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

"What about Young Master Preston? Isn’t he going to say anything? She’s his wife, after all."

Everyone looked over at Adrian Preston.

He sat as still as a mountain, his expression calm and showing no trace of emotion.

"Everyone has to be responsible for their own words and deeds. Since she was the one who made the bet, she has to bear the consequences now."

Everyone couldn’t help but silently praise Adrian Preston. ’His values are so solid. Just what you’d expect from a former police officer; he’s on a different level.’

"So, Young Master Preston, you’re really just going to stand by and watch your wife leave the industry?"

"It’s no big deal. I’ll support her. It’s not as if I can’t afford to."

The moment Adrian Preston spoke, everyone else felt like they’d just been subjected to an intense public display of affection.

Seeing that others were about to steal the spotlight at her own event, Vivian Lynch quickly spoke up.

"Miss Kane, it’s not too late for you to back out of the bet."

"Mrs. Lockwood, you’re being too lenient! You’re really too kind."

"Mia Kane and I are friends. I don’t want to make things too difficult for her."

"No way! She made the bet in front of all those people. How can you just call it off so casually?"

The crowd below roared in protest.

Chase Lockwood walked over to her and took her hand.

"You’re just too soft-hearted, and that’s why people walk all over you. Didn’t you hear him? Even if Mia Kane loses the bet and leaves the industry, President Preston can afford to keep her. So what are you worried about? Your kindness may not be appreciated."

As he said this, he looked toward Mia Kane, his eyes dark with a turbulent undercurrent of emotion.

But from this distance, Mia Kane couldn’t see his expression clearly.

She straightened her spine and smiled faintly, a smile so dazzling that no one could look away.

"I, Mia Kane, know how to honor a bet. If you have truly managed to bring Designer Nona here, I will leave this industry and offer you a formal apology."

"But first, allow me to go and prepare to welcome Designer Nona. I wouldn’t want to miss such a magnificent spectacle."

Mia Kane’s forthrightness actually earned her some goodwill from the crowd.

She wasn’t making excuses or trying to dodge the issue.

She had graciously acknowledged the terms, agreed to the penalty if she lost, and still wanted to meet Designer Nona with dignity. It revealed a fine character.

The phrase "glorious even in defeat" seemed to be made for people like her.

Mia Kane turned and walked away, the flashbulbs still following her. She moved with a captivating grace, the sight of her elegant back like a picture from a scroll.

Everyone suddenly seemed to understand how Mia Kane had managed to get together with Adrian Preston so quickly after leaving Chase Lockwood.

Who wouldn’t be smitten by a woman like her?

Soon, Vivian Lynch’s phone rang on stage.

"I’ve arrived at the entrance."

Vivian Lynch’s eyes lit up when she saw the message. She immediately gripped the microphone.

"Everyone, please join me in welcoming Designer Nona!"

Everyone’s interest was piqued. They all wanted to see the mysterious designer who had recently taken the international fashion world by storm.

This designer never showed their face, and no one knew their Chinese name. All that was known was that they were of Chinese descent.

They possessed incredible talent. If China had such an outstanding designer, perhaps they would no longer need to idolize foreign brands.

Everyone rushed to the entrance, forming a dense, jostling crowd.

Vivian Lynch stood at the very front, her heart pounding with excitement.

This was the designer she had paid a fortune to hire, the one she was counting on to utterly humiliate Mia Kane.

Now, she was finally going to see the real person behind the legend.

The door slowly opened, and the spotlights were poised.

All eyes turned in unison toward the door. But there was no Designer Nona—only Mia Kane, standing there by herself.

At first, no one reacted. It never even crossed their minds that the two could be the same person.

Vivian Lynch frowned, annoyed.

"Mia Kane, have you gone too far? You know perfectly well we’re here to welcome Designer Nona, yet you deliberately play this prank on us? This is my wedding, not your personal April Fool’s Day! You’ve crossed the line. Making a fool of me is one thing, but are you trying to make a fool of every guest here as well?"

Vivian Lynch was filled with righteous indignation.

Stirred up by her words, the other guests began to look at Mia Kane with displeasure.

’Is she playing us for fools?’

’Even if she is Adrian Preston’s woman, she can’t just humiliate people like this, can she?’

Mia Kane simply smiled. "Weren’t you waiting for Designer Nona? Here I am."

At this, Vivian Lynch was the first to laugh.

"Mia Kane, have you lost your mind? How dare you say that? I thought you knew how to lose gracefully, but I never expected you to be so utterly shameless. To think you could spout such rubbish."

"Fine. You can all wait a little longer for the ’real’ Designer Nona, then."

Mia Kane wasn’t in any rush.

Seeing Mia Kane so calm and unperturbed, not looking at all like she was lying, the others couldn’t help but wonder if she really was Designer Nona.

Vivian Lynch bit her lip. ’This is absurd,’ she thought. She had been in contact with Nona this whole time. How could she not know if it was Mia Kane?

She remembered that Nona had given her a phone number to call if she couldn’t be reached.

She quickly found the number and dialed it. To her shock, Mia Kane’s phone started ringing.

In front of everyone, she slowly answered the call.

"Hi."

Mia Kane smiled and gave Vivian Lynch a little wave.

The moment Mia Kane’s voice traveled through the receiver, Vivian Lynch’s vision went black, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

"This is impossible... This is impossible..."

Her face pale, Vivian Lynch just kept shaking her head.

The expressions of everyone present became intrigued and speculative.

’The current girlfriend paid a fortune to hire the ex-girlfriend?’

’How thrilling.’

Chase Lockwood’s reaction was far calmer and more composed than Vivian Lynch’s. His first thought was that this incident could not be allowed to affect the Lockwood Group’s stock price or saddle the company with negative press.

He quickly ordered his secretary to clear the reporters from the scene.

But the story still got out. The Lockwood Group’s PR team scrambled, actively suppressing the chaotic rumors online.

Mia Kane wasn’t surprised. After all, an incident this big seriously impacted the Lockwood Group’s reputation; there was no way Chase Lockwood would just ignore it.

"According to the agreement, I, Mia Kane, will close my studio from this day forward and cease my own business. However, you are to hire me for a monthly salary of one million US dollars. I will be your company’s chief designer, and I will have absolute authority. No one is permitted to change any design that I finalize."

This was all clearly stipulated in the contract; her authority would even supersede Vivian Lynch’s.

At the time, Vivian Lynch hadn’t thought twice about it. She figured Nona was a professional and certainly more skilled than her, so what right did she have to meddle with the work of an international designer?

But she never expected to have lifted a rock only to drop it on her own foot.

It was one thing for Mia Kane to close her little studio, but now she was going to come to Vivian’s own company with authority greater than hers. Wasn’t this just paying for her own misery?

And... she had to leave the industry herself! Was she supposed to let Mia Kane manage the company? Wasn’t that the same as just handing it over?

The more Vivian Lynch thought about it, the more furious she became, until she fainted dead away.

It was a genuine faint. The wedding scene immediately descended into chaos as the bridesmaids rushed to carry Vivian Lynch away.

"Mia Kane, you’re a master manipulator. You did this on purpose, didn’t you?"

Chase Lockwood’s voice cut in, his eyes dark and menacing.

The people in attendance also snapped out of their stupor.

Mia Kane really had done it on purpose. She had been playing a long game, setting the bait for someone to bite.

Mia Kane shot him a cold look.

"Did you know that I went to Vivian Lynch to call off the bet?"

"It was Vivian who wanted to cancel out of the kindness of her heart, and now you’re trying to twist the truth?"

Chase Lockwood said, pointing a finger at her furiously.

Mia Kane had expected this. She had heard everything from behind the fire door.

She had long known Vivian Lynch was two-faced. To avoid being criticized for setting a trap, she had also prepared an escape route for herself.

She took out her phone and played an audio clip. The conversation she’d had with Vivian Lynch in the dressing room played out clearly for everyone to hear.

She had tried to call off the bet, but a riled-up Vivian Lynch had stubbornly refused.

The color drained from Chase Lockwood’s face, and the way the other guests looked at him became decidedly odd.

’In that case, you really couldn’t blame Mia Kane.’

’Mia Kane might have been suspected of setting a trap, but Vivian Lynch was no saint either. She had been out to completely ruin someone’s reputation and refused to call it off.’

’Vivian Lynch had dug her own grave, and now she had to lie in it!’