The Substitute Wife Conquered

Staring at the moon, lost in thought, others believe she is lost in admiration of the moon. But for her, it's just a way to keep her mind off many things that have happened to her recently.

Melissa and Melinda are the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel. Though Melissa is older than Melinda by just a few days, they are identical twins with contrasting personalities. 

While others can't tell them apart, their parents can, and some people who are close to them can differentiate them by their personalities. Melissa is introverted, shy, and calm, while Melinda is her opposite—scheming, outgoing, and the life of the party. Melinda is also their parents' favorite, due to reasons best known to them. She always gets what she wants, even if it means taking it from Melissa.

Melissa has been told since childhood that she must always compromise for her sister's sake, even if she doesn't want to; for the sake of peace, she has to. The Daniels are one of the top six wealthy families in the country.

Melissa has always had a crush on Brian Rowland, the only son of Mrs. Priscilla and Mr. Rowland and the heir to Rowland's companies.

Her crush had always been one-sided, and only her best friend, Estabel, knew about it. As luck would have it, her parents decided to arrange a marriage for her, without her knowing anything about her future intended groom.

Though Melissa didn't want an arranged marriage, she couldn't voice out her opinions like her sister Melinda could. Melinda had always made it clear to their parents that she wanted to marry for love, not for family or social status. 

Mr. Daniel, seeing an opportunity to climb the social ladder and secure more business profits through marriage, couldn't let go of such an opportunity and had to arrange the engagement on Melissa's behalf, even though she hadn't given her consent or rather, her consent wasn't needed.

"I don't want my marriage to be arranged. What if there's no love between us or we're not compatible?" Melissa said. But her mother convinced her to trust her on this. Melissa tried to know more about who she was going to get engaged to but received no clear answers or hints.

"Lisa, you'll get to know him tomorrow. Why rush when you have all of tomorrow to see and learn  about him?" Mrs. Kate asked with a wide smile.

On the day set for both families to meet and discuss the engagement, Melinda was asked to go along, but she refused.

"Mom, My presence isn't needed there; they are to see their future bride and daughter-in-law, not me, and besides, I have already promised Claire and the girls to go shopping with them. I can't go back on my word," Melinda said, having made up her mind not to attend. Why would she waste her time on an irrelevant person like Melissa or attend a meeting where everyone's attention won't be on her, she reasoned. Daniels had to go without her, seeing that she had made you her mind.

At the hotel, they arrived late keeping Mr. Rowland and his family waiting for them.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting. I had an emergency at the office and thought it would be sorted quickly, but it took longer than expected," Mr. Daniel explained, apologizing to the Rowlands.

"Come on, Mr. Daniel. We'll soon be family, and besides, business should always come first. But we should prioritize some important family meetings sometimes," Mrs. Priscilla responded with a smile.

Mrs. Kate nodded in agreement. "You're right, Mrs. Rowland, but you know the issue was related to the recent contract we signed. We were almost cheated out of some million dollars. If we hadn't sorted it out immediately, we might have gone bankrupt. Thankfully, it's been resolved."

Seeing both women exchange pleasantries, not insults while trying to assert the strength of their respective families, Mr. Rowland intervened. "Since we're all here now, why don't we go inside and discuss the engagement, and let the children get to know each other," he suggested, and everyone agreed.

A date was set for the engagement, and it was decided that the party had to be the talk of the country for days, as it marked the union of two great families. Drinks and food were ordered.

"Let the children take a walk in the garden and get to know each other. It will help in building the marriage. What do you think?" Mrs. Kate asked no one in particular.

Priscilla wanted to decline, but her husband quickly agreed.

Priscilla had no problem with the Daniels family, but she was unhappy about her son marrying Melissa. She had always liked Melinda for her outspokenness, social status, and strength of character. Priscilla believed Melinda would be the perfect future Mrs. Rowland and could secure more control of the Daniels family company. Though she couldn't tell the twins apart by their appearance, she knew Melissa wasn't the one standing before her—she was sure of it based on Melissa's shy demeanor.

As they stepped outside, it was clear that Melissa was blushing. She couldn't believe she was talking to her crush, let alone engaged to him. Thank goodness she didn't refuse when her parents asked. She couldn't wait to tell Estabel about this new development.

They walked for a few minutes, both lost in their thoughts.

"Hi, I'm Brian. I guess I can introduce myself as your future husband," he said with a charming smile, which allowed his dimples to show. "Tell me more about yourself like your hobbies, your aspirations, future ambitions. I would like to get to know you."

They quickly connected through their conversation, discovering they had many things in common. It could be said they fell in love at first sight. They exchanged contact information and headed back to their parents.

Both Brian and Melissa had smiles on their faces, which reassured their parents that the match was a good one, except for Priscilla.