Using Me as a Substitute? Did You Know Your Best Friend Calls Me Wife?

Mia Kane froze. She could be willful, but she couldn’t gamble with her family’s safety. How did he become like this? Chase Lockwood was actually threatening her with her family.

"I could crush them as easily as I could crush an ant. All I want is for you to kneel and apologize to Vivian. Is that so hard?"

"Then how about you two kneel and apologize to me? Is that so hard?"

"Mia Kane—"

Chase Lockwood could barely contain his fury. Why was she so stubborn? When they were together, she had been so gentle, obedient, and compliant.

The way she used to look at him, her eyes always held a brilliant light. But now, her gaze was as cold as water, as if she were looking at a stranger.

Mia Kane walked to the door, not expecting that Chase Lockwood still had no intention of letting her go. He actually had his bodyguards block her path. "Drag her back here and make her kneel!"

"Chase... I’m scared..."

"Don’t be afraid. I’m here."

How could Mia Kane fend off so many people? With quick reflexes, she grabbed the fruit knife from the table.

Chase Lockwood roared, "What? Vivian isn’t dead, and now you want to finish the job?"

"Chase Lockwood, is this how you pass judgment? By only listening to Vivian Lynch’s side of the story? At least give me some time to prepare."

"Those are just desperate excuses."

"Chase Lockwood, do you remember? That time you were targeted for assassination, our car rolled down a hillside, and you couldn’t move. You told me to run, but I didn’t abandon you. I put on your coat, lured those people away, and then circled back to wait for rescue. You had a persistent high fever and were severely dehydrated. There was no water nearby, so I cut open my palm and fed you my blood, drop by drop, pulling you back from death’s door."

Chase Lockwood’s fists clenched silently.

"Now, can I trade this for a chance to explain myself?"

She didn’t want to be framed and destroyed by that bitch Vivian Lynch. She had to at least try to prove her own innocence.

"Chase... let’s just drop this. I forgive Miss Kane. I’m fine now..."

"You, shut your mouth!" Mia Kane shot back angrily. This hypocritical attempt to "let it go" is just a way to cement her guilt. How insidious and vicious! "Don’t even think about framing me for something I didn’t do!"

Driven by fury, Mia Kane took the knife and slowly began to slice open her palm...

Right along the old scar!

Back then, she hadn’t felt any pain at all. She had only wanted to save him, to save him even if it cost her her life.

But now... it hurts so much.

Why didn’t she feel it back then?

She had barely opened a wound the length of a fingernail when Chase Lockwood spoke, "Fine. I’ll give you three days to prove your innocence. Now, get out!"

Mia Kane let out a huge sigh of relief. She had genuinely worried that Chase Lockwood, with no regard for their past, would just use brute force to make her confess.

Her hand trembled, and the knife, stained with blood, slipped and fell to the floor.

She turned and left in a wretched state. Her knees were hurting unbearably, but even so, she stubbornly straightened her back.

Each step she took was slow as she gradually disappeared from the hospital room.

Chase Lockwood watched her retreating figure with a deep gaze.

Vivian Lynch sensed something and quickly cried out in pain.

"What’s wrong? Is your wound okay?" Chase Lockwood snapped back to his senses and looked at her with concern.

"My wound hurts so much..."

"Silly girl, how could you be so despairing as to think of dying?"

"I couldn’t drag you down with me." Vivian Lynch looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "I would rather die than hurt you! Maybe... maybe we really did misunderstand Miss Kane. Anonymously posting such pointed things is a little too stupid. I was just too emotional and did something foolish because I couldn’t think straight."

"You’re still speaking up for her?"

"I just don’t want to wrongly accuse her!"

Chase Lockwood’s heart ached even more for Vivian Lynch. He stroked her head with his large hand.

"Chase, I’m so sad that I wasn’t by your side when you were in danger. If it had been me, I would have done the same for you. It’s just feeding you a little blood. For you, I would give up my life."

"Don’t compare yourself to her. I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you. Your life is a thousand, ten thousand times more precious than hers. It’s even more important than my own!"

Vivian Lynch breathed a sigh of relief at his words.

Mia Kane’s sudden trip down memory lane had almost made Chase Lockwood’s heart soften.

Thankfully, her position is unshakeable.

Mia Kane went downstairs and found a pharmacy to get her wound bandaged. Fortunately, the cut was shallow and not serious.

She wasn’t an idiot. Harming herself for Chase Lockwood wasn’t worth it. She just wanted to use this as leverage to gain something for herself.

She looked at her hands, both now wrapped in gauze.

What the hell? Was she cursed with some kind of bloody disaster?

She went straight to find Adrian Preston. He was the only one who could help her with this.

"I need your help investigating something..."

"Have you put any medicine on your knees?"

"Huh?" Mia Kane paused for a moment before snapping out of her daze. "N-No."

Her knees were covered in bruises, but since there were no open wounds, she didn’t know how to treat them.

"Sit." Adrian Preston’s voice carried a hint of command.

Mia Kane obediently sat down, as prim as a child, her back ramrod straight. Soon, Adrian Preston brought out a first-aid kit. Inside was some liniment.

He knelt on one knee, lifted her foot onto his thigh, and then rubbed the liniment in his palm to warm it up before gently pressing it onto her skin and slowly massaging it in.

It hurt a little at first, and she tried to pull away, but his large hand held her calf firmly in place.

"Just bear with the first part. It’ll get better."

She could only force herself to endure it. After a while, it started to feel better. The liniment took effect, warming her knees and easing the pain.

"You seem quite skilled at this."

"Soldiers get injured all the time. Your constitution is too weak. Once your leg is better, you should learn some self-defense from me."

"Okay!"

Mia Kane thought it was a great idea. Otherwise, if she ran into a situation like that again, she would be completely powerless to resist.

She was forced to kneel. She would make Vivian Lynch pay for it!

"I’ll have Theo handle this; he’ll get to the bottom of it. But are you sure it’ll do any good? Chase Lockwood trusts Vivian Lynch blindly. Even if you threw the so-called evidence in his face, he wouldn’t see it."

Mia Kane frowned, not quite understanding what he meant. She just wanted to find out the truth and make Chase Lockwood see through Vivian Lynch’s lies and her true colors.

"The favored one has nothing to fear. That’s Vivian Lynch for you."

"But I still have to try. Even if I can’t take Vivian Lynch down, I don’t want to be wrongly accused."

"Is it that you don’t want to be wrongly accused by anyone, or that you don’t want to be wrongly accused by Chase Lockwood?"

Adrian Preston lifted his gaze and looked at her intently.

Her heart skipped a beat. "O-Of course I don’t want to be wrongly accused! By anyone!"

She wasn’t lying. What was with his interrogating tone? She wasn’t a criminal. She straightened her spine and met his gaze.

Adrian Preston seemed to relax his intensity, as if he believed her. "It’s almost lunchtime. You should eat before you go back."

Mia Kane didn’t refuse. Her stomach was already starting to rumble with hunger.

Soon, an exquisite lunch was served.

She was looking down, eating, when Adrian Preston unexpectedly called her name.

"Here, open your mouth."

Mia Kane subconsciously opened her mouth, and a peeled shrimp was placed inside. She froze. Those were Adrian’s fork.

Not only that, but he also took out his phone and snapped a photo. They were in the same frame, with him feeding her.

So intimate!