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

Instead of comforting Mia Kane, the phone call only threw her heart into greater turmoil.

She knew Adrian Preston didn’t have a good relationship with his family and was only close to his grandfather and Shannon Preston.

But she’d never imagined that Adrian was an illegitimate son.

He’d never mentioned it...

Even Theo Thorne, who had worked under him for so long, had never been let into his inner world.

He hid it from everyone, keeping the secret all to himself.

’He must have been so lonely.’

"Adrian, I’m sorry. I said such harsh, angry things to you. Even though you bullied me, I don’t regret saving you all those years ago. Maybe it was a small thing to me, but you remembered. And I... I can’t even recall it!"

"I’ve also been trying so hard to convince myself that if it hadn’t been you, it would have been someone else. I could have hated anyone else without a second thought, but I don’t know how to face you. That’s why I can only hide and avoid you. I know it’s a terrible way to handle things, but I honestly don’t know what else to do."

"Adrian, please don’t die, okay? I... I don’t want you to die."

Mia Kane finally understood her own heart. She didn’t want Adrian Preston to die. She wanted him to live a long, full life.

"You could have told me. Don’t bottle everything up inside like a clam. I don’t know why you like me, or even how long you’ve liked me for!"

"You never say anything, so how am I supposed to know? Do I just have to guess everything?"

Mia Kane was in agony. It was as if she were shrouded in a thick fog—a fog he could have dispelled with a single word, yet he insisted on keeping everything locked away in his heart.

She gripped his hand tightly, her fingers tracing over his prominent knuckles.

His hand was completely cold. She held on, trying to warm it with her own body heat.

She watched over Adrian Preston for a long time. Uncle Young came by at one point and told her to go eat and take a break before coming back.

She’d wear herself out if she kept this up.

But Mia Kane felt neither hunger nor fatigue. All she wanted was to stay by Adrian Preston’s side, terrified she might miss the moment he woke up.

"Uncle Young, do you remember the last time he pushed himself this hard? What day was it?"

"I remember. March sixteenth. I don’t know what happened that day, but he suddenly changed the entire battle plan and became much more aggressive."

March sixteenth...

She remembered it clearly. That was the day she and Chase Lockwood had made their relationship official.

Chase Lockwood had taken her to dinner to meet a few of his friends. He’d had too much to drink and ended up collapsing into her arms.

He’d mumbled dazedly, "Mia Kane, let’s be a couple."

Mia Kane froze, thinking she must have been hearing things.

Chase Lockwood opened his hazy, drunken eyes. "Mia Kane, let’s be a couple."

This time, he said it with utter seriousness. Everyone else heard it too and started cheering and teasing them.

And just like that, they became a couple.

’Adrian... was it really because of me?’

If Adrian woke up, she was going to ask him exactly what he had been thinking!

Time ticked by, second by second, minute by minute. At first, Mia Kane was full of energy, talking to him endlessly.

She spoke until her mouth was dry, but the man in the bed showed no sign of waking.

’Can I really wake Adrian?’

’Did they choose the wrong person? Did they overestimate my influence on him? What if my presence is only delaying his recovery?’

Mia Kane spiraled into deep self-doubt.

She kept berating herself, her mind growing hazy and distant.

"Adrian... am I important? Am I really important?"

"If I’m so important, why are you hiding another woman’s things? Why do you consistently refuse to tell me the truth? Why do you always have to bully me?"

"And if I’m not important, why did you marry me? Why won’t you let me go?"

"Adrian, just give me an answer, okay?"

Mia Kane’s eyes were bloodshot. She had stayed up through the day and into the night, and then through the night and into the next day.

Nearly twenty-four hours had passed, and still, Adrian Preston showed no sign of waking.

’Can he even hear me?’

’Is anything I’ve said doing any good?’

She began to doubt herself again, thinking the doctors had been wrong, and she had been wrong to believe them.

She stared at the man in the bed. Twenty-three hours had passed. The doctor had come in, only to shake his head and sigh.

Uncle Young came over as well, his expression grave and sorrowful, as if mourning the loss of such a promising young man.

A sense of sorrow hung over everyone.

"Adrian, you—you’re not going to wake up, are you?"

Her voice was hoarse.

She hadn’t had a drop of water or a bite of food.

Her nerves were stretched to their breaking point; she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"I knew I couldn’t do it... How could I be that important?"

She gave a self-deprecating laugh. "If you die, I’ll have a death on my conscience. Every time I think of you in the future, I’ll just blame myself for being useless. They all pinned their hopes on me, but I couldn’t wake you. Am I supposed to be responsible for your death, too?"

"Don’t worry, I won’t be. I’ll live a great life. I forgot Chase Lockwood quickly enough, and I’ll forget you too. If you die, I’ll go file the divorce papers—the real ones this time. Then I’ll move to another city and start over. Maybe I’ll even find a handsome guy to spend the rest of my life with."

"And if I don’t get married, I’ll just keep a few men around for emotional support. I’ll sleep with one on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and another on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays!"

The last words were spoken purely out of anger.

She clenched her fists, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"Adrian... I don’t want you anymore! I’m going to find other men..."

Suddenly, her vision went black. She slid from her chair and collapsed onto the floor.

Hearing the commotion, the people waiting outside the door rushed in.

Mia Kane hadn’t slept for a full day and night. Compounded by the stress of not being able to find Adrian, she was emotionally and physically exhausted, her body completely depleted.

She couldn’t take it anymore and fainted.

"Quick, get Miss Kane to another room! She’s fainted!"

In the ensuing chaos, no one noticed the man on the hospital bed.

His fingers twitched.

A voice had been speaking in his mind nonstop.

’You can’t find another man. You can’t... You can only have me.’

’Mia, you can’t be so greedy...’

’I can’t die! If I die, Mia will forget me. That heartless woman, she’ll definitely find someone else. No... I can’t let that happen...’

With every ounce of his strength, Adrian Preston forced his eyes open to a blinding white light.

He was only awake for an instant before passing out again, but it was enough to make the doctors cheer.

Adrian Preston woke up for the second time four hours later.

He was completely drained, his voice a mere whisper.

Uncle Young, who was by his side, seemed to guess what was on his mind.

"Miss Kane is fine. She’s just sleep-deprived and a little malnourished, that’s why she fainted. While you were in a coma, she never left your side. She refused to eat or sleep and just kept talking to you."

"It’s a good thing you’re awake. When she wakes up and finds out, she’ll be overjoyed."

Unable to speak, Adrian grew anxious.

"No need to go looking for her."

Uncle Young understood him perfectly; after all, he had trained the man.

He pulled back the curtain separating the beds, revealing Mia Kane lying on the adjacent one.

The moment Adrian Preston saw her, a quiet calm washed over him. His entire world narrowed to just her.

The others took the hint and quietly left the room.

Adrian laboriously reached out. Mustering all his strength, he finally managed to gently take hold of Mia’s hand.

"What... did you say to me? I didn’t hear any of it..."

He struggled to get the words out.

"But... I did hear the part about you wanting to remarry. Don’t even think about it!"

His breathing was weak, but his words were resolute.

"Even if I die, I expect you to be my widow. Don’t even think about running away!"

he said viciously.

Even if Mia Kane regretted saving him, he was determined to cling to her!