The Substitute Bride: Unveiling the Paralyzed Don

2

The Tears and the Family Scapegoat

"I won't! Grandfather, are you listening?! I refuse to marry a cripple!"

Chloe Vargas's shrill scream echoed through the corridors of the luxurious Vargas estate. In the marblefloored living room, she was throwing a tantrum. She hurled a porcelain vase to the floor, shattering it into pieces. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and her beautiful face was flushed with anger, her tears ruining her expensive makeup.

Raymond Vargas, her father, immediately stepped forward to grip his daughter's trembling shoulders. Meanwhile, her mother, Diana, busied herself rubbing Chloe's back, her own face etched with equal panic.

"Calm down, sweetie. Calm down... Papa and Mama won't let you suffer," Diana coaxed, her voice trembling as she looked at Arthur Vargas, who sat calmly on his armchair, seemingly unfazed by the shards of porcelain near his feet.

"How can I be calm, Mama?!" Chloe jerked her mother's hand away. "Grandfather wants to hand me over to Lorenzo Moretti! The man is paralyzed! He can't even stand up to touch me! How can I, Chloe Vargas, become the laughingstock of every socialite in Chicago by being married to a disabled man in a wheelchair?"

Chloe stepped back, her chest heaving with overwhelming emotion. The anger in her eyes shifted to genuine fear as she imagined her future at the Moretti mansion.

"Besides, think for a second, Grandfather!" Chloe shrieked, pointing at the letter stamped with red wax. "In their cruel world, a paralyzed mafia boss is as good as powerless! A crippled Enzo Moretti is a sitting duck. He'll only invite all his enemies to come and slaughter him!"

Chloe clutched Diana's arm tightly, seeking protection from the nightmare haunting her.

"I don't want to die young, Mama! Once Enzo's enemies attack that mansion to finish him off, I'll surely be killed along with him! I'll die a pathetic death just for being the wife of a useless mobster!"

Diana immediately hugged her beloved daughter, who had begun to tremble hysterically, then looked at Raymond and Arthur with a demanding stare.

"Did you hear that, Papa? Raymond? Our daughter is right!" Diana retorted, inflaming the situation with a provocative tone. "Marrying Chloe to Enzo right now is as good as sending her to the gallows. We cannot sacrifice Chloe for a man who is halfdead!"

"Besides, we all know how ruthless Enzo's enemies are."

Raymond looked up at his father, Arthur, with a pleading gaze.

"Dad, Chloe is right," Raymond said, defending his daughter. "We raised Chloe to be a queen among the elite. We've invested so much in her social life and education. Marrying her off to an Enzo Moretti who is now paralyzed is like throwing our best asset into the trash."

Diana chimed in quickly, stoking the fire. "And everyone knows Victor Moretti is gunning for Enzo's position. If Enzo is ousted or even... murdered by his enemies because he's weak, Chloe will be the widow of a fallen mobster. Do you want to bear that shame, Father?"

Arthur Vargas took a long breath. His cold, wrinkled eyes swept across the three people before him. He didn't care about Chloe's tears, nor did he care about Raymond's nonsense regarding "assets." Only one thing occupied his mind: the survival of the Vargas business.

"Do you think we have a choice?" Arthur asked, his voice heavy and emphatic. "That letter from Isabella Moretti isn't just a wedding invitation. It's an ultimatum! If the bride doesn't arrive at the Moretti residence in three days, our ports will be blockaded, and our multimillion dollar importexport business will be ruined overnight!"

Raymond swallowed hard. Cold sweat began to soak his shirt collar. The Moretti family's threats were no idle bluff. They were the absolute rulers of the Chicago underworld.

"But it doesn't have to be Chloe, does it, Father?" Diana interjected suddenly. Her eyes sparkled with cunning, as if she had just found a way out through the eye of a needle.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Diana smiled meaningfully, glancing out the living room window toward the backyard. "In the letter, Isabella Moretti only wrote: 'a daughter of the Vargas family.' They didn't specify Chloe's name. They only asked for Vargas blood to settle an old promise."

Chloe stopped crying instantly. She wiped her tears away roughly and stared at her mother with wide eyes. "Mama, you mean... that bastard child?"

"She isn't a bastard, Chloe, but your cousin," Raymond interrupted with a thin smirk forming on his face. "Harper."

The name slipped from Raymond's lips like a soothing poison.

"Exactly, Dad!" Raymond turned to look at Arthur with conviction. "Harper also carries the Vargas name. Even though she and her parents, David and Sarah, have been living as dependents in the back pavilion, her blood is still legitimate in the eyes of the law to fulfill that agreement. Let Harper go to the Moretti mansion!"

Chloe immediately grabbed her grandfather's hand, putting on the most dramatic, pitiable face. "Grandfather, please... let Harper take my place. She deserves that cripple. Let her rot there, just as long as it isn't me!"

Arthur Vargas went silent. His wrinkled fingers tapped against his gold lionheaded cane. His mind analyzed the proposal.

Harper Vargas. The daughter of David-Raymond's weak and useless younger brother. For years, David and his wife, Sarah, had lived under Arthur's financial control because of Sarah's mounting medical bills. Harper was an obedient, intelligent girl, but she possessed no power in this house. She was a pawn that was very easy to move.

"The Morettis won't accept a substitute bride if they find out we've deceived them," Arthur muttered, beginning to weigh the options.

"They won't know, Dad!" Raymond countered quickly. "Isabella Moretti has never seen Chloe in person. To them, Harper is just a beautiful, educated Vargas daughter. Moreover, with Enzo's paralyzed condition, they must be too busy dealing with their own internal chaos to worry about the bride's face."

Diana nodded in agreement. "And most importantly, we can threaten David and Sarah to force Harper to comply. Harper cares deeply for her sickly parents. She will definitely do anything if we threaten to cut off her mother's medical funding."

The room fell suddenly silent. Arthur slowly rose from his armchair. A manipulative and ruthless aura radiated from the old man. He tapped his cane once against the marble floor, creating a solid, ominous sound.

"Call David, Sarah, and Harper to my study immediately," Arthur ordered coldly.

A smirk of triumph bloomed on the faces of Chloe, Raymond, and Diana. In their hearts, the sacrifice for the Moretti hell had been officially determined.