering weakly.

She pulled the doorknob; Alas! It was locked from the outside. She had been locked by her family! Certainly, they were afraid that Gillian would ruin things!

"Open the door. Open." She banged the door and weakly enunciated while painful tears streamed down her eyes.

"Sorry, Miss Gillian. Master Arison had ordered that we shouldn't open the door. If you're hungry, you can tell us what you want, and we'll serve it to you." The bodyguards outside her room said politely, but one wouldn't fail to capture the disdain in his voice

"The maids will serve it to you. The maid will. Serve it to you."

That was the last word Gillian heard before she collapsed and blacked out immediately.