Too Late to Regret, The Substitute Wife Left

It was embarrassing, sitting alone by the roadside, wrapped in the rescue team’s blanket, waiting for my husband to come pick me up.My car was totaled after crashing into the guardrail; luckily, I’d gotten away with only a few scratches.Crowds passed by in front of me, but my husband never showed up.He’ll be here soon,” I assured them, humiliated.Finally, Andrew appeared. He walked right up to me and grabbed me by the chin. He lifted my face, inspecting it.My heart clutched.THAT was his first reaction?Checking my face. I shouldn’t have been surprised. All Andrew really cared about was my face, after all.It was because I looked so much like his first love, the color of my eyes, the shape of my features. It was such a strange, almost unbelievable coincidence. But she had died many years ago, yet I had always lived under her shadow.Meeting Andrew was pure chance. His gentleness, his manners, the way he cared for me so attentively, I fell for him instantly. So when he asked m

Julia’s POVAndrew walked away, and the surrounding guests also dispersed. I heard them whispering about ‘that poor woman’.They were all sympathetic to Charlotte.It was clear that no one cared about me. Why should they? Most of the guests were there to curry favor with Andrew. I wasn’t of any use to them. And they seemed to know that Andrew didn’t care much for me. If my own husband didn’t care about me, why should they?I looked down at the shard of glass in my leg. It actually looked pretty bad.Just then, I heard an unfamiliar voice. “Excuse me, but…do you need medical attention?” he asked. “Perhaps a trip to the ER?”I looked up to see a handsome man. His blue eyes were flooded with concern. I didn’t recognize him at all. I assumed he was an executive from a rising company.“Oh, I, um…” I stammered. He was gazing at me so intensely, it caused me to stumble over my words. “I’m fine, really,” I managed to say.“Are you sure? Because that looks like quite the cut. I’d be happy to

Julia’s POV“Slow down,” Andrew said calmly, slurring his words slightly. “I know what you’re thinking. But nothing happened.“What are you doing here then?” I snapped at him.“I’d gone to the company dinner and had drunk quite a bit, so I needed to take a break here. She’d just come by to drop off the contract I’d forgotten.”“Where’s your shirt?” I demanded.“I spilled wine on it. Charlotte was rinsing it off in the sink,” he said calmly.“Why is she in her nightgown?” I asked.For someone who had just been caught cheating, Andrew seemed rather calm. Was he telling the truth? Had he really just had one too many drinks and then come up here with Charlotte to her room? Was he bare-chested because his shirt had wine on it?”“I slipped into the bathroom and got changed,” Charlotte sighed. “I just wanted to wear something comfortable.”I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this all sounded a bit too suspicious. “Go ahead. Check the sink. My shirt’s there. It’s probably st

Julia’s POV From the moment Julia moved in, she was constantly coming up with new ways to win over Oliver. I wasn’t stupid. I saw exactly what she was doing. She took him to amusement parks and bought him expensive, limited-editing toys. She let him have three scoops of ice-cream instead of one. She basically bribed him with anything and everything she could think of. And it worked like a charm. Oliver was enamored with her. At the dining table, I sat and watched my son and my step-sister chat about the latest animated films, or laugh about whatever day trip they’d gone on that day. They were so close, and their closest made them look like a real mother and child. I tried to join the conversation, only to be met with an impatient eye roll from Oliver. This always made Charlotte cover her mouth in a soft laugh, shooting me provocative looks whenever she could. She was loving every minute of this, and it showed.

Julia’s POV I walked through the office buildings in my worn-out high heels. I was grinding it out, trying to find a job, but my resumes just kept disappearing into a void with no response. It had been a month since I’d left Andrew, and I hadn’t heard a single word from him. I was walking out of yet another office after having dropped off my resume to a dull-looking man who didn’t seem the least bit interested in hiring me, when I heard women whispering in the breakroom. “Isn’t that her? The woman who threw her sister into a chandelier at the banquet?” “Yes, I think it is.” I was holding a cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup, but my hands shook so badly when I heard the women gossiping about me, that I spilled the hot liquid all over my hand, scalding my skin. I dropped the coffee cup, and embarrassed, ran out of the office building. I wasn’t even home for ten minutes when I heard the loud knocking o