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

Vivian Lynch knew she couldn’t delay dealing with her pregnancy any longer. After all, the longer a stillborn fetus remained inside, the greater the harm.

She returned to Lockwood Manor, estimating that Chase Lockwood would be home around this time.

She deliberately picked up her phone and pretended to make a call.

"Quietly give Mia’s Studio some business, and don’t say I’m the one who sent you. I’ll reimburse you for whatever you spend..."

After giving her instructions, she put down her phone and turned to see Chase Lockwood.

"Chase? You’re back! You didn’t make a sound. You scared me to death."

Vivian Lynch looked at him, pouting playfully.

"You were helping Mia Kane?"

"Yes. Even though we don’t get along, I don’t think this was her fault. It was her subordinates who were dishonest, passing off inferior products as quality ones. I admire her talent and don’t think it should be buried like this."

"Besides, we’ve been enemies for so long, and I’d like to bury the hatchet. I know you’re caught in the middle. You and she were together for three years, after all; there’s still a place for her in your heart. Chase, if this were ancient times, I’d honestly be willing to marry you alongside her, for us to serve one husband together."

"Now that she and Adrian Preston are divorced, and with her strong-willed personality, she must be putting on a brave face. I’m afraid one day she won’t be able to hold on and will just collapse. Chase, you should help her too."

When Mia’s Studio ran into trouble, Chase Lockwood had stood by and done nothing.

He had been waiting for Mia Kane to come begging for his help. But he hadn’t expected her to have so much backbone—she’d rather hit a wall and let her good name be ruined than ask him for anything.

He was angry and had deliberately turned a blind eye, but hearing Vivian Lynch’s words made him soften a little.

’Have I been too heartless? Adrian Preston didn’t step in to help. If I were to step in now, letting bygones be bygones, Mia would probably be moved beyond words, wouldn’t she?’

"I was worried it would upset you. In my heart, she can never compare to you." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He wrapped his arms around Vivian Lynch.

Vivian Lynch tilted her head up to look at him, her eyes glistening as if she were gazing at the sun and moon.

"Hearing you say that is enough. Chase, I know you can’t forget Mia Kane. If you really kept her as your mistress, I could accept it. As long as you’re happy, I’m okay with anything. I just want you to be happy."

"Now that she and Adrian Preston are divorced, it’s the perfect time for you to make a move. Please, help her."

"Vivian... do you really think so?"

"Mhm. It’s because I love you. I’m willing to do anything for you."

Vivian Lynch said in a saccharine sweet voice.

At that moment, a profound weight settled in Chase Lockwood’s heart. A woman who loved him to such an extent was a testament to his personal charm.

’If only Mia were half as devoted as Vivian.’

Chase Lockwood instructed his PR team to handle the recent negative press about Mia’s Studio.

Since the problem was with the subordinates, all that was needed was for them to face the consequences and admit their mistakes. There was no need to escalate it to Mia’s level.

He made his stance clear: clean up the studio’s reputation and dissociate it from those factories.

The rest of Argent’s elite saw the shift in the wind and began to show goodwill toward Mia Kane, resolving her predicament almost instantly.

Mia Kane furrowed her brow as she read the online comments, unable to understand what Chase Lockwood was trying to do.

"I’ve booked a table at a restaurant tonight. I have something to tell you."

Suddenly, she received a text from Chase Lockwood.

Mia Kane felt her vision go dark when she saw the message.

’There’s no way I’m going. Nothing good ever comes from meeting Chase Lockwood.’

She ignored it. A moment later, Chase Lockwood sent another message with the time and specific location.

Mia Kane still pretended she hadn’t seen it.

The studio was busy today, so she figured she would have to work overtime.

Time ticked by. She was so absorbed in her work, she lost all track of it. When she finally looked up, it was already past seven in the evening.

Both she and Rosalyn Shield were still busy, so she quickly ordered takeout.

"Rosalyn, let’s take a break for a bit."

"If only Director Sinclair were here. Things would be a little easier for us."

Hearing this, Mia Kane glanced toward Owen Sinclair’s office.

’She still felt a pang of melancholy. It seemed they couldn’t even be friends anymore.’

Just then, Rosalyn Shield let out a small sound of surprise.

"Mrs. Lockwood?"

Mia Kane froze. ’What is she doing here?’

She was running a public-facing business, so anyone could walk in; she couldn’t just bar Vivian Lynch from entering.

"What are you here for?"

"I’m here to take you to see Chase. I’ll be there tonight, too."

Vivian Lynch said with a smile.

Mia Kane was instantly confused. She had assumed Chase Lockwood was asking her out alone; she never expected Vivian Lynch to be involved.

"I’m very busy. I don’t have time."

"I told Chase that if this were ancient times, I would be willing to be co-wives with you, serving him together."

’Hearing this, Mia Kane was thoroughly disgusted. What in the world have that couple been discussing? Did they even bother to ask my opinion? Do they think I’d be willing to be a co-wife?’

’Thank God this isn’t ancient times.’

Mia Kane was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but Vivian Lynch’s next words were even more revolting.

"I understand Chase still has feelings for you. Mia Kane, I have to admire your methods. I originally thought you were a meek and easily manipulated person, but after you and Chase broke up, you became someone else entirely. You’re deliberately doing the opposite of what he expects to make him unable to let you go, aren’t you?"

"You got together with Adrian Preston so quickly, treating Chase with disdain. You played on his pride and his strong ego, making it impossible for him to forget you."

"Mia Kane, you’re quite the schemer! Now that you’ve divorced Adrian Preston, I’ll let Chase Lockwood keep you as his mistress. I approve of your affair with him."

Mia Kane’s brows locked in disbelief.

"Vivian Lynch, are you insane? Who wants to be with Chase Lockwood! The two of you should just be chained together forever and stop ruining other people’s lives!"

’They actually want me to be his mistress?’

Mia Kane was so disgusted she wanted to throw her out immediately.

"You’re not welcome here. If you don’t leave now, I’m calling the police!" Mia Kane looked at Rosalyn Shield. "From now on, don’t let people like this in. Put a sign outside that says, ’No dogs, Chase Lockwood, or Vivian Lynch allowed.’"

After she spoke, she tried to walk past, but Vivian Lynch grabbed her arm.

"Did you think I agreed to let you be Chase Lockwood’s mistress because I love him so much? I’m afraid you’ll get back together with Adrian Preston, or use your beauty to seduce some other man. Seeing you marry well would be worse than death for me."

"If you become Chase’s mistress, you will always be beneath me. You’ll never be able to hold your head high in front of me again."

"Vivian Lynch, don’t go too far."

"So what if I am going too far? What can you do about it? You and Adrian Preston are divorced. You have no one backing you. Do you really think you can refuse Chase? I suggest you just give in gracefully. Now, come with me to see him."

With that, Vivian Lynch grabbed Mia Kane’s hand and tried to drag her forcefully to see Chase Lockwood.

"Vivian Lynch, let me go!"

Mia Kane couldn’t help but struggle, but remembering Vivian Lynch was pregnant, she didn’t dare to use too much force.

She pulled out her phone, intending to call the police.

But to her shock, while she had barely exerted any force, Vivian Lynch suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed, her belly striking the ground.

She clutched her stomach in agony, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

"The baby... my baby..."