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

Adrian Preston had been missing for a whole week.

She and Theo Thorne had absolutely no leads and could only wait patiently.

Her connections weren’t even as good as Theo’s. If he couldn’t find Adrian, she certainly couldn’t either.

Though she claimed not to care, she couldn’t eat or sleep well during this time, and she’d lost a noticeable amount of weight.

She went to her studio every day, but she couldn’t bring herself to draw anything, just drifting through in a daze.

News of Adrian Preston’s disappearance had already started to spread. Some said that after so many years as a cop, he’d made too many enemies and had been secretly "disposed of."

Others claimed he’d been struck by a sudden, serious illness and had gone abroad for treatment.

Owen Sinclair had also heard the rumors. Seeing her so distraught and unwilling to stay home, instead insisting on forcing herself to come in, he felt a pang of sympathy.

"Mia, why don’t you go home and rest if you’re tired?"

"I’m not tired."

She was putting on a brave front, but she looked terribly pale.

She hadn’t slept properly for days. On the rare occasion she managed to get an hour or two of sleep, it was plagued by constant nightmares.

She dreamed of Adrian Preston being torn limb from limb by his enemies.

She dreamed of him being locked up, tortured.

She was too scared to sleep. She was terrified...

"Owen, are you going to deliver the sample garments? Let me go."

Anxious to keep herself busy, she took the items from Owen Sinclair’s hands and rushed out the door before he could even try to stop her.

As she was driving, she got the feeling—though she couldn’t be sure if it was just her imagination—that a car behind her was intentionally trying to cut her off.

Forced to pull over to the side of the road, she watched as people got out of two cars, one behind her and one to her side. Though they wore casual clothes, they carried themselves with a sharp, piercing intensity that marked them as anything but ordinary.

"Miss Kane, please come with us."

"Who are you...?"

"We’re friends of Adrian Preston."

Hearing this, Mia Kane’s heart gave a violent lurch.

’Am I finally going to get news about Adrian Preston?’

Without a moment’s hesitation, she quickly got into their car. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The car drove all the way to a military hospital. Security was extremely tight; every vehicle was subjected to a rigorous inspection.

Armed military police stood ramrod straight in the guardhouse at the entrance, holding their rifles.

"Where is Adrian Preston?"

She only dared to ask after they were inside the hospital.

"He’s still in surgery. We brought you here just in case."

"What do you mean... ’just in case’...?"

She didn’t understand.

But they offered no further explanation. Outside the operating room, she saw a middle-aged man. He was tall, slightly heavyset, and had a solemn expression.

The men with her were clearly very deferential toward him.

He was, by all appearances, their superior officer.

"You must be Mia Kane. Comrade Kane."

"I am... And you are, if I may ask...?"

"I’m Adrian Preston’s superior. You can just call me Uncle Young."

"Uncle Young, where is Adrian?"

Standing at the door to the operating room, she already had a sinking feeling that the person lying inside was Adrian Preston.

But she still clung to a sliver of hope.

But when Uncle Young pointed to the closed doors, her heart slowly sank to the depths.

"Adrian rejoined the force under a special identity, using his position as CEO of the Preston Group to gather useful intelligence. We had already found some leads, and he wasn’t supposed to get involved directly—just provide information. But this time, Adrian took a direct order and charged out to sea. He used a reckless, do-or-die approach and took down the strongholds of three separate smuggling rings."

"He was also injured. Very seriously... I’m afraid he might not make it. I wanted to notify his grandfather, but I was worried the old man wouldn’t be able to handle the shock. After thinking it over, you were the only one left."

"But... but you should have called Theo Thorne..."

"It’s not the same. You mean something different to him."

Mia Kane’s heart began to race. ’Why am I different?’

"Why...?"

"Because when he was on the verge of death, he kept calling your name. I think... he must really want to see you."

"You’re sure you heard correctly? My name?"

"I don’t think he knows another Mia Kane."

Uncle Young left, leaving her to wait alone outside the operating room. It was sheer agony.

Her mind was reeling with too many questions.

’Why... why would Adrian Preston call out her name?’

’Didn’t he have a secret love, his white moonlight?’

’Could it be... that she was his white moonlight?’

’She couldn’t remember when she had ever saved him.’

’And she didn’t understand why, both three years ago and now, he would lose all reason and risk his life.’

’Did her words really carry that much weight?’

’Who was the person Adrian Preston loved so deeply?’

’Was it her?’

’Where did this love come from, and why was it so profound? Why couldn’t she remember them ever crossing paths?’

Mia Kane’s head was splitting. A fragment of a memory flashed through her mind, and she tried desperately to grab onto it, but nothing remained.

She gasped for air, the pain unbearable. As long as she didn’t try to think about it, it didn’t hurt.

There was, of course, another way: get Adrian Preston to tell the truth himself.

How she had saved him back then, and when he had started thinking about her.

If he just told her, everything would be clear.

She stared intently at the operating room doors, praying with all her might that he would be safe.

After another two hours of waiting, the doors finally opened.

An exhausted doctor emerged. Adrian Preston was wearing an oxygen mask and was covered in tubes, unconscious.

He was much tanner and had lost some weight.

Lying there so feebly, his breathing shallow, was a heart-wrenching sight.

"Doctor, how is he?"

The doctor’s expression was grave. "The patient’s will to live is dangerously low. He was shot three times, with one bullet pressing against his heart. The surgery was successful, but he’s not out of the woods yet. If he can wake up within the critical twenty-four-hour window, his life will be saved. If he doesn’t... then I’m afraid you’ll have to prepare for the worst."

The doctor’s words struck her like a bolt of lightning.

’What did he mean, his will to live was low?’

’Did that mean Adrian Preston himself didn’t want to live?’

’How could that be? He had a bright future, family, and friends. How could he not want to live?’

"You’re family, right? Try talking to him more. It might awaken his will to live."

Mia Kane followed them to the intensive care unit.

She called his grandfather, wanting him to come. Adrian cared deeply for his grandfather; if his grandfather spoke to him, he would surely hear it and wake up.

’She... she couldn’t do it.’

"There’s no use in an old man like me going. Adrian has never lived for the Preston Family, nor has he lived for himself. Mia, I’m leaving this in your hands. The rest is up to fate."

"What about his parents? Or his sister? If they caught a flight now, they could still make it in time."

"It’s no use. None of them will be of any use..."

"Why not? They’re his family."

"Family? They’re the enemies who want to drive him to his death! I’ll tell you the truth—Adrian is an illegitimate son of the Preston Family."

His grandfather was silent for a long time before finally uttering those words.

Mia Kane was struck dumb, as if by lightning. How could the glamorous CEO of the Preston Group be an illegitimate son?

"It’s a long story... and there’s no point in talking about it now. You could say Adrian’s life in the Preston Family has been like walking on thin ice. Only his sister... his sister was close to him, but unfortunately..."

"Mia, that boy Adrian is reserved and quiet, not one for words. Since he was young, he’s been accustomed to keeping everything bottled up inside, never confiding in others."

"For him to grow up in that family environment and still live so honorably is something I’ve always admired. But I don’t believe that’s a credit to the Preston Family; it was Adrian surviving on his own, caught in the cracks. What he needs right now isn’t us. You stay with him. No matter the outcome, I can accept it."

"Mia, please take good care of him for me."