Substitute Bride Novels & Stories

I told her. She looked up. “Then what?” “To remind you what a substitute bride is,” I said, stepping into the cell. “Temporary. Replaceable.” She smiled slowly. “And yet… irreplaceable enough to drag into your madness.” I placed the ring in her palm. “When you put this on again,” I said, “you’ll kneel.” She met my gaze, unblinking. “And when I rise?” she asked. I leaned in. “You’ll rise… as mine. Or not at all.

Celine's POV 3 months later; Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared out of the window, wearing the dress that belonged to my step sister, Emilia. I still cannot believe that this was happening. Just yesterday, I had thought that I would be a guest at the wedding, and now, 24 hours later...I was the substitute bride who was about to walk down the aisle to marry a complete stranger. Rowan Sinclair. " Are you ready?" Eleanor, my step mother asked as she walked into the room

I said but the groom grabbed my hand. “No you can’t go. You’ll be the substitute bride.” He said and dragged my back to the altar. I sighed dramatically. “I’m always the substitute when will I be the first choice?” “Shush your mouth and let’s get this over with.” He hissed and faced the priest like nothing happened. “We’re ready father.” He said and smiled. I scoffed God doesn’t want two faced people! But seriously… Is this for real? Am I going to marry someone I don’t even know?

“When we came here…you made me promise to bring you back after we've wedded—and I've fulfilled my promise, yet you act like a different person in the same skin.” A different person in the same skin—the words resounded in her head. Chills swirled down her spine and she shivered. She blinked, inwardly fighting the urge to look away—cheeks burning, blushing pink. That was definitely who she was—a different person in the same skin was an understatement. She was a totally different person, an imposter. Was she ruining this before it even started? Their marriage was barely three days old. And, Pamela had already planned the dinner reservation before the wedding?

Wade mentioned wasn't as simple as he'd claimed! What were they trying to do? Make her humiliate herself on her wedding night, completely offending the Russell family? The heat waves grew increasingly fierce, threatening to devour her rationality. She forced herself through the wedding ceremony—a mockery without a groom present. The guests' glances were filled with sympathy, pity, and undisguised schadenfreude. "So this is the substitute bride? She's pretty, what a shame she'll be married to a vegetable." "I heard Rupert Russell is down to his last breath. The York family must be desperate for money to push their daughter into this hellhole."

"Mm." "About the word substitute." She looked at the window. The light. The way the city looked from here, at this hour, the specific quality of a Sunday morning seen from this height. "I spent a long time thinking of myself that way. Not just here. Before all of this. The substitute daughter. The one who was there when the one who mattered wasn't." He was quiet. The listening kind of quiet.

"You can only go to the underworld to see her." Mom's smirk froze as Dad's expression turned grim. I floated behind Alex as I looked at his straight back, my heart aching. Mom's shock quickly faded as she commented disdainfully, "Ridiculous! To avoid going home for an arranged marriage and to get money from me, she even lied about her own death. She's really got some nerve!" Seeing how confident they were that I was lying, I only found it ridiculous. At the same time, it seemed only natural that they could not believe it. They only remembered me at this point in time to make me marry in Kelly's place.

“Make sure not to stumble upon him after you're done playing your role. I am his chosen bride, and he has his reason for needing a substitute for now.” I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. The chosen bride. What could make the prince not crown his chosen Luna but need a substitute instead? Isn't he ready to have a Luna? Am I going to take the blame or whatever on her behalf? It got me worried that instant, but her voice snapped me out. “Know your boundaries, omega.” she let out a sinister smile and made her way out of the room. I stood there, my feet glued to the floor.