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

Mia Kane’s smile froze on her face. How could she have forgotten the man himself? She turned around and bumped right into Adrian Preston’s chest.

She instinctively reached out and touched it. Wow, a real eight-pack...

As if electrocuted, she quickly pulled her hand back and stumbled backward, only to be caught by Adrian, who gripped her slender waist and pulled her back in.

The man’s powerful aura enveloped her, leaving her with no escape. Her breathing couldn’t help but quicken.

"If you want to give it a try, I don’t mind."

Adrian Preston looked down, his gaze intense, his voice laced with a special kind of magic. His words made her cheeks burn and her blood race.

"Just now... I got carried away and was just spouting nonsense. I didn’t mean to offend you," she stammered.

"It’s fine. If you ever have... that kind of need, feel free to come to me anytime."

Adrian Preston’s powerful aura suddenly retracted. He let go of her, creating a polite, gentlemanly distance between them.

The moment he seemed to confirm she had no other intentions, his teasing tone instantly became completely serious.

Mia Kane was amazed. Can he switch it on and off so easily?

He was a soldier, so he probably didn’t have many chances to interact with women, right? Why did it feel like he was completely in his element with her, as smooth as a fish in water?

The two returned to their seats to eat. Mia Kane then remembered something. "Um, there’s something I need your help with."

"Speak."

"Can you help me hide our marriage? Erase all traces so Chase Lockwood can’t find out. The idea is that he won’t be able to find out it was you, at least for a while, but he’ll know for sure that I really did get married to someone. Is that possible? It shouldn’t be too hard for you, right?"

SCREECH—

The steak knife suddenly scraped across the plate, making a harsh, ear-piercing sound that startled her. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but for a split second, Adrian Preston’s aura felt ice-cold.

But the moment he looked up at her, it seemed as if it had just been a trick of her mind. He looked at her with a half-smile. "What? Having regrets? It’s not too late to back out now."

"No, that’s not it. Chase Lockwood is a very suspicious person. If he can’t find anything, he’ll only get more suspicious. I just want to make the game a little more fun."

She didn’t dare admit that she was, in fact, a little scared.

"I see. Easy enough."

"Th-thank you..." she said, so nervous her tongue was tied.

The atmosphere seemed to relax a little. Her heart, which had been in her throat, slowly settled, and she lowered her head to focus on her food.

She felt that even when Adrian Preston was smiling, he was still terrifying.

Afterwards, Adrian Preston drove her home. He didn’t come back, nor did he say whether he’d be back for dinner.

She couldn’t be bothered to ask. She stayed home alone, sending out resumes, wanting to get back to a normal working life.

Night fell. Just as Mia Kane was about to wash up and go to sleep, her phone rang.

It was a call from Adrian Preston. She quickly answered, but the person who spoke wasn’t Adrian.

"Are you Adrian’s wife? Adrian is drunk. Can you come pick him up?"

"He’s drunk? Where are you? I’ll be right there."

She hurriedly threw on some clothes, rushed out the door, and made her way to a private room at a bar.

Perhaps she had arrived late. Everyone else had already left. Only Adrian Preston and his friend, a young man of mixed heritage, remained in the room.

"How did he get this drunk?"

"Adrian came back from the military to take over the family business. It was his first time dealing with this crowd, so it was inevitable they’d force drinks on him. He never drank in the army, so of course he couldn’t handle it."

"And you are...?"

"My name is Theo Thorne. You can just call me Theo. I’m his brother, and also his administrative secretary. We’ll definitely be seeing more of each other, so it’s a pleasure to meet you.

"I’ve got something to take care of today, otherwise I would have taken Adrian home myself. Sorry to trouble you."

"How did you know I was... his wife?"

"Isn’t it saved in Adrian’s phone?"

Theo Thorne picked up Adrian Preston’s phone. The contact name was a single word: Wife.

Mia Kane stared, slightly stunned.

She had humbly begged Chase Lockwood for three years, and he’d never even given her a proper title. She never expected Adrian Preston to be the one to do it.

The bitter ache in her heart slowly eased, and it didn’t seem to hurt so much anymore.

Theo Thorne helped get him into the car. She drove him home and had to call several maids to help carry him to the guest room.

A drunk person’s body is incredibly heavy.

She told a maid to prepare a hangover drink to sober him up, then tried to feed it to him slowly, but she couldn’t get any of it in. It just spilled, soaking the clothes on his shoulder.

His suit jacket was already off, leaving him in just a dark blue shirt.

She quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe it up, and as she did, she suddenly remembered something. When she was forced to have sex with the kidnapper leader, she had bitten his shoulder hard.

His voice was so similar to the kidnapper leader’s. His height and build were also about the same.

That day, he had also boarded the ship...

Weren’t all these details just too coincidental?

Could it be... that he was the one who took her?

Once the thought took root, it was impossible to stop. Her heart was in her throat. If it really was Adrian Preston, she would call the police and have him brought to justice.

She nervously undid the buttons of Adrian Preston’s shirt, one by one. Just as she was about to lift the fabric to see his shoulder, her hand was suddenly seized.

A low, hoarse voice scared the life out of her. "What are you doing?"

Startled, she stumbled and fell to the floor. "You... you’re awake? Your shirt is wet. I was going to help you change it."

"Is that so?" He seemed drunk, his reactions slow. "Then do you have any idea how dangerous it is for a man and a woman to be alone in a room, especially when the man is drunk, and you’re trying to take off his clothes? Do you understand?

"Go on then. Take it off. I can’t guarantee what the consequences will be."

Adrian Preston released her hand. Mia Kane froze. Should she take the shirt off or not? What if she started a fire she can’t put out once she took it off? But if she doesn’t, how can she stand it?

Mia Kane was caught in a dilemma, and in the end, she scurried away dejectedly.

Watching her flee, Adrian Preston couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.

Mia Kane’s ears turned bright red. She was sure that laugh was filled with nothing but mockery!

She’s being made a fool of!

Once outside the room, the more she thought about it, the more unwilling she was to give up.

She was so close. Why did he have to wake up right at that moment? Could it be that he sensed something?

She had to see his shoulder. She was terrified... terrified that her attacker was right beside her, appearing as a savior and making her feel indebted to him. That would be a fate worse than death.

Mia Kane went back to her room and paced back and forth. If Adrian Preston were sober now, he would definitely take a shower. She could just sneak over and peek through the crack in the door.

She went back again and tried the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. She opened a crack and saw Adrian Preston go into the bathroom.

Just as she’d thought.

She tiptoed over and opened the bathroom door.

Through the crack, she saw Adrian Preston unbuttoning his shirt and slowly undressing. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see clearly. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The man took off his shirt and then his pants.

At this moment, she had no time to admire Adrian Preston’s pulse-pounding physique. A single thought chanted in her mind: Turn around, turn around, turn around... Just turn around, I just need one look!

She didn’t know if it was because she was too nervous, but what she had been chanting in her mind, she suddenly shouted out loud, "Turn around!"