Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 39: A Bride for Him
“Never! We can never do something like that. We’ll be ruining Antony’s life! Can’t you see? If anyone finds out about this, Anthony can never return to his life as normal. He won’t be able to take over the company and his engagement to the Alnault family will definitely be cancelled,” Anetta shrieked before her voice broke.
“That’s right. The shareholders won’t accept it, and even if he recovers, they will doubt his capabilities in leading the company and the Vulkan family. The Alnaults will definitely think the same way if not worse and we can’t have that. No matter what, no one is allowed to find out about this,” father readily agreed with his wife.
“Please...please do this for Anthony. My son really needs your help. We need your help,” Annetta begged with tears in her eyes.
The painful look on her face made me feel nauseous with disgust. I would rather she be screaming like a mad woman and hitting me with her small fists just like she did when I was a boy. That version of her, I felt was much easier to handle than the weak woman crying desperately in front of me as she pleaded for my help to save her family and son as if I was some kind of hero.
I knew very well that I was being used by them again as if I hadn’t gotten used to it by that time. The future of these two and the future of the Vulkan family, none of that mattered to me. However, no matter how much I hated to admit it, they were right about Anthony and what could happen to him if words leaked out about his condition. Society was harsh and everyone loved to judge others. Of all people, I knew that the best from growing up as the son of one of my father’s mistresses.
“I can’t marry Diana...” I repeated again without backing down.
If Anthony wakes up and finds out about this, I didn’t even want to think of how he would feel. Even if I were to marry her in name only, I wasn’t sure how Anthony would take it. This wedding was what he was born to do, and he had waited many years for it. There was no way that I could take it away from him.
“Is that your only issue? Do you despise her or something? That can’t be the case. Who can ever hate someone like Diana?” my father asked with an incredulous look on his face.
It wasn’t that I hated Diana...
“Let’s postpone the wedding,” I repeated my suggestion again because it seemed like the best and only solution.
“That’s not necessary. Will you be willing go through with the wedding if I tell you that you won’t be marrying Diana?” Alfred asked with a calculating look in his eyes.
“What does that mean?” I asked in return as I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him.
“Apparently, I was recently told by her parents that Diana has disappeared somewhere,” my father revealed with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“She...disappeared? Right before her wedding?” I flung my questions at him as I felt my brows drawing together in a frown.
Nothing could have sounded and seemed more suspicious than that. The timing was just too perfect for something unfortunate to have happened to her. I had thought that we were in a deep mess already and while we still haven’t found a way to crawl out of it, another mess had presented itself.
“Does Anthony know about this? Have we searched thoroughly for her?” I asked rapidly.
If only I was informed before this, then my men could have helped look for her. From the calm look on Alfred’s face, I could tell that this wasn’t new news. Diana had been missing for a while already and that meant that the chances of finding her had grown slimmer as the hours and days slipped by. It was evident that Alfred did not care about Diana’s disappearance but something like that didn’t surprise me anymore.
“That is not our problem. The Alnaults are dealing with it and have not requested for our help,” father replied without a care.
“That’s so like you...” I muttered with a slight shake of my head.
“This marriage is like sealing a business deal. I will never view the Alnaults as our real family and I will treat them the way I feel is appropriate,” my father announced his decision quite proudly.
“Suit yourself but if there’s no bride then isn’t it clear enough that the wedding can’t proceed. This is the perfect opportunity to call off the wedding while we wait for them to find Diana and for Anthony to recover,” I pointed out the obvious once again.
I couldn’t understand why the old man couldn’t handle things the way that they should normally be handled instead of complicating everything and pulling me into the mess along with him. Getting married just sounded like the craziest thing in my life that I could ever do and will never do.
“There will be a bride,” he declared with absolute confidence.
“What?” I questioned while feeling extremely fed up with how disillusioned he could be.
If Diana is missing, there could never be a bride...
“Dahlia Alnault. Diana’s younger twin sister will be your bride,” Alfred announced with a firm nod of his head.
“Dahlia...” I whispered her name before I could stop myself.
It had been years since she disappeared from the social scene. In fact, she vanished from this country after moving to live somewhere else. The scandal that took place at her school was the last straw for her family and they had no choice but to get rid of her to contain and control the damage that it could bring to their upright and righteous family. Everything was handled swiftly although not quite quietly as planned and Dahlia had not been heard from since. It was like she magically vanished into thin air; however, it would be a grave mistake to think that everyone had forgotten about her.
--To be continued...
