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

’Is death the best escape for him? Just like this time, he embraced death, intending to take his enemies down with him.’

’He obviously cares so much, cares to the point of desperation, yet he can still joke about it so easily. His heart is clearly aching, bleeding.’

’This damn man is stubborn as a clam. Doesn’t he know that if he just acted cute and showed some vulnerability, women would easily fall for it and be moved?’

’The most stubborn thing about him is his mouth!’

Mia Kane stayed at the military hospital, taking care of him the whole time.

Adrian Preston was severely injured. For the first few days, he could barely get up. She had seen the gory wound—a large piece of rotten flesh, a terrifying sight.

She had retched once, and afterward, she discovered that whenever Adrian had his dressing changed, he would secretly do it away from her, finding all sorts of excuses to get her to leave.

One time, she went downstairs to get his medicine and realized she had forgotten her phone. When she went back to get it, she walked in right as the doctor was changing his dressing.

His eyes met hers, and he quickly covered the wound with the blanket.

It was only then that Mia Kane belatedly realized he had been doing it on purpose, just like the times before.

"Just go get the medicine for me first."

Mia Kane didn’t call him out on it. After all, a stranger was present, and she didn’t want to argue with him.

She went downstairs to get the medicine, still angry. When she returned, he was alone in the room.

He watched her cautiously.

"Why do you hide from me when you’re getting your dressing changed?"

"The wound... isn’t pretty,"

he mumbled.

After being shot, he had fallen into the sea and soaked in the water for a long time. The wound had become infected.

A large circle of it was necrotic tissue that had to be cut away, leaving a wound the size of a bowl. It was disgusting and ugly.

He had never cared about his appearance before. It was normal for a man to have scars, big and small. Besides, it’s not like he was a model.

But her retching had instantly triggered the deepest-seated insecurity in Adrian Preston’s heart.

’Is she disgusted?’

’It must be disgusting.’

’It would be better if she couldn’t see it.’

"I’m not disgusted by it."

"You’re... not disgusted?" He paused. "But you almost threw up last time. It must be disgusting."

"Adrian Preston, that’s a normal physiological reaction. It doesn’t mean I’m disgusted by you. What on earth goes through your head all day?"

Adrian Preston lowered his head in shame.

"But... it’s still ugly. Don’t look."

Before he was with Mia Kane, he definitely wouldn’t have cared. But things were different now.

He wanted her to like him; he didn’t want her to see any flaws.

Mia Kane felt a little helpless. She figured that no matter how she explained it, Adrian Preston wouldn’t believe her.

When it came to matters of the heart, he was humble to a fault.

If word got out, no one would believe that the great CEO of the Preston Group was, deep down, insecure and sensitive.

This was likely related to Adrian Preston’s background, but since he was unwilling to talk about it, she couldn’t be the one to bring up that painful topic.

"Have it your way. Next time you need your dressing changed, just tell me directly. I’ll go out on my own. You don’t have to scheme to get me to leave."

She decided to be considerate of Adrian Preston and protect his pride. Men needed to save face, too.

Adrian Preston instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Adrian Preston healed at a rate that was far from ordinary. An injury this severe should have required at least a month of bed rest and half a year of recovery.

But unexpectedly, Adrian was able to get around in a wheelchair in just half a month.

He didn’t stay at the military hospital, choosing instead to go home to recuperate. Besides, there were too many matters at the Preston Group waiting for him to handle.

When he left, the doctor repeatedly warned him not to overexert himself. Work was important, but he had to take care of his body first.

They moved back to the villa, and even his grandfather came to visit in person.

Although his grandfather didn’t say anything, the old man’s eyes were completely red and seemed misty. He was just too proud to cry in front of the younger generation.

"As long as you’re alive..."

He didn’t blame Adrian Preston for risking his life, nor did he press the burden of the Preston Group onto him. He simply patted his hand and choked out the words.

’As long as you’re alive!’

Adrian Preston took his medicine and soon grew drowsy and fell asleep.

His grandfather was also about to leave.

"Grandpa... about Adrian Preston being an illegitimate child, what’s the real story?"

she couldn’t help but ask.

Grandpa smiled. "What, you haven’t asked Adrian Preston?"

"He hasn’t brought it up with me, so it’s not my place to ask."

"Then why are you asking me?"

"I want to know."

"It’s your man’s business. It’s better if he tells you himself. Hearing it from someone else wouldn’t be the same." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Hearing this, Mia Kane drooped like a frost-bitten eggplant. "Grandpa, don’t you know your own grandson? His heart is a bottomless pit, he’s too good at hiding things! He’s like a super-sealed gourd, bottling everything up inside and trying to digest it all by himself."

"It would be fine if he could actually digest it, but instead he just stews in it, torturing himself. Who knows when he’ll ever confess this to me—it could be ages."

She muttered, her face full of frustration.

Getting him to open up about himself had already taken half a year.

Seeing her like this, her grandfather couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

"You seem to understand him quite thoroughly. It looks like your relationship has taken another step forward. Grandpa is very pleased. I never used to know what Adrian Preston was living for. Not for his own future, not for the honor of the Preston Group, not for external things like money. It was as if he had nothing to look forward to in life. It turns out, you’re what he looks forward to."

"I feel at ease entrusting him to you. If one day, the sky should fall, you two just focus on protecting yourselves and live happily according to your own wishes. Forget about the Preston Group, forget about moral obligations. Just be yourselves."

His grandfather’s words seemed to hold a deeper meaning.

Mia Kane’s heart hammered in her chest.

’The sky falling...’

’Will such a day really come? Is Grandpa hinting at something?’

"Good child, take good care of him. Grandpa is leaving now."

Grandpa just patted her shoulder, dropped those words, and turned to leave.

Mia Kane watched his retreating figure, noticing that the old man’s back seemed a bit more stooped. It was as if this whole incident had aged him ten years.

’Grandpa knows. Adrian’s parents must know too.’

’His mother isn’t his biological mother, but his father must be his biological father, right?’

Yet his parents had shown no concern whatsoever. Shannon Preston had called, though. Adrian had specifically pulled Mia aside, put the call on speaker, and let her listen to the entire conversation, just to prove that he and Shannon Preston had no relationship.

Just thinking about such a family dynamic made her feel suffocated.

So what about Adrian? How had Adrian Preston managed to live like that for so many years?

She returned to the room and watched him as he slept. His sharp, angular face seemed softer, and he didn’t look as intense.

She didn’t know what he was dreaming about, but his brow was tightly furrowed, and he seemed distressed.

She raised her hand and gently smoothed his brow, little by little.

"Mia..."

he whispered her name.

"I’m here, Adrian,"

she responded softly. He seemed to relax at her voice, sinking into a deep sleep.

She waited until Adrian Preston was fast asleep before leaving. She went to his study and took down the wooden box from the top shelf.

This time, she examined it carefully and discovered a hidden compartment inside. It contained some letters.

Love letters, to be precise.

The names looked unfamiliar, but on second thought, they seemed to be from her classmates in middle and high school.

’So, Adrian Preston had been up to this kind of mischief. Afraid she would date someone else, he had confiscated the love letters people sent her.’

’No wonder her friend had been confused back then, wondering why a classmate who wasn’t as pretty as her received love letters every day, while she never got a single one.’

’She had just laughed it off, thinking her luck with boys was just bad and that she wasn’t very likable—that boys preferred gentle, demure girls.’

’So all these years, she never suspected a thing.’

’She had doubted her own charm, but never suspected that someone was sabotaging her behind the scenes.’