HIS SUBSTITUTE BRIDE

Franz Pov I feel heavy-hearted as I put on my wedding dress. Today is my wedding day to a man I don't love. I am marrying Teddy Chua, a wealthy businessman who has liked me for two years. I need his money to afford an artificial heart for my sick mother that's why I will marry him. The artificial heart costs ten million and will be done in another country and I don't have that much money, so I was forced to accept Teddy's offer to marry him in exchange for the expenses of my mother's treatment. I love my mom very much and I don't want to lose her. She is the only relative I have in this world and I will be alone if she dies. I can't live without her so I will do anything just to make her health get better, to the extent of marrying a man I don't love. Teddy said that he loved me very much. Even though I have rejected him several times, he still hasn't given up on courting me. So maybe after we get married and live together, I won't become a battered wife. He also promised me that he would take care of both me and my mom. If he dares to hurt me, he will see what he's been looking for. Because I know how to fight. I am our school's representative in taekwondo competitions. That's why I can study in a private school even though I don't have money, because of the taekwondo scholarship granted to me by the school. Now, I am graduating from Senior High School, and I still don't know if I will continue studying in college or just stop and work to support my mother. I don't want to rely on Teddy's money even if he said that after our wedding I don't have to work anymore and just study and take good care of my mom. I'm afraid he might throw it in our faces that he is the one supporting us. I feel weak as I walk towards the full-size mirror and examine myself. A sad smile forms on my lips. I believe I look even more beautiful because of the makeup applied to my face by my best friend, Che. Che only lightly applied my makeup because I don't like heavy makeup. The expensive wedding dress I'm wearing, which Teddy ordered from Europe, suits me perfectly. Teddy spent a lot of money to make our wedding happen in a short time. I look good, but I think I would look even more beautiful if there was a sparkle of happiness in my eyes. However, instead of happiness, sadness is what can be seen in my eyes. Because starting today I will lose my freedom to find and love a man that will also love me back. I took a deep breath to ease the tightness in my chest. I'm already here, so there's no turning back. I will just think that this sacrifice I'm making is for my Mom's sake. I take another deep sigh before I step out of my small room. Teddy is outside our small house with his three men and waiting for me. Teddy wants us to go to the church together. Maybe he's afraid that I might change my mind and suddenly back out of our wedding. "My best friend is so beautiful. But your eyes look sad, so your beauty has slightly diminished," Che said to me when she saw me come out of my room. "I hope Teddy and I can have a good relationship even though I don't love him. I will be a good wife to him as my gratitude for his help," I said to Che. Che frowned upon hearing what I said. "What gratitude are you talking about, Franz? You don't owe him anything. He will become your husband even if you don't love him and that's what he asked in exchange for his help. So you don't owe him anything, always remember that, okay?" "Lower your voice, Che. Teddy and his men are just outside my house and they might hear what you said," I softly scolded my friend. Che didn't respond, instead, she just pouted her lips at me. "C'mon. Let's go outside the person waiting for us might be getting impatient." Before I could even step outside the small house, my old cellphone suddenly rang, it was inside Che's shoulder bag. My friend grabbed my cellphone and answered the call. I could see the worry on her face as she spoke to the person on the other line. "Your mom is missing at the hospital, Franz. The doctors can't find her," Che informed me. "What? Where did my mother go? She knows she can't leave the hospital, so why did she suddenly leave?" I worriedly said to my friend. My mother opposes my decision to get married because she doesn't want me to be tied to a relationship that won't make me happy. But I have made up my mind. I'm not doing this for myself but for my mother. To prolong her life and be able to be with her for a long time. "Isn't this your mother's way to stop your wedding with Teddy?" "Maybe you're right, Che. We both know that my mother strongly opposes my decision to marry Teddy even though it's for her own good." "The best thing to do is to tell Teddy that your mom is missing so that he can have his men look for her," suggested Che. We hurriedly walked out of our house to talk to him. "After my wedding with Franz, you will be responsible for taking care of her mother. Get rid of her as soon as possible. I don't want to have a sickly mother-in-law." Che and I stopped in our attempt to approach Teddy and just looked at each other when we heard what he said to his men. They were facing away from our house so they didn't notice that we had already come out of the door. "What do you mean, Boss? Aren't you planning to bring Franz's mother to another country to buy her an artificial heart after your wedding?" one of Teddy's men asked in confusion. Teddy laughed weakly at what his subordinate said. "What do you think of me? stupid? Why would I spend money on an old woman who is about to die? After my marriage to Franz, all she can do is obey me. And if she disobeys my wishes, she will taste my cruel hands." Before Teddy and his men noticed us, I immediately pulled Che back inside the house. "That Teddy is really shameless. He really has no intention of fulfilling his promise of helping my mother. He just deceived me." I said firmly to Che. My whole body was trembling with anger. If we hadn't heard his dark plan, it would have been as if I had fed my body to a tiger. "I knew it! That guy couldn't be trusted. I really want to splash boiling water on his ugly face," Che exclaimed in anger. "What's your plan now, Franz?" "Of course, I won't proceed with marrying him anymore. I need to escape, Che. I have to find my Mom before Teddy finds out she escaped from the hospital. He will surely search for my Mom and use her against me to force me into marrying him," I replied to Che. I went back to my room quickly took off my wedding dress and changed into plain clothes. "Hurry up, Franz. You should escape now. Just go through the back exit of your house. Teddy doesn't know that there's another door leading out of your house, right?" "Yes. He doesn't know it. But how are you? What if hurts you?" I worriedly asked my friend. "Don't worry about me. I'll just go home and hide from him. He won't be able to touch me because my dad is a police officer." I nodded at her. Withholding hands, we went out through another door of our house. "Take care, Che," I reminded my friend after hugging her. "You take care too," Che replied, and then we both ran away from our small house in different directions. My heart was beating fast because of the fear I felt. I hope Teddy wouldn't notice that I wasn't inside our house. But my wish didn't come true because even before I could run far from our house, I already heard his angry voice. Maybe he went inside our house to check on me but found out that it was empty that's why he immediately looked for me. "Franz! Where are you going? Come back here! You can't escape from me!" Teddy shouted loudly as he chased after me together with his men. I only glanced back at them and continued running until I reached the main highway where many vehicles were passing by. Despite being scared to cross the road, I gathered my courage and sprinted across because I was confident that Teddy and his men wouldn't be able to catch up to me immediately. And I was right. They couldn't chase after me fearing that they might get hit by speeding cars. "I won't marry you anymore, Teddy! You're not a man of your word! So marry yourself, asshole!" I shouted loudly at him. "You can't escape from me, Franz! Remember that! I'll follow you wherever you go! You're mine, Franz! Only mine!" Teddy angrily shouted. "Don't dream! You i***t!" I shouted back before turning away from them to cross the street. However, I hadn't even made it to the other side when a black van suddenly stopped in front of me. The door of the van opened and two big men wearing dark shades over their eyes stepped out and approached me. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" Instead of answering my question, one of the men suddenly covered my nose with a cloth soaked with a sleeping smell. I felt like a trapped fish struggling to escape from a net, but within a few seconds, I stopped resisting and fell asleep completely due to the sedative I smelled from the cloth.