The Substitute Bride: Making Memories Of Us (Lois Stone)
Chapter 87: Another Predicament

Chapter 87: Another Predicament 

Ayla drew herself up to her full height and said, "I have nothing to do with him."

Had this man brought her here on purpose?

"So there is nothing between you two? How is that possible? Mr.Clark is looking for you all overAntawood, but he doesn't know that you are here," Tatum said, smiling.

"Where am I now?" Ayla asked, suspicious eyes darting around her.

She knew she was right.

The unintelligible language and unfamiliar environment meant that she was far from her city.

Tatum said from the sofa, "Miss Woodsen, you don't have to know where we are.All you need to knowis that I gave this villa to you.Do you like it?"

"No! Let me go!"

‘'Brian is looking for me? Would he really do that? Didn't he drive me out of the villa the other day?Then why is he looking for me? Will I be locked in here forever if he doesn't replace me?'’ Ayla thoughtfrantically.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you go now," Tatum said, a hint of apology in his voice.

"It will let you go only when Mr.Clark agrees to give me everything I want."

It had been difficult to get Ayla here.

He wasn't about to let her go so easily.

Even if she were to die here, he had to get whatever he wanted from Brian.

Ayla sneered, "I didn't think you were this naive.I'm just a woman he doesn't want.How will you takeadvantage of me to achieve your goal? This is ridiculous.You won't succeed even if I die." She hadbarely finished speaking when a bodyguard slapped her.

"How dare you be so rude to our leader!" he growled.

Ayla was already weak.

At this assault, she tumbled backwards and hit her forehead on the low cabinet.

Tatum's jaw twitched.

He waved a hand and said, "Don't do that.Miss Woodsen is our distinguished guest.We need to treather well."

"I don't need your hypocrisy.Besides, you won't succeed,"

Ayla bit out fiercely.

She was dizzy from the fall but she wasn't about to admit defeat."We shall see,"

Tatum said, getting to his feet.

"Keep an eye on her.If anything happens to her, you know what will happen to you."

All the men left with a last glance at her.

Ayla leaned against the wall, helpless.

Why was she hearing all of this from someone else, now that she had left Brian? If she had known thatBrian would look for her, she would have cried and begged him not to drive her away back then.

But she had left and he was out there looking for her, desperately, if she were to believe Tatum.Heraffection for him and the love that she had finally expressed, had disgusted him, resulting in her beingkicked out of the villa.

They couldn't go back to what they were before.

Brian was sitting in his office when Anna entered the room saying, "Brian.No information about heryet?"

"She is no longer in Antawood."

Brian knew that Ayla's disappearance was not an accident.Anna paused for a long second beforesaying, "You seem to have clues of her whereabouts.Why not go looking for her?"

Over the past few days, Anna had realized the place that Ayla held in Brian's heart.

It had rattled her mind and had exceeded her imagination, but somehow, it seemed inevitable.

Brian hadn't slept well ever since Ayla had disappeared.

He was jumpy and nervous.

He was now telling her, rather calmly, that Ayla was no longer in Antawood.

It was obvious that he knew something.

"She will show up."

He was waiting for the man who had kidnapped Ayla.

He knew that Ayla's sudden disappearance was related to Lucas, but he had still let the bodyguardsretreat.

Fate would arrange everything.

He didn't need to look for her.

She would appear on her own.

Anna grabbed his arm and asked firmly, "Will you bring her back?"

Brian didn't say anything.

He regretted driving Ayla out of the villa.

He was the one who had done that, but the moment she had disappeared, he became worried andnervous.

‘'Bring her back? It depends on whether she is willing to come back to me,’' he thought.

"Are you both inseparable?"

Anna continued to ask.

Ayla was kind and softhearted.

She was too humble to show her love, and would often replace herself in tricky situations because of hertenderness.

Anna didn't care for Ayla.

What was happening to Ayla showed Anna that Brian's care and affection for her had changed.

But to be fair, Brian was the one who had really hurt her.

The cold-blooded, ruthless man who had gone and fallen in love with Ayla.

Brian remained silent.

It didn't matter if he and Ayla were inseparable.

She had shown him her affection and he hadn't wanted to fall into another pickle.

So he had let her leave, only to replace himself in the depths of misery.

He didn't want to admit his love for her, nor did he want Ayla to be his weakness.

Little did he know that she was already there.

If he as much as admitted it, he would fall into a different kind of pain.

Jaime entered the room with a fax.

"Mr.Clark, Tatum wants to meet you."

Brian looked at the fax that Jaime had brought in.

Now that Tatum wanted to meet him, would he try to cut a deal or snatch whatever was presentedbefore him? Whatever it was, he wouldn't satisfy Tatum that easily.

"Reply to him and ask him to decide the time and place, " Brian said to Jaime.

Their meeting was only a matter of time.

Anna looked at Brian.

"Is it something to do with Ayla?"

She had a feeling he knew everything about this.

There was no reason for him not to.

"Anna, go back and get some rest," Brian said, looking fixedly at Anna.

She knew everything about him and there was no one he trusted more.

But he didn't want her to get involved this time.

Jaime and Brian settled down on the sofa, sipping on their respective coffee.

"What will you do if Tatum uses Ayla to threaten you?"

That woman would eventually hurt Brian, which was also what Jaime worried about.

Brian hesitated before saying, "I will bring her back."

Money and goods weren't a problem for him.

He would give some up if it meant they would bring her back.

And he wanted this so badly, it hurt his heart.

He would take what she had said that day seriously.

But Ayla had disappeared for no reason, and this made Brian testy.

He had driven her away, sure, but he had the right to know where she was at all times.

They were still a legal couple, no matter what was happening between them.

"Mr.Clark, please think it through.She will only hurt you.That woman doesn't deserve you!"

Jaime had grown up with Brian like a brother, love and respect between them.

This was probably why he didn't think Ayla was the right woman for him.

Brian, however, was in no mood to listen to Jaime.

"I won't let her leave me," he said fiercely.

As a man who had been in power for so many years, his words silenced Jaime.

"Since you've made up your mind, I'll go back to work," Jaime said, left with no choice.

He knew that if Tatum were to really threaten him with Ayla, Brian wouldn't hesitate to compromise.

Meanwhile, Lucas sat in his office, tense and edgy.

All he could get was news of Ayla.He couldn't see her.

Tatum, his adoptive father, didn't allow him to return without closing the deal with Brian.

But Lucas was still worried about Ayla, whom Tatum was controlling at every level.

In the beginning, he had approached her for the task that his adoptive father had assigned him.

But he had gotten along with her so well that he had ended up falling in love with her.

She was such a pure and innocent girl.

Just a few words from him were enough to move her.

And now, all he wanted was to have her in his life forever.Ayla had been locked in the room for morethan a week.

She stood at the window every day, watching the sun rise and set.

A week was not that long, but she felt as if she had been through a year in these few days.She realizedthat she missed Brian to no end.Her heart was full of him, and she didn't think of Toby anymore.Shehadn't even known when this had happened.The domineering and ruthless man, the man who onlycared about his own desires.She was now thousands of miles away from him, which made eventhinking about him a painful extravagance.The door opened at noon, the servant bringing in trays offood.

Because of Tatum, nobody had dared make things difficult for her since the first day.

But she knew she was just a pawn in the game he was playing.

She would rather die than surrender.

All she wanted was to meet Brian again and say something to him, thus quelling the only regret in herheart.

‘'Brian, do you still remember me? Will you look for me?’' she sighed.

She looked out of the window, hope gleaming in her eyes and heart.