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

A chill shot through Mia Kane, and her back broke out in a cold sweat.

The figure slowly stepped out of the shadows.

Adrian slowly walked up to her.

"So you want to team up with an outsider against me, is that it?"

He said coldly.

Mia Kane opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She was paralyzed with fear.

"You pretend to obey me, but I know exactly what you’re plotting. Did you really think I wouldn’t kill you?"

Adrian raised his hand and cruelly seized her by the neck.

A feeling of suffocation enveloped Mia Kane.

"Let... let me go..."

She tried to struggle, but Adrian was impossibly strong.

But just as quickly, Adrian sank to one knee, looking wretched as he gasped for breath.

"You’re stopping me again! Why would you stop me for a woman who doesn’t even love you?"

He roared in anger.

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at her.

"Don’t get any more funny ideas. I may not be able to kill you, but I have plenty of ways to torture you! I don’t believe you’re doing this for my own good. I don’t trust you. All of you want me to die..."

He muttered to himself, rambling erratically, as if possessed.

He staggered away, his steps unsteady.

Mia Kane couldn’t worry about that right now; she was too busy gasping for air.

Even though the afternoon sun was shining on her, she felt bone-chillingly cold.

She returned to her room to rest for a bit. When she came out, Adrian was nowhere to be found.

The servants weren’t around. She searched every corner of the house but couldn’t find him.

Her heart sank. ’Adrian ran out. Is he going to kill someone? Burn something down? Get revenge on the world? And he’s using Adrian Preston’s identity!’

She panicked and rushed out to find him, even asking Theo Thorne to help search.

Finally, there was news of Adrian.

He had gone to a bar, a woman on each arm, having the time of his life.

When she arrived, Adrian reeked of alcohol and was playing dice with a woman in his arms.

’We’re already divorced.’

’And the man in front of me isn’t even Adrian Preston.’

But she was still furious. She grabbed his wrist, intending to drag him away.

But he ruthlessly flung her hand away.

"Get lost."

"Come home with me."

Adrian ignored her and kept drinking.

The other women nestled in his arms, speaking to her with thinly veiled sarcasm.

"We’ll take care of him for you, don’t you worry."

"Sweetheart, you’re so fierce, like a tigress. Men don’t like that, you know."

One after another, their comments made Mia Kane’s blood boil.

"Fine, drink yourself to death for all I care."

She stormed off in a huff, but she didn’t dare go too far or abandon him completely. What if he decided to go on a rampage the very next second?

’The way he is now, it wouldn’t be surprising if he walked out and randomly attacked a couple of people.’

She could only find a place outside to wait.

As the night wore on, the bar, instead of emptying out, grew even more crowded.

Adrian had drunk a lot. Alcohol tolerance was a funny thing; Adrian Preston would be out after two glasses, but Adrian drank like it was water. He’d downed so many bottles and was completely fine.

"Hey handsome, your place, my place, or a hotel?"

"Want us to have some fun together? It’ll be a real thrill."

"Scram."

Adrian found these women repulsive; they had an air of vulgarity about them.

"Handsome, don’t be so scary..."

The woman tried to act cute, but Adrian shot her a cold glare. Their eyes met, and she froze, unable to say another word. She quickly grabbed her friend and left.

"Why’d you stop? You could tell he’s loaded. You spent all that time drinking with him just for this moment, didn’t you?"

"I... I don’t know. The way he looked at me just now... I was so scared. It was like I was being stared down by the Grim Reaper. Anyway, I’m not doing it. I’m getting out of here..."

The woman scrambled away, and the others, still shaken, quickly left as well.

Adrian downed a few more drinks, slammed his glass on the table, and staggered away.

A few women tried to help him, but he shoved them all away.

As he crossed the threshold, he nearly tripped and fell, but someone caught him.

He was about to aggressively shove the person away, but when he saw Mia Kane’s face, he was speechless.

"If you start acting like a drunken fool tonight, I’m not helping you."

Mia Kane said irritably.

She helped him into the car. "I just had my car washed. You better not puke in here."

Adrian still didn’t say anything. She drove, muttering to herself the whole way, but when she turned to look at him, she was surprised to find he had fallen asleep.

She fell silent.

When they got back to the villa, she couldn’t carry him by herself, so she just waited in the car.

She stared at Adrian’s profile. It was the exact same face as Adrian Preston’s, but it felt different. Maybe it was just a preconceived notion, knowing they were two different people.

’Why did Adrian Preston become a police officer in the first place?’

’If he’d decided to be a bad guy, he definitely would have made a name for himself.’

’Good thing he didn’t go down the wrong path.’

’Thinking of Adrian Preston being trapped... I wonder if he’s just asleep, or if he’s aware of the outside world but can’t speak or act. It must be agonizing, right?’

As if guided by some unseen force, she reached out and gently caressed his face.

She was missing Adrian Preston.

Her hand gently traced over his eyes, the bridge of his nose, and his thin, sensual lips.

Her fingertips lingered on his lips for a few seconds. Just as she was about to move them away, the man who should have been fast asleep suddenly seized her wrist. His grip was so strong it felt like he was about to crush her bones.

His eyes held a hint of drunkenness, but also a bone-deep chill.

"These eyes of yours... who are they looking at, through me?"

He spoke deliberately, each word striking at Mia Kane’s very soul.

"I’m looking at you."

Mia Kane suppressed her guilt and lied with a straight face.

"I was thinking... you were trapped for so many years, unable to speak or move. It must have been so painful, right? I... I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you."

"Really?"

He frowned, his gaze flickering with obvious disbelief.

"Mhm. Since you’re out now, you should enjoy it. Let’s go out tomorrow. How about I show you around and let you experience the world?"

Adrian stared at her, his gaze deep and unreadable.

She had no idea what he was thinking, or whether he had fallen for her lie. Her heart was in her throat; she was terrified and tense.

But he didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.

"Okay."

He agreed.

Mia Kane was utterly exhausted today. After getting him back inside, she was too tired to move. She didn’t drive back to Shayla Quinn’s place, deciding to just stay here for the night.

She actually believed that Adrian Preston wouldn’t let him do anything improper to her.

Still, she locked her bedroom door. After washing up, she collapsed into bed and fell asleep.

Adrian had mostly sobered up. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. After a moment’s thought, he went to Mia Kane’s room.

He quietly turned the doorknob, and his expression darkened in the next second.

’She even bolted it.’

Unwilling to give up, he got the spare key. After turning it, he pushed, but the door wouldn’t budge. There had to be something blocking it from the other side.

His face grew even uglier. He was so angry he wanted to kick the door down, but he forced himself to hold back. He silently locked the door again and returned to his own room.

Mia Kane slept dreamlessly until past ten o’clock. Fully rested, she felt refreshed and full of energy.

After washing up, she moved the chair from behind her door and went downstairs to eat.

Adrian was already curled up on the sofa, reading a financial newspaper. It looked like he was genuinely trying to learn.

Mia Kane went to the dining room to eat. When she came out, she noticed he hadn’t seemed to turn the page. ’Is this page really that profound?’

"Let’s go. We’re going to an amusement park today. You’ve probably never been, have you?"

"I’ve been once, but I don’t know what it actually felt like."

He shared a small part of Adrian Preston’s senses. He knew what was happening in the outside world, but he couldn’t experience the actual sensations.

He had always longed to exist as a real, living person.

"Then let’s go experience it!"

Mia Kane took him to the amusement park. Adrian’s reactions were much more interesting than Adrian Preston’s would have been. Adrian Preston had been through lots of difficult challenges; the weightlessness of roller coasters and drop towers was child’s play to him.

This was Adrian’s first time feeling these things, and he found it all novel and exciting. He even rode the roller coaster twice.

When they got tired of the rides, they went to get food, and he wanted to try a bite of everything.

He now had the sense of touch, smell, and taste. He had body heat and a heartbeat. He could run, jump, scream, and shout.

He was finally a real, living person!