Chapter 1 The Substitute Bride

At the Swain family estate. When Howard Swain, the head of the family, returned home, he found Fiona Bennett and Yolanda Swain, mother and daughter, in tears. "Mom, I can't marry Ethan Benton. He's in a vegetative state! Marrying him would mean the end of my life. Please, I beg you. Let father go to the Benton family and cancel the engagement. If you insist on forcing me, I would rather die. I will jump off a building, hang myself, and slit my wrists! Anything is better than marrying a living dead man!" Yolanda blurted out, making a move to grab the fruit knife on the coffee table. "Stop!" Howard, seeing his daughter about to hurt herself, quickly strode over to stop her. "Don't be so rash! What do you think you're doing?" "Dad!" Yolanda sobbed, "I'm glad you're back. Today, I want to show you my determination. I would rather die than marry Ethan Benton." "But we can't just let you do something foolish!" Fiona pleaded with Howard, "Howard, are you heartless? Yolanda is our daughter. Can you really bear to see her take her own life?" Howard Swain felt helpless, "Fiona, you know our family's situation. We were already reaching above our station by arranging the marriage with the Bentons. If we renege on the agreement now that Ethan is incapacitated, it'll be the end for us." Howard sunk into the sofa, "I don't want our daughter to suffer either, but I have no other way[1] . I hope you both can understand." "What do you mean, 'no other way'?" Fiona saw that Howard was wavering and quickly offered a solution, "The engagement was with the eldest daughter of the Swain family. Now that Ethan is paralyzed, they won't care whether the bride is Yolanda or anyone else." "What are you suggesting?" Howard was confused. "Howard!" Fiona sat next to him, clutching his arm, "Did you forget that you have another daughter, two years older than Yolanda? She's the true eldest daughter of the Swain family. Technically, Yolanda is the second child." "You mean Vivian? No way!" Howard immediately refused as soon as his wife mentioned their other daughter. "Why not? If Vivian marries Ethan, Yolanda could be saved." Howard glared at Fiona, "Have you lost your mind? Vivian is mentally challenged! You want to marry off a mentally impaired girl and make a fool out of the entire Benton family?" "Howard! Vivian has been living in the countryside for years. Nobody outside knows she exists, let alone that she's mentally challenged. We could marry her off first, then make up some excuse about her becoming mentally impaired due to an accident. Nobody would know." "Besides, Ethan is practically blind as a vegetable. He wouldn't know the difference. And with Vivian married, you won't have to take care of her anymore. Isn't that a win-win?" Howard found his wife's reasoning compelling. He glanced at his precious daughter, who was threatening to take her own life, and finally nodded. "Alright, I will send someone to fetch Vivian from the countryside." … In a remote village in Amorita. William Johnson, the secretary, had fetched Vivian Swain. Vivian was the daughter of Howard Swain and his ex-wife. Back then, Howard was an unrecognized illegitimate child and a penniless young man. His ex-wife was a kind and gentle woman. She not only bore him a child at a young age, but also helped him build everything from scratch. However, Howard, the unfaithful man, had an affair with Fiona Bennett after he made his fortune. After returning to the Swain family and being acknowledged as a legitimate son, he cruelly discarded his ex-wife and daughter. Vivian had become mentally impaired because she had a high fever when she was young and they had no money to treat her. In the excitement of Secretary William Johnson's announcement that they were heading to the big city, Amorita, to buy candy, Vivian Swain was so thrilled that she left behind her grandmother who had cared for her for decades. Now, she was pressed against the car window, gazing at William with a giddy smile, her eyes as clear as a child's. Feeling a pang of sympathy for the girl, Secretary Johnson handed her his cell phone, "Miss Swain, why don't you have a chat with your father, he's waiting on the other end of the line."　　 Vivian, however, was too busy giggling to respond properly. Encouraged by Secretary Johnson, she even put the phone in her mouth and bit down, "Tasty, can I eat it?" Quickly recovering his cell phone, Secretary Johnson stepped away and informed Howard Swain on the other end of the line, "Miss Swain is still the same. She doesn't even know what a cell phone is. She only knows how to eat."[2] What he didn't know was that Vivian, standing behind him, was smirking at his retreating figure. Her clear, defined eyes sparkled with intelligence, nothing like the simple-minded girl she pretended to be. … If this were before Ethan Benton's accident, his wedding would surely have been a grand event. But the car accident had left him in a vegetative state, unconscious in his bed, unable to attend his own wedding. As such, the Benton family held no wedding celebration, instead simply bringing Vivian to Ethan's mansion. Fiona fearing that the bride's mental state would be revealed, shamelessly moved in with them on the wedding night. Ethan's bedroom was on the second floor of the mansion. Despite his current vegetative state, tradition decreed that the bride and groom would share the room. Housekeeper Jean Thompson led Vivian and Fiona up to the room. To hide Vivian's condition, Fiona covered Vivian's head with a heavy veil. With her vision obscured by the heavy veil, Vivian could see nothing. But Fiona had a clear view of the man lying on the bed, his complexion pale. Medical equipment littered his bedside, indicating his dire condition. Fiona sighed in relief once more, grateful she hadn't married off her own daughter. But Vivian had other plans. The more Fiona tried to hide the truth, the more Vivian wanted it to be known. She lifted her veil, salivating as she exclaimed, "Hungry, momma. Vivian is hungry. I want to eat something. I want meat." Fiona didn't expect Vivian to act out so suddenly. She had promised her candy if she stayed quiet after entering the mansion. How could she behave this way now? Frustrated, Fiona hurried to cover Vivian's mouth and replace her veil, "Don't you know the rules? You can't lift your own veil!" "What's wrong with the young miss?" Jean Thompson found the new bride's behavior odd. "Oh, nothing," Fiona quickly dismissed, "She's just being her usual self. That's her true personality! She's always been a foodie since childhood. She's just hungry. Could you perhaps prepare some food for her?" Fiona hurriedly sent Jean away. But Jean found the young bride's behavior less than charming, more akin to someone with a mental disability. Once Jean left, Fiona pulled Vivian into the bathroom, a more secluded area where she planned to implement her plan! Neither Fiona nor Vivian noticed that, after they entered the bathroom, Ethan suddenly opened his eyes on the bed!