Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 288: Not Just a Flower

“Did you perhaps forget your own birthday?” Brandon guessed quite correctly.

“That’s not the point,” I snapped back at him.

The fact that he had caught on so effortlessly that I have forgotten my birthday only added fuel to the fire that was burning inside of me. It felt like everything that he was doing and saying was mocking me.

“Do you want to take a look around the garden? If not, we can go inside,” Brandon suggested.

“I don’t want to take a look at the garden and I also don’t want to go inside. What I want to know is why you gave me these dahlia flowers for my birthday present?” I ask as I quickly came to the point.

“What’s wrong? I thought you would like them,” Bradon replied and I could tell that my reaction wasn’t what he was expecting or hoping for.

I narrowed my eyes at him as my jaws clenched. After taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I managed to let out a scoff at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Did Anthony tell you to do this? Did you get this idea from Anthony or something?” I asked accusingly because it was the only explanation that I could think of.

...

**Years ago**

“Our birthday party is going to be a blast again this year,” Diana said excitedly as she glanced around to inspect the progress of the decorations.

“I guess so...” I replied passively.

Our yearly birthday celebration wasn’t an event that I looked forward to. The only part that I found exciting about the event was the fact that Diana was excited.

“Are you really fine with letting me pick everything out? This is supposed to be your birthday party too, you know,” DianaI asked before she turned to me with a slightly disapproving look on her face.

Just like the years before, I had left all the preparation to Diana including choosing all the decorations and also the theme for the party. I felt like it was only right to let her decide, because the truth was that the party was meant to celebrate Diana’s birthday while I was just tagging along simply because I was born into this world on the same day as her.

“What about the games? Do you have any good ideas for the games?” She asked as her eyes shone with intense anticipation.

“I think all the games that you’ve chosen will work well enough. I’ll leave it in your capable hands, you always manage to make it a fun evening for everyone,” I replied quite honestly.

“If you say so. Come over here with me for a moment, let’s check that the food and desert menu is all good to go,” Diana said as she grabbed my arms and pulled me after her.

The day before our birthday celebration was always a hectic one with Diana running around to make sure that everything lived up to her expectations while also dragging me along with her. Pretty much the same guests would turn up to our customary yearly birthday party so that was nothing thrilling for me to look forward to. I followed Diana wherever she led me while making sure to nod my head here and there to agree with whatever she was saying. I knew very well from experience that leaving everything in my sister’s hands would lead to a very successful event.

“The dresses that I got tailored for us should have arrived by now. We should go and try them on,” Diana said as she turned to flash me a bright smile.

It was a tradition that my sister started that we would wear matching dresses for our birthday party.

“Are we wearing matching outfits again this year?” I asked although I pretty much already knew the answer.

“Of course! That’s part of all the fun. Just think about all the awkward faces that people will make after we point out to them that they mistook us for each other,” Diana replied followed by a loud laugh.

“The maids are going to complain again about sorting out our birthday presents,” I muttered after we had finished trying on our matching outfit.

I felt like the bright red dresses that my sister had chosen for us made us look like we were celebrating Christmas rather than our birthday but I decided to keep that to myself.

“They complain every year, and I don’t blame them. There’s so many presents to sort out and it must be such a hassle for them. Anyways, they can complain all they want but it’s still their job to do it,” Diana said without much care.

“I wonder which present you will like most out of all of them this year,” I said pensively.

Because our birthday party was an event that wasn’t just held for fun but also as a way to celebrate the business connections of our family, it was natural for all the guests to lavish us with gifts. More accurately, they would lavish Diana with gifts and I would receive something similar to what they gave my sister as a bundle of sorts.

“If I had to guess, it would probably be the present from Anthony again. Although none of his presents have ever excited me, I have to say that he always manages to give me the present that truly suits my taste or is useful to me in some way,” Diana replied after a moment of thought.

At her mention of Anthony, I was reminded that the only thing besides my sister’s excitement that I looked forward to during every year’s birthday party was Anthony’s attendance.

“Then again, it’s probably because someone in his family or in his company has taken the time to do proper research about the trend and what I like. I’m sure all the prep work is done for him all he has to do is turn up to give me the present,” Diana said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Well, you actually end up liking his present the best, so I guess it all works out in the end,” I reminded her with a grin.

“I guess so. Then again, what’s the point of receiving a present if there is no emotional value attached to it? Not that I truly mind...” Diana replied before waving her hand dismissively as if she no longer wanted to discuss this topic any further.

–To be continued...