"Ouch...it hurts."
On a king-sized bed, Daisy Moore clung to the man's muscular back, her forehead lightly sheened in sweat, a testament to their passion.
Joshua Hester had been abroad for two months, leaving her alone without contact. But she was okay with his absence.
Three years ago, Daisy's adoptive mother had fallen seriously ill, drowning in debt.
With nowhere else to turn, Daisy's biological father emerged, offering financial help with a catch - she must impersonate her twin sister, Maya Long, and marry Joshua, the most influential tycoon of City A.
Joshua had supposedly designed a 'love' ring for his fiancée and proposed at an international jewelry promotion conference of the Hester Group; it was a perfect love story that immensely bolstered their brand.
But, on the eve of their marriage, Maya had eloped, disappearing without a trace.
With potential catastrophe looming for both the Hester and Long Groups, Joshua had signed a three-year marriage contract with Daisy.
For the sake of her ailing mother, Daisy had no choice but to suppress her vibrant personality and live a dual life.
As Mrs. Hester, she was the picture of elegance, yet she was merely Joshua's substitute wife, dutifully playing the part of Maya.
She had eagerly been counting down the days until the end of this sham marriage!
So, she assumed that Joshua had deliberately left her this time.
But to her surprise, he had returned in the dead of night and swept her into his arms as if their brief parting had breathed new life into their faux relationship.
Touched, tears welled up in Daisy's eyes, her fairness shimmering like jade in the soft glow, making her seem all the more vulnerable.
Joshua paused, rolled over, picked up the tie on the floor, tied it over her eyes, and kissed her lips as a form of punishment, "Maya..."
Daisy, accustomed to this, gently returned the kiss, "Soften your touch."
Joshua paid for her for three years, and she was obligated to act as a good substitute for Maya. It was a fair trade and there was nothing to feel sorry for herself.
...
Joshua coldly withdrew, leaving her with a gold card and a property deed.
Daisy untied the tie and took a glance at it, she couldn't help but be taken aback: After getting married for three years and living with abundance under the Mrs. Hester title without lacking anything, it was legitimate for Joshua to sleep with her.
Why, then, did he suddenly transfer a mansion worth hundreds of millions and a high-end gold card to her today?
Could it be a divorce settlement?
Her substitute marriage was finally coming to an end!
Daisy couldn't help but show her joy, she pinched the gold card and spoke in a contrived soft tone: "These are not really necessary."
During these three years, Joshua had never skimped on material resources. The remuneration she was due was already spelled out in the original agreement. There was no need for him to spend this much money to divorce her.
Joshua saw the unrestrained joy in her eyes and scoffed with a cold face, "Rein it in, Maya wouldn't show such a foolish expression at the sight of money."
Daisy was stunned for a moment and didn't offer any explanation instead she obediently apologized.
Joshua was satisfied with her docility and faintly said, "The jewelry design this time was very creative, this is your bonus. Keep up the good work. "
After finishing speaking, he got up and went to the bathroom, disregarding Daisy's baffled face on the bed.
Keep up the good work? What does this mean?
Does Joshua want her to stay at the the Hester Group Jewelry after their divorce?
To fully portray Maya, she studied jewelry design day and night in the past, giving a lot of support to the the Hester Group Jewelry. But Joshua had always been businesslike, he had never privately given her such an outrageous bonus.
Daisy didn't understand, but after a quick thought, she remembered that there was still one month before the divorce agreement could take effect. It wouldn't hurt to continue to act as the docile and obedient Mrs. Hester.
With her aching body, she got up from the bed to tidy Joshua's clothes. Incidentally, she noticed a fresh red lipstick mark on his collar, which made her pause:
Although she was just a substitute, the agreement required both parties to be faithful to their marriage. Perhaps it was because Joshua was deeply in love with Maya's face. Regardless of the many rumors of affairs he had, he had never brought home any hint of ambiguity.
Was it because they were about to divorce that he had begun to let loose?
At this point, her cell phone rang, breaking her train of thought. The call was from an unknown number.
Who would call her so late in the evening?
Worried that it was something related to her work, Daisy answered the call only to hear a soft voice pleading, "Mrs. Hester, I'm pregnant! You wouldn't be so cruel as to have my child born without a father, would you?"
Daisy raised her eyebrows: "Oh, the child's father is dead?"
The woman fell silent for a moment before her voice raised a few pitches. "You can't keep hold of Joshua's heart, so you curse him to die! You have such a malicious heart."
"You don't need to worry about what kind of 'heart' I have," Daisy interrupted her, "If Joshua wants a divorce, I'll leave immediately."
After hanging up the phone, she threw the dirty shirt aside and laughed ironically. So, was this why Joshua had suddenly rewarded her a large sum of money?
He had violated the marriage agreement, he had an affair!
But she wasn't the official Mrs. Hester, she had no right to question him. She felt extremely filthy—just before Joshua was intimate with her, he had just tumbled in another woman's bed sheets.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Daisy staggered and fell onto the bed, looking at the ruined sheets, she bit her lip uncomfortably.
Was it because his mistress's pregnancy couldn't satisfy him that Joshua was so demanding just now?
...
The next day, when Daisy woke up, Joshua had already left.
He never would take her to work, but would arrange for a driver to pick her up and drop off.
By the time she arrived at the office, Daisy hadn't even gotten out of the car when she was blocked by a group of reporters armed with cameras and microphones.
"Mrs. Hester, are you aware of Joshua spending the night at the airport hotel with a mysterious woman?"
"Rumor has it this woman and Mr. Hester acted like a couple throughout their overseas travels. Will you divorce Mr. Hester or are you practicing an open marriage where each of you has your own side relationships?"
"The two of you have always been so affectionate. This time Mr. Hester travelled abroad yet you were not accompanying him neither visiting him. Could it be that you two have already divorced?"
Joshua's high-profile love story with Maya had been so sensational that the paparazzi and their rivals had targeted their marriage over the past few years for news.
Daisy quietly found the airport photo exposed by the reporters.
The photo was dark, but the tall and slender silhouette was certainly Joshua. The woman nestling in his arms was wearing sunglasses and a face mask, obscuring her features. However, her outfit and an air of youthful innocence highly resembled her.
More precisely, she loked very much like Maya did back in the day.
If in Joshua's heart, she was just a replacement similar to Maya, then the woman in the photo would be the new replacement that looks just like Maya!
Daisy calmly put away her phone and stepped out of the car. By accident, she exposed the faint kiss marks under the neckline of her clothes with cameras all around her.
She faced the surprised crowd, quickly clutching her coat and blushing with a coy smile, "Joshua has been away for two months on business, and amid my workload of new product designs, we haven't really been able to meet. So, I went to the airport to welcome him last night. Little did I realize that dedicated reporters like you would be working that late..."
A hasty reporter countered, "But Mrs. Hester, you can't deny the obvious. The girl in the picture, while her face is unclear, her attire and demeanor are significantly different from yours."
Laughing it off, she retorted, "It seems you all have entrenched my image as the quintessential, refined wife so deeply that you've forgotten I also was vivacious and youthful before my marriage!"
Behind cameras, Daisy's disposition remained calm and composed. "I understand you're all simply doing your jobs. Now that we've clarified the misunderstanding, I won't hold it against you. However, should anyone deliberately defame my husband in the future, be prepared to receive a lawsuit from the Hester Group."
Her civil yet pointed warning made the reporter break into a cold sweat, and it became clear that their perception of the genteel Mrs. Hester had been too simplistic.
She wasn't a timid rabbit taking shelter under her husband's protection, but rather, a fierce little vixen defending her turf!
