The Substitute Wife: My husband opened his eyes

At the Lanes’ Villa. Slap! A stack of explicit and raunchy photos was thrown at Anna Lane, who was kneeling beside the sofa. “The reputation of the Lanes is going to be ruined by you! I should never have adopted you back then! You’re getting married tomorrow. If the Larsons were to see these photos, our family won’t be able to survive in Ocean City!” Tom yelled and kicked his adopted daughter angrily. He was not done punishing her. He pulled out his leather belt and began to whip Anna forcefully. Anna did not dare to evade and could only endure the violent punishment with tears streaming down her cheeks. She tried desperately to explain. “Dad, it was James who tried to violate me! Please believe me. If you don’t you can inspect the surveillance footage!” “Dad, don’t hit my sister! Anna certainly didn’t intentionally seduce James! Please don’t blame her.” Amy wailed and tried as best as she could to plead for Anna. She was Tom’s biological daughter and James’ girlfriend. “Amy, don’t be so kind as to plead for this s**t! It’s not like she doesn’t know that James is your boyfriend!” Tom was even more furious when he thought that Amy had been cheated on by her boyfriend and her adopted sister. Once Amy heard this, she looked down and wiped her tears while hiding a slight grin. “No... I did not!” Anna shook her head vigorously. She was just attending a classmate’s party and was unlucky to meet James. Despite her resistance, he was drunk and began to get physical with her. She was the victim and yet she was being punished for it. Why did her family choose not to trust her? “Enough, Tom, don’t hit her in the face.” Anna looked up hopefully at her adoptive mother, Susan. “She has to get married tomorrow. It would be problematic if she had visible bruises on her face.” Anna looked at Susan and said, “Mom, you trust me, don’t you?” Susan wanted to say something nasty but suddenly remembered something. She went to Anna’s side, helped her up, and said, “Anna, it’s not that we don’t want to believe you. The photos are here, and the evidence is clear. You should not deny it anymore. Tomorrow you’re going to marry Ethan on behalf of Amy. I know that you are unwilling to but your sister is still in college while you had already graduated and are ready to be married. Ethan has been in a coma since your sister hit him on the head with a bottle. Fortunately, the Larsons only know that it was the Lanes’ daughter who injured Ethan and was not sure if it was you or Amy.” Anna kept sobbing as she listened quietly to what her foster mother had to say. “The doctor had said that Ethan was likely to remain comatose because of his injury. Thus, the Larsons want to hold our family responsible. The Larsons are very wealthy and did not care for any monetary compensation. Instead, they insisted that the person who injured Ethan marry him and she will take care of him for the rest of his life after the marriage. The Larsons have said that if their demands are not met, then the Lanes will not survive in the city.” “Anna, now that Ethan is still in a coma, I beg you to save our family, please.” Susan knew her adopted daughter’s character very well. She was always very compassionate and easily swayed. Appealing to her emotions would be the easiest way to manipulate her. When she saw Anna’s expression softening, Susan continued, “I know you want to help Alice, the nanny who took care of you since you were a child, pay for her medical treatment. Mom promises you that if you agree to marry Ethan on behalf of Amy, then Mom and Dad will give you 200 thousand dollars.” Anna stopped sobbing when she heard Susan’s proposal. “No one will ever talk about you seducing James again! If anything goes wrong with the wedding tomorrow, I won’t keep my promise to give you the 200 thousand dollars to save Alice.” Tom emphasized the deal. Alice... Anna’s mind drifted to her nanny Alice, the only person in the family who truly cared for her and loved her. She was very sick and had to rest most of the time in her room. Alice had no family and no money for her medical treatment. Anna wanted to help her with the payment for the medical treatment but she did not have much money. Thus, she had no choice but to agree to her adoptive parents’ request to take the fall for Amy. She was to marry Ethan, who was comatose, on Amy’s behalf! Anna struggled to her feet. She winced in pain as she staggered toward the maid’s room. Just after pushing open the door, she saw Alice with one hand on the table and one hand on her chest, panting heavily. “Alice! Are you okay? Are you feeling uncomfortable?” Anna rushed forward and helped Alice to sit on the bed. “I’m...I’m fine.” Alice waved her hand and coughed heavily a few times before continuing, “Don’t fight with Mister and Madam, you’ll get hurt, look at your wounds.” Alice carefully removed Anna’s blouse which was stained with blood after the skin split due to the whipping. She then took some antiseptic ointment and applied it carefully to the wounds. Her maternal-like attention warmed Anna’s aching heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she made up her mind. She comforted Alice and said, “Alice, you don’t have to worry about me! I will definitely pay for your medical treatment!” “But your parents want you to marry that comatose man! You just graduated from college and are about to start your residency at the hospital! You went through so much to get to where you are and now you’re giving up?” Alice anxiously said and began to cough again. Anna suppressed her emotions when she thought of giving up her dreams of becoming a doctor. She held Alice’s hand and said, “Alice, don’t worry. He is in a coma anyway and doesn’t affect me. As for the job, I can find another one when the opportunity arises! What’s important now is that after I agree to marry Ethan, they will give me enough money for your treatment.” “It’s all my fault, if I’m not sick, you wouldn’t have needed to marry against your wishes.” Alice’s voice trembled and she bowed her head to wipe her tears. Anna wrapped her arms around Alice, her eyes were red, and her voice choked. “Don’t say that Alice, if it wasn’t for you, I would have died the year Amy was born. You’re the most important family I have.” When Tom and Susan were barren and childless, they adopted her from an orphanage. However, several years later, Susan suddenly got pregnant and gave birth to Amy. Since then, she had been cast aside and became a hindrance to them. She went from being the little princess who was doted on and pampered to being no different from a maid. She had to do all the household chores and was frequently scolded and punished. When Amy made a mistake, she was the one who would be punished because her adoptive parents blamed her for not doing her part as a sister to take care of her little sister. No matter what mistake she made, she had to take the blame for it. Just like this time when Amy hurt Ethan, she had to bear the consequences! On the day of the wedding, Alice braced herself to help Anna take care of everything as much as possible. “Anna, it’s time to go.” There was no crying and tears, with the heartwarming scene of parents who could not bear to let their daughter go. Anna only had Alice to see her off and watched her get into the Larsons’ car and quietly drove away from the back door. The marriage was low-key on both sides of the family. There were no flower girls, no red carpet, no welcoming ceremony, and no friends and family to congratulate them. “What are you still waiting for? Go and greet madam!” As soon as she got out of the car, Anna was dragged inside by a burly woman. Just as she reached the center of the living hall, a cup of hot tea was thrown toward Anna and splashed onto her face. “Ouch!” Anna reached up to cover her face as the hot water stung the parts of her body that had been injured yesterday. She looked up and saw a well-dressed middle-aged woman sitting in the center. “b***h! You’re finally here!” Kate Larson stared menacingly at Anna and said, “If it wasn’t for you, my son wouldn’t be lying motionless in bed! He wouldn’t be a vegetable!” Smash! After saying that, Kate threw a cup in her direction. Anna dodged the cup and avoided being hit by the cup. The next second, her head was violently jerked backward by the burly woman. Her braided hair was yanked hard and immediately became undone. “Ah! Let me go!” Anna begged. “Daisy, bring her to me!” Kate yelled. Anna was dragged toward Kate, knelt in front of her, and Daisy made sure Anna’s face was presented forward. Slap! A bright red imprint of a palm immediately formed on Anna’s face. “How dare you dodge! When you smashed my son’s head with a bottle, was he able to dodge?!” Anna’s chin was pinched by Kate upward such that she could look directly at the other. She could see the rage within Kate’s eyes. Even the servants stared at her with disdain. Anna was in a state of shock. It was as if she had just escaped from a lion’s den and the next moment she was being encircled by a pack of wolves. “Madam, I know that I have sinned so much that I can only pay for it by taking good care of Ethan.” In such a situation, the only thing Anna could do was to beg for forgiveness. Since she had helped Amy to take the blame, she naturally had to admit that she had injured Ethan. “Ethan?! You’re unworthy of mentioning my son’s name!” Kate yelled hysterically. Daisy immediately kicked Anna down. “b***h! Make sure you address him as Master Ethan from now on! Do you understand?!” Anna grabbed her chest in pain and nodded frantically. This seemed to please Kate and she said coldly, “I’m glad you understand. Don’t think that you are Ethan’s wife now. You are just his dog and only worthy of serving him! Daisy, make sure you teach this woman the Larsons’ rules and regulations!” When Anna saw Kate leave, she was about to sit up when she was grabbed by one of the maids. “What are you doing?!” Anna screamed. “Show you the rules around here! Do you think that you can still dress up nicely every day?” Daisy taunted. Rip! Anna’s collar was ripped wide open and she tried to cover herself but her hands were held tightly. She could not move! “This beautiful dress will be thrown away!” Daisy commanded the others to strip Anna’s skirt off and toss it aside. When Daisy saw the red marks on Anna’s body, she grunted and accused, “So you’re a s**t who sleeps around! How dare you have such intense s*x with others? Come on, let this b***h find out how a maid is expected to behave around here!” Anna lay n***d on the floor. She tried her best to cover her private areas. She was humiliated, disrespected, and abused. She curled up in a fetal position and shivered in fear. Immediately afterward, a plain and rough suit was thrown onto her. “From today onward, you can only wear this attire!”