Mr. CEO's Substitute Bride

Violet Zimmerman returned to her parents’ home, carrying the child by herself, without greeting anyone.

Although her family wasn’t as wealthy as the Lancaster Family, Violet believed that at least there was no problem in supporting her and the child.

After getting off the bus, and transferring to two more buses, she carried a grass-green canvas tote on her shoulder, holding the child in her arms.

As soon as she walked through the gate, Violet Zimmerman raised her voice and shouted, "Mom, come and help me!"

Aria Williams heard her daughter’s voice and hurriedly pushed the door open and came out. Seeing her daughter suddenly appear at the doorstep, she asked in shock, "Violet, why are you back?"

"I miss you and Dad, so I’m back to stay for a few days." Violet’s tone was indifferent, but Aria could see that her daughter’s expression didn’t look good.

She glanced behind her, not seeing her niece Lucy Zimmerman, and as she took the grandson from her, she tentatively asked, "Where’s Lucy? Why didn’t she come back with you, did she cause trouble again?"

"Oh, Violet’s back, why didn’t you call ahead? I could have asked your big brother to drive to the station to pick you up." It was Eleanor Duncan speaking, Violet Zimmerman’s sister-in-law.

The second sister-in-law, Natalia Zabinski, also opened her door, "Violet? Why are you back? Did you have a fight with Daxton?"

They had just attended the full moon celebration, and now in less than two days, the younger sister returned home, inevitably making people think.

Violet forced a smile, "Sister-in-law, both of you are here."

"Violet, what actually happened? You just finished the full moon celebration, why are you back? Where’s Daxton? Didn’t he come back with you? Did you two argue over that idiot Lucy?"

Natalia fired off a barrage of questions. Living in City F and knowing Lucy Zimmerman’s nature—lacking restraint and upbringing, already nineteen with no suitors.

Violet once again softly smiled, "No."

"Alright, let’s talk inside."

Aria carried her grandson into the house. It was already November, cold and overcast, and Aria feared her grandson catching a cold.

In the yard, Eleanor and Natalia gathered together, "Natalia, do you think Violet really fought with Daxton? Could it be that she got sent back home?"

Natalia glanced into the house, "Pretty much, with that fool Lucy stirring things up, no family can stay peaceful!"

Eleanor also looked towards the house, frowning with resentment.

"You wonder what Mom was thinking; when Auntie suggested introducing that foolish girl to Violet’s uncle, she agreed without considering what her niece is like."

"Hmph, in my opinion, Auntie is crazy to try and climb the social ladder!" The sisters-in-law went on and on, feelings of discontent towards Lucy Zimmerman evident in their words.

Eleanor suddenly turned back to Natalia, "Natalia, if Violet really got sent back by Daxton, what do we do? She’s still nursing the baby!"

"Hmph, what to do? This is a mess Mom caused, who knows!" Natalia crossed her arms.

Eleanor suddenly nudged her, "Stop with the sarcasm, this concerns both our families! If she stays at our parent’s home, living off us. She’s married off, why should both families have to support her!"

Natalia glanced impatiently at Eleanor, "Sister-in-law, no need to worry now. We still don’t know what’s going on! Let’s go in and investigate first."

After discussing it, the two sisters-in-law went into mother-in-law Aria’s room together.

Natalia, being quick and more tactful than Eleanor, walked into the room and smiled, "Violet, was Lucy sent directly home?"

Violet sat on the bed nursing the child, saying calmly, "No, I came back alone."

The sisters-in-law exchanged a glance, and before Natalia could speak, Eleanor exclaimed, "You came back alone and left Lucy at your house? Violet, this is serious, not easy to talk about. You know what people will say if they hear brother-in-law and sister-in-law are living in the same house together!"

"It’s fine, we have plenty of rooms." Even though she said this, Violet’s expression distinctly cooled down.

The sisters-in-law exchanged another glance, and Aria, after taking out the diapers from the daughter’s bag, also sat down, asking seriously,

"Violet, tell me the truth, what really happened? Did Lucy do something out of line?"

Listening to her eldest daughter-in-law say that, Aria realized something, knowing her niece well.

"No." Violet denied it, she couldn’t say that her husband and Lucy were alone during a blackout. Not only was it embarrassing, but it also lacked face.

Before Aria could ask anything else, Violet changed the topic, "Mom, it’s already noon, I haven’t eaten yet!"

"Oh, my memory!" Aria remorsefully slapped her thigh. "Right, you’re here at this time, and carrying Robert, where could you have lunch!"

With that, Aria stood up, went to the outer room, opened the door and loudly shouted, "Auntie Zhu, please heat up some food for Violet."

Inside, the two sisters-in-law sat on either side of Violet. Natalia, being tactful, didn’t speak as bluntly as Eleanor.

"Violet, we’re all family, tell your second sister-in-law the truth, did Lucy do something inappropriate, embarrassing you, which made you angry enough to come back home?"

"No, second sister-in-law, you’re overthinking it." Violet Zimmerman still refused to admit it, turning Robert in a different direction and continued to nurse him.

"Don’t hide it anymore!" Eleanor Duncan was straightforward and impatient, "Tell us, if it wasn’t because of Lucy, why did you come back alone?"

Violet also understood that if she didn’t provide a reason, her two sisters-in-law would keep pressing. So she glossed over it and said, "Lucy cooked my Little Grey to please Joseph."

"Little Grey?" The two sisters-in-law exchanged another look, and Eleanor asked puzzled, "Who is Little Grey?" Since it was cooked and eaten, it couldn’t possibly be a person!

"Little Grey is the rabbit I was raising since spring. It’s been over half a year now..."

Violet stared at her son sucking on the pacifier, completely absorbed in her own loss, still very upset about Little Grey.

Eleanor looked reproachful, while Natalia Zabinski turned her face to the side, obviously showing disdain mixed with displeasure.

"Violet, honestly!" Eleanor complained, "Wasn’t the rabbit raised to be slaughtered for meat? Sister-in-law knows your in-laws are wealthy, but that money doesn’t just fall from the sky! No matter how headstrong you are, you can’t keep the rabbit as a pet forever, right?"

"Why not? Five rabbits don’t eat much." Violet grumbled discontentedly.

Hearing that she had raised five rabbits, Eleanor was even more shocked. Eyes wide, she asked incredulously, "What? You raised five?"

"Yes."

"Violet, don’t blame me for saying this, but you’re wrong here! Even though your Lancaster Family is wealthy, nowadays anything you buy requires food coupons. No matter how much money you have, without a food coupon, people won’t sell to you!"

After Robert was full, he fell asleep again. Violet patted the baby gently while saying, "I’m not sure if the cook at home needs food coupons to buy groceries. Anyway, our family eats meat every week. When I was pregnant with Robert, I had eggs every day."

The two sisters-in-law exchanged another look, their expressions mixed with shock, envy, and jealousy... in short, their faces were full of expressions.

Natalia got off the ’kang’ with a glare of dissatisfaction at Violet, speaking with a sarcastic tone, "Violet, our family doesn’t compare to your Lancaster Family. Even if we have money, we can’t afford to eat meat every week."

"Exactly, our second just is half a month older than Robert. Look at you, with good food and abundant milk at your in-laws’, unlike me, whose second just is never fully fed."

Eleanor also got off the ’kang’, "Violet, later I’ll bring your nephew over, you give our second just some milk."/p>

The two sisters-in-law, having gathered their information, were ready to go back to their room.

Aria Williams’ voice also came from the outer room, "Violet, the food is hot, come and eat."

"You go eat first, we’ll head back to our rooms to check on the kids, and come over later to chat with you."

The two sisters-in-law returned to their rooms, and Violet placed Robert on the ’kang’ and went to the outer room to eat.

Aria sat with her daughter at the dining table, with just the two of them left in the room, making it easier to talk.

Aria turned serious, "Violet, be honest with me, what on earth happened? I just called your third uncle and told him Lucy from their family made you upset enough to come back home!"

"What did third uncle say?"

Violet picked up her bowl and chopsticks. The food at her mother’s place wasn’t as good as her in-laws’, just two dishes, one tofu stew and one dried tofu, not a scrap of meat to be seen, but at least the rice was pure white rice, not coarse grains.

"Your third uncle said he’d call Lucy and have her come back soon!" Aria still wore a stern face.

"Violet, is it because you argued with Daxton over Lucy?"

Violet took small bites of rice, hesitated a moment, then probed, "Mom, I want to divorce Daxton."

Aria suddenly realized the seriousness of the issue.

Her hand on the dining table tightened, nervously asking, "Is it because Daxton and Lucy..."

Aria couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence, and she didn’t want to believe deep down that Daxton Lancaster would do anything with Lucy. After all, her daughter was beautiful, and any man with decent judgment wouldn’t choose Lucy over her.

"No." Violet denied it. She couldn’t speak of last night’s incident; voicing it wouldn’t change anything and would only worry her mother.

"Then why?" Aria put on the stern face again, "Violet, you’ve been thinking of divorcing Daxton for some time now. Is it because you have someone else outside?"

As Aria asked, a piece of tofu that Violet had just picked up fell onto the table with a smack.

"Violet, you—"

Aria looked at her daughter in disbelief, shocked that it might actually be true.

"How could you do this? Daxton is so good; his family background, his looks, his politeness... Remember, when you were in the hospital, even though he didn’t have time to accompany you, he specifically instructed Joseph to take care of you..."

At this point, Aria suddenly thought of something, as if discovering a secret, covering her mouth in shock, "Violet, could it be that you..."