Substitute Groom: Married To An Enemy

"Very well, if you don't want to do it. I will talk to your father about it," Ethan said and walked toward the door.

Hearing Ethan's words made her panic, and she quickly held his arm. "No, don't talk to my dad."

Ethan turned towards her and told her with a straight face, "If you don't like to do it, I will not force you. But I can't deceive your parents, so I'd better talk to them."

"No, no, please. Okay, I will-" She could not finish her sentence because of the discomfort and dread about the thought of consummating their marriage.

She didn't want to do it with the man she doesn't love. However, it came to her mind what her parents told her after the wedding banquet.

She should give her husband his marital privilege. She is his wife and ought to fulfill her husband's needs.

"Are you sure?" Ethan asked, frowning at his wife.

Moriah found it hard to answer his question as there was a lump forming in her throat. She held her silk robe tightly and nodded.

"It's getting late, and they're waiting for us to give the sheet," Ethan said, waiting for her to look at him. He sighed when she didn't look at him.

"Can we switch off the lights?" Moriah asked timidly, her head still bowed.

Ethan pinched her chin and lifted it for her to look at him. "Why do you want to do it in the dark?"

"Please," Moriah almost choked, suppressing her sobs. She didn't want to cry in front of him. She didn't want to look pathetic.

"We'll make it dim, but I don't want to do it in utter darkness." Ethan took the remote control and made the lights in the room dim.

Moriah took a long breath to calm her tense body. She walked towards the bed, and Ethan followed her.

He was about to remove her silk robe, but Moriah tightened her grip on her robe.

"No, I will do it," she said with a shaky voice. With a shaky hand, she loosened her grip on her robe and reluctantly removed it.

Ethan's blue eyes darkened, seeing her body in a negligee that accentuated her perfectly shaped body-all the curves are in the right place.

His hands itched to touch her flawless glass skin, but he controlled himself so as not to scare her.

Moriah closed her eyes and convinced herself to do it now, not wanting to prolong the torture.

A shiver ran through her body, and she felt vulnerable after removing her negligee.

Sensing that she had already resigned herself to her fate, Ethan gently lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed.

All through the consummation, Ethan keeps reminding her to open her eyes and look at him.

She would obey him but shut her eyes when seeing his face and body over her.

While Ethan had enjoyed the whole thing, on the other hand, Moriah only endured it. She waited to do it with the love of her life but ended up doing the thing with her enemy.

Moriah quickly got out of bed and wore her silk robe when Ethan rolled over and lay beside her. She ran with a limp to the bathroom.

Not long after she ran to the bathroom, Ethan heard a muffled whimpering. He stood up, came near the door, and held the knob to open the door but stopped when he heard her heart-wrenching sobs.

Ethan's body went taut upon hearing Moriah's heart-wrenching sobs. He walked away and left the room and took a shower in the guest room adjacent to the master bedroom.

After taking a shower, he entered their room and went into the walk-in closet and got dressed.

Emerging from the walk-in closet, his gaze landed on the white silk sheet stained with blood. He walked towards the bed and folded the sheet.

Before he left the room, he gazed at the bathroom door.

"How's my daughter?" Anastacia asked gently while Ethan handed the white silk sheet to Jianyu.

"She's fine; she's having a bath," Ethan answered while observing Moriah's grandfather, aunts, and uncles.

"Spread out the sheet and let's see," Moriah's grandfather's voice rang.

Though he's already old, his voice still possesses that aristocratic and authoritative quality.

Moriah's parents spread the sheet, and there was revealed the blood stain.

Again old master Chen spoke, this time in Mandarin. Jianyu's face darkened as the old master Chen spoke.

All of Moriah's aunts came near the sheet. One by one, they inspected the sheet. They touched and sniffed the bloodstain. Each one spoke in Mandarin, declaring their verdict.

The old master Chen turned towards Jianyu and said, "Since you were able to raise her upholding our values for virgin daughters, I will give her a dowry."

The master clapped his hands, and three servants came holding jewelry boxes.

The old master opened each box and presented the jewelry. The dowry cost 5 million dollars.

"Jianyu, I have disinherited you; however, your inheritance will be passed on to your daughter. But she will only receive her inheritance when she comes back to China and stays there for five years."

Jianyu's face darkened at his father's condition, and he responded to him, "I won't let my daughter go back to China; she won't be safe there. You have tried to kill my wife and our daughter."

"It wasn't me who tried to harm your family; it was your ex-fiancée who hired the kidnapper," Old Master Chen replied, and with an aggrieved tone and look, he continued, "I have explained to you about this. Why do you keep on insisting that I did it?"

"Alright, Father, let's not discuss it. Ethan needs to go back to Moriah." Jianyu didn't want to discuss going back to China.

He was content with their life in England, away from the disputes and power struggles amongst siblings.

That is the problem with wealthy and noble families; they have the wealth and power, but there's no harmony inside the family.

Everyone is busy scheming against each other.

He wanted Moriah to live a peaceful and contented life. And that life can't be found in China, where his family wanted to devour each other.

He didn't want his daughter to learn their hypocritical way.

"Please, excuse me," Ethan said and turned around.

"Ethan, take this to your wife," the old master Chen spoke, handing the jewelry boxes to Ethan.

Ethan took the box with disinterest and walked away. After Ethan disappeared from their sight.

Old Master Chen uttered his discontent towards Ethan.

"Why did you allow him to marry my granddaughter? I told you I have arranged for her to be married to Wang's only heir? He inherited his family's fortune; he's one of the wealthiest men in the world."

"Ethan is a billionaire himself, and his fortune was earned by him and not something handed down by his family. He is also the sole heir of a business conglomerate here in the UK. And stop meddling, Father. " Jianyu replied; he tried to suppress his anger, but he failed.

The truth is he didn't care that Ethan was a billionaire; all he cared about was his daughter being happy. He knew that Ethan would make Moriah happy.

Putting down the jewelry boxes on the dressing table, Ethan gazed at the bathroom. He checked the time, and it's been thirty minutes since Moriah entered the bathroom.

An hour later, Moriah was still in the bathroom. Ethan barged into the bathroom, only to find Moriah lying on the floor under the shower, unconscious.

Ethan quickly turned off the shower faucet. He took her in his arms and wrapped her with a towel.

Chills run down his spine seeing his wife's pale complexion. While wiping her body and dressing her, Ethan was plagued with conflicting emotions.

The hardening of his facial expression was concealed by the dim light. After drying her hair, he looked at his wife for a few seconds and left the room.

In the morning, Moriah was awakened by a soft whisper. She heard someone whispering her name.

"Madam Moriah," a servant called out her name.

Squinting her eyes, she looked at the person calling her name.

"Madam, Mr. Miller is already waiting for you; it's time for breakfast," the servant reluctantly said.

"Alright, I'll have a shower first. " Moriah got up and went straight to the bathroom to have a quick shower.

After her morning skincare routine, she dressed up and went downstairs.

She strode towards the dining room. Ethan's phone rang as she was about to sit in the chair beside him. Her eyes gaze at his phone.

The caller was "Honey." Ethan hastily grabbed the phone and walked outside, answering the call.

Moriah didn't wait for him and started eating. She knew that he wouldn't come back, and it was confirmed when a servant came to talk to her.

"Madam, Mr. Miller already went back to London. He told me that you can stay here for a week if you want before going back to London; he'll ask a chauffeur to drive you to his mansion after a week."

"Alright," Moriah said, wiping her mouth clean. She stood up to leave the dining room.

Time flew quickly, and her one-week stay in the country villa was over. The servants lined up at the entrance; after saying goodbye to them, she boarded the car.

During her one-week stay in the villa, she was able to establish a good rapport with the servants.

The three-hour trip back to London was like a blink of an eye. She had the urge to tell the chauffeur to drive slowly so that the trip would be prolonged.

Her apprehension stepped up a notch when they entered the gate of her husband's London estate.

Learning from the servants in the mansion that Ethan went on a business trip to Canada, Moriah was secretly pleased. At least she will not be seeing her husband.

A day went by, then it turned to weeks and months. For nearly four months, Moriah enjoyed her life without her husband.

After coming back to London, she reported at the hospital where she worked as a surgeon. Most of the day after work she spent it with her best friend Cindy, who is a general physician.

Moriah had just finished talking to her last patient before clocking out when her phone went off. She excused herself and answered the call.

"Hello, Fang Wei," Moriah's voice was gentle.

"Hello, Moriah, good to hear your voice," comes Fang Wei's voice at the other end of the line.

"Me, too," Moriah chuckled, then she continued, "Why did you call? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm in London now," Fang Wei informed.

"Really?" Moriah got elated.

"Can we meet for lunch?" Fang Wei asked quite reluctantly, knowing she's a doctor; he might be asking her at the wrong time.

"Sure! Send me the place, and I'll be there." Moriah picked up her bag and went out of the room.

She received a message from Fang Wei when she was seated in her car. She drove to the cafe that is just a quarter of an hour's drive away from the hospital.

Entering the cafe, she saw Fang Wei was waving his hand. She came near the table and sat at the chair Fang Wei drew for her.

"Wow! You're beautiful as always," Fang Wei couldn't hold himself back from praising her.

Moriah chuckled at his remark, "But not as beautiful as your wife."

Moriah quickly spotted the change of his demeanor at the mention of his wife.

It was then her attention was caught by the baby carrier seat on the couch.

"Fa-Fang Wei, did I say something wrong?" she stuttered; she didn't want to offend her childhood friend.

It's been a year since the last time they saw each other, and they didn't want to ruin their reunion.

"Mia and I got divorced," Fang Wei said, smiling, but his eyes were glum.

"Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that!" Moriah placed her hand over his hand to console him.

Fang Wei smiled at her; this time his eyes were dancing with mirth, and the smile he gave her was dashing.

Moriah felt an intense gaze boring at her back; she turned to where she felt the gaze came from. Her eyes met Ethan's piercing gaze.