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

Mia’s nose tingled with the urge to cry, but she held it back. It wasn’t until she saw her room that she could no longer restrain herself and burst into tears.

In the past, the master bedroom was for her parents.

She and her younger brother each had a small room, but her brother’s was much larger. It was south-facing, with a balcony and a walk-in closet.

Before her brother was born, that room had been hers. But after he arrived, she came home from school one day to find all her things had been moved to the guest room.

"You’re going to get married and move out sooner or later, but your brother is different. He needs to bring a wife home."

And just like that, the room that was originally hers was given to her brother.

But now, that junior suite—the one with the balcony and the walk-in closet—was back, and it was filled with all her things.

Even the bedsheets and stuffed animals were perfect replicas, exactly the same as before.

The closet was full of her dresses and skirts—the kind of clothes an eighteen-year-old Mia would wear.

Her tears, no longer held back, streamed down her face.

"Adrian... just how much... how much have you done that I don’t know about?"

"I never dared to bring you here. I was afraid you’d think I was a pervert, secretly spying on your life. No, that’s not right—I *am* a pervert. The only reason I haven’t gone completely insane is because you’re my anchor."

"I know this is wrong, but I can’t control myself. I should just be secretly happy that you haven’t cursed me out; I wouldn’t dare hope for your praise. What I’ve done is far from enough. My Mia deserves the best of everything in this world."

"Am I really worth it...?"

She asked him, and she had asked herself countless times.

’Was I not good enough? Is that why Mom and Dad never considered me?’

’Was I not a good enough girlfriend? Is that why Chase Lockwood betrayed me?’

She had doubted herself, as if she had fallen into an abyss, lost and confused.

"You are."

Adrian cupped her face and kissed away the hot, bitter tears from her cheeks.

He didn’t want Mia to suffer like this.

"Mia is the best. Don’t let those people make you deny yourself. You are always shining brightly, bringing light and warmth to others."

Mia finally broke, collapsing against his shoulder and crying like a child, her shoulders trembling.

Adrian wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her head and patiently comforting her.

"It’s all in the past. You have me now. Just... please don’t think I’m a disgusting pervert..." he murmured softly.

Adrian had always felt his love was something to be hidden—too insidious, too cunning, not something a normal person would do.

He knew he was psychologically twisted, almost pathologically so. All he could do was restrain himself so he wouldn’t hurt her.

"Adrian..."

She murmured his name, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to his, silencing the rest of his words.

’No need to be so quick to deny yourself.’ His love was indeed a bit twisted, but it filled her with immense warmth.

Adrian deepened the kiss, seizing the opportunity she had given him.

A long while later, they finally separated. Adrian laced his fingers with hers.

"Let’s tour our new home. I decorated the master bedroom myself, not in the style of your family’s house. After all, that was where your parents lived. This is where *we* will live."

She had expected Adrian to decorate the master bedroom in a cold, minimalist style, but she was surprised to find it was cozy and filled with warm colors.

On the wall, where wedding photos were supposed to hang, were her framed award certificates from her childhood.

She had been an excellent student since she was young and had won many awards. At first, her parents had treasured them, documenting her academic progress. But then her brother grew up, and he started winning awards too, and hers became less important.

During one move, her parents were cleaning out the trash and threw them all away.

When she came home that night and found out, she ran crying to the trash cans, but the trash had already been collected. There was nothing left.

She thought she would never see those things again. But the certificates her family had thrown out like trash, Adrian had collected like treasures, gathered them together, framed them, and hung them on the wall.

"Back then, when I found out they’d been thrown away, it felt like the sky was falling. But then I grew up. I don’t even care about them anymore."

"Do you really not care? Or are you just trying hard to ignore the pain from back then?"

"It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m a grown-up now."

Mia gave a light laugh, but her throat was tight with bitterness.

"It’s okay. I care, and that’s enough."

"Adrian, have you ever thought about it? What if I had put up with Chase Lockwood? Or what if you hadn’t come back in time, and I had left Argent? We would have missed each other completely. Everything you did would have been for nothing, with no results."

"Mia, not all flowers bear fruit. Sometimes, it’s enough that they bloomed. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to accept it. I still would have appeared before you and fought for a chance. And if you had said no, I would have had my own fate to meet."

Whether it was dying on a mission or living as a lonely bachelor my whole life, that’s a kind of fate, too.

Just an incomplete one.

"Adrian, you don’t have to do these things anymore. You can step into the light and love me openly! Don’t force yourself to be an outcast!"

"Alright. From now on, I’ll love you openly."

Adrian smiled.

Mia loved this new home. She didn’t have to give up her room for her brother. And the things she treasured were still here.

"So, for the next few months while the other house is being renovated, can we live here? Is that okay?"

"Mm, you’re the homeowner, so it’s your call. I already gave you this marital home back then."

Before, when Mia had tried to divorce him, Adrian had given her many things.

The divorce didn’t go through, but Mia never returned any of it.

’What must Adrian have been feeling back then?’

’Hoping she would understand his feelings, but also terrified she would.’

’He must have been so anxious inside.’

Mia lingered in the house for a long time. Adrian, understanding her, made an excuse to leave so she could enjoy some time to herself.

Mia danced gracefully in the living room.

She sat in the hanging chair on the balcony, basking in the evening glow as the sunset fell upon her.

She had a home in Argent again.

Mia was lying in bed, hugging the large caterpillar plushie that used to be her favorite, when her phone unexpectedly rang. It was Shayla Quinn.

"What’s wrong?"

"Mia, help me. No... help Tanya Shaw. He’s dying."

Shayla Quinn’s voice was choked with sobs on the other end. Mia immediately asked which hospital they were at and rushed over.

Tanya Shaw had offended a wealthy older woman. The woman wanted to keep him as a lover for a month, but he refused, saying he didn’t take those kinds of "orders" anymore. He was just selling drinks now; he could drink with clients, but he didn’t want to do anything else.

The woman got angry and nearly beat him to death. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He lost his job after that, and all his money went to hospital bills.

When the money ran out, he had no choice but to drag his ailing body home.

That hospital stay cost tens of thousands. The rich woman didn’t pay a cent. On top of that, the bar where he worked demanded compensation for offending a client, leaving him virtually penniless.

With no money for rent, he was kicked out by his landlord.

He was wandering the streets with a high fever when Shayla Quinn saw his lonely figure downstairs. He was delirious from the fever, stumbling and swaying as he walked.

Shayla Quinn recognized him and rushed him to the hospital.

He finally recovered completely and was discharged, temporarily staying at her place. But a couple of days ago, he unexpectedly ran into that rich woman again, and she dragged him back to her home to "discipline" him.

Tanya Shaw fought back with all his might and fell from the second floor. He was now in a coma.

When she arrived, she saw Tanya Shaw, his face deathly pale, wearing an oxygen mask, unconscious.

Shayla Quinn had cried so much her eyes were swollen like walnuts, and she looked like she’d lost a lot of weight.

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner!"

She was a little angry.

"I was afraid... afraid of troubling you..."

"What do you take me for? After all our years of friendship, what’s a little trouble?"

Mia felt a mix of heartache and anger, but she also understood. Shayla Quinn didn’t want to be a bother, just as she herself had been reluctant to trouble Shayla in the past. There was always that fear that endless asking would wear away their hard-won friendship. They both focused on giving, not on taking anything in return.

"Never mind. I’ll arrange for the best doctors. Stop crying for now. He’s going to be okay."

"The doctors said he has a brain injury... He might never wake up."

"How did you two get so involved?"

"He... he’s the younger brother of my old neighbor," Shayla Quinn said through her tears.

"What?" Mia froze.