The CEO’s Substitute Lover

Octavia Gills just smiled.

She felt a little strange and sad about Eddison this time, maybe a lost love? Well, it was possible.

“Octavia, why aren’t you talking?” Eddison asked.

“Say what? I’m listening to you, huh?”

“Then I’m saying I want to stay here for the rest of my life.”

“Fine, stay then.” Octavia Gills rambled in response.

Eddison was discouraged, “Octavia, I really mean it.”

“Another confession?” Octavia Gills smiled.

Eddison looked at her bright smile but sensed a bit of frustration nestled in it.

“Well, Prince Gu, I don’t know how many times you’ve fallen in and out of love, but you don’t have to confess your love to me at every turn, do you? It’s utterly pointless!” Octavia Gills sounded like a big sister.

“Octavia, can you be serious?”

Looking at him, Octavia Gills bent over laughing, “Do you think Gar will look like you do now?”

Eddison was so depressed that he wanted to bang his head against the sycamore tree.

“Well, no matter how badly you’ve been hurt, I’m taking you in for the sake of friendship, stay as long as you like. Though even if you want to stay, someone will most probably send you back. Don’t forget, you’re the vice president of your company.”

“I can resign!”

Octavia Gills looked at him and smiled, nodding her head and saying yes.

Eddison was bemused.

Octavia Gills didn’t resent laughing and joking with him a bit.

She didn’t ask for information about anyone from her home country.

He didn’t mention it either.

It was as if they had been born to be good friends, and as if everything was a fresh start for them.

Tredan Davi arrived in Japan the next morning.

Even with the morning sun shining, it was a little chilly and the leaves on the road were a little damp from the night dew.

There was a faint smell of fresh plants in the air, and the atmosphere in Japan was so nice that a taking few deep breaths cheered up one’s mood.

Tredan Davi was standing outside Octavia Gills’ address, leaning against the lamppost, when the phrase “being close to home” suddenly came to mind.

Knowing that she lived in this quiet little Japanese house, he could no longer take a step nearer.

What would she do when she saw him?

Will she be surprised? Will she run into his arms?

Or would she come and punch him with her fists in anger, blaming him for taking so long to come?

Or pretend to be angry and not see him? Wait for him to woo her?

Will her eyes turn red with anguish and make her tears fall?

Or…

Tredan Davi thought of many possibilities.

It made his heart ache for a moment and then overflow with sweetness.

Whatever Octavia Gills’ reaction will be, the first thing he would surely do is to take her into his arms and hold her tightly, never to let go again.

Henceforth, she would no longer be his secret lover.

He would announce to the world that Octavia Gills was the love of his life, the only love of his life.

He would marry her, in the most extravagant and romantic way possible.

He would give her all that he had, the best of all he had.

He will spend his life loving her and caring for her.

After that, what more could a man want?

The door to the courtyard opened with a loud bang.

Tredan Davi’s heart leaped out of his chest.

Octavia Gills was wearing a cotton linen dress in sky blue, ankle-length, a pair of loafers in the same color, a knitted blouse, and a canvas satchel on her shoulder. She had two books in her hands and her hair that is much longer, tied back at the nape of her neck, as fresh and elegant as a bell orchid.

This is how Octavia Gills used to dress during her breaks at the Old House, making Tredan Davi feel particularly at home. He would put off all his activities and just sit on the sofa, pretending to read the newspaper, but was, in fact, peeking at Octavia Gills as she went about her business around the house, his heart overflowing with warmth.

The old house that felt like home when Octavia Gills was there, and now Tredan Davi thinks this little house is all so lovely that he would like to stay here, anywhere would be his home as long as he had Octavia Gills.

He took two quick steps and had a heartfelt smile on his face, but he suddenly froze.

Eddison stepped in Octavia Gills’ way, grabbed the books out of her hands, and cradled it in his arms.

Octavia Gills looked at Eddison with a sideways smile, a smile full of affection.

Tredan Davi suddenly felt a sting in his eyes, so much so that tears welled up.

Eddison reached out and brushed Octavia Gills’ hair from the corner of her forehead.

Octavia Gills ducked her head and looked at Tredan Davi, who was standing a few paces in front of her.

Tredan Davi’s face was expressionless.

Octavia Gills was stunned and then looked at him calmly, without moving.

The three of them, under a lamppost, looked at each other.

The corners of Tredan Davi’s mouth rose in a sneer, “You’re having a sweet time, brother and sister!”

“Brother, we…” Eddison tried to explain.

“Don’t call me that, I’m not your big brother, never have been.” Tredan Davi said coldly.

“Why are you always like this? You’ve been hostile towards me since I was a child? What did I do wrong that has even made you hate me? What do the things our parents have done have to do with me?” Eddison finally said his feelings out loud today.

Tredan Davi just stared at Octavia Gills and ignored him.

Octavia Gills also looked at Tredan Davi in silence.

He was darker, thinner, and more handsome. Surely, being married was different, right?

But what did it have to do with herself, he wouldn’t be her man for the rest of her life.

“So, you’re doing well and happy! I was the one who worried blindly.” Tredan Davi looked coldly at Octavia Gills whose eyes mirrored the pain she felt in her heart.

Tredan Davi turned around and walked the way he had come, one step at a time, slowly.

Tredan Davi walked slowly, wishing that Octavia Gills would call out to him. When he was a child, he would turn away in anger, and she would always be the one to rush after him, or shout, “Tredan, don’t go.”

All it would take was one cry from her and he would turn back and take her in his arms.

But no, she didn’t shout or come after him.

Octavia Gills watched his back, step by step as she bit her lip tightly, her hand clenched into a fist, her nails digging deep into her flesh, and her tears fell like a broken bead necklace, but she did not say a word.

Go away?? let him get the wrong idea about her and Eddison.

She had already walked out of his life, and he was married.

It was over, she had gone to Japan to turn away from him, let the end have an end.

When she gave up her career to return home so she could get into Group Davi, she thought she just wanted to be closer to him.

When she got into Group Davi, she thought it would be nice to be able to look at him from afar.

Later, when she became his secret lover, she thought it would be nice to just be by his side.

During those times, she thought she loved him and that’s why she was so silly.

Now she understands that it wasn’t enough love then.

Now she loves him to the marrow of her bones, so it’s not just about being close to him, not just looking at him from afar, not just being by his side.

She wanted so much more, she loves him too much.

So, if you can’t have it, let it go, if you can’t do it, leave and go far away.

From then on, she could do everything she wanted, and the sky is the limit.

From now on, loving him is just something she does alone, without his involvement, he just needs to be happy.

Just be happy and stay as far away as he can from her.

But her heart ached so much that she slowly crouched down and wrapped her arms around herself.

Octavia Gills fell ill.

She suddenly had a fever at night and was burning up.

Eddison stayed up all night to look after her, giving her water and medicine and changing the towels on her forehead to cool her down the fever.

Fortunately, her fever had subsided when morning came.

Octavia Gills looked at Eddison with a bowl of porridge in front of her and burst into tears: “Eddison, thank you!”

Eddison fed her the porridge, “I made it the way it says on the internet, try it, you have to eat when you are sick, you can’t get better unless you have more energy.”

Octavia Gills took a sip of the porridge.

“Thank you, really, Eddison, the titular Prince Gu, for doing this for me.” Octavia Gills finished the porridge and Eddison settled her down in bed to rest.

Eddison smiled as he collected the dishes, “If you really want to thank me, then give me your life.”

Octavia Gills gave him a blank look, not taking it seriously.

Eddison sat down next to Octavia Gills, looked her in the eye, and asked seriously, “Do you love him that much? Did you also get sick because you saw him turn away yesterday, right?”

Octavia Gills averted her eyes.

“Octavia, tell me what it would take for you to start a new relationship.”

There was a long silence.

Octavia Gills said softly, “There is a legend of a bird that sings only once in its life, and from the time it leaves its nest, it persistently searches for its thorn tree, and when it finds it, it roots its body into the thorn it has chosen and sings with all its blood and tears, and when the song is over, it dies of exhaustion.”

“Eddison, I understand your heart, but, I’m sorry, you’re not my thorn tree.”

Eddison was shocked and shook Octavia Gills’ hand, “Octavia!”

Octavia Gills smiled lightly, “Don’t try to persuade me. I know that it was the thornbill that died, not the thorn tree, the thornbill never wanted the thorn tree to respond to it, it was because of its love, no one else’s.”This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

Eddison’s heart throbbed.

“Eddison, go home, and thank you for coming to see me, and thank you even more for taking care of me.”

Over the next few days, Octavia Gills began to cough, she spent sleepless nights coughing and sobbing.

Eddison, on the other hand, had received phone calls that turned into a life-threatening series of calls and he knew he had to go back, there was too much waiting for him to do.

This night, woken by Octavia Gills’ violent cough, Eddison ran in with a glass of warm water and gently gave Octavia Gills a back rub, complaining, “I thought Japanese medicine was the best? Why don’t you get better even after taking so much.”

Octavia Gills finally stopped coughing and took a sip of warm water as Eddison wiped the fine sweat from her forehead.

“Sickness comes and goes, I guess. It always gets better. I heard your phone ring a few more times during the night, Eddison, go back. I’ll be fine.”

Eddison was silent for a moment, “Octavia, come back home with me.”

Octavia Gills froze.

Eddison continued, “I know I won’t confide in you again, you can’t force your feelings. I was thinking that I wouldn’t be comfortable with you being here alone, and neither would my family. Why don’t you consider going back to your home country and opening your own company? There is a good market in China right now, and if you want, I can invest in a share and do it with you. Wouldn’t it be nice to be closer to your family and you could easily take care of them?”

Octavia Gills was silent, she had never thought about it, being with her family was good, but starting a company was something she had never thought about and didn’t think she could do.

Eddison continued, “Octavia, it’s true that I don’t understand your love. My dad and my mum went to high school together. My mum didn’t go to college and worked part-time to pay for my dad’s education, both our families were poor and my dad had a hard time reading. Then dad was taken by the chairman of his company and became a son-in-law and abandoned Mum.

Dad only used the chairman’s daughter to completely build up his wealth because he didn’t want Mum to suffer so much anymore. Shortly after his eldest son was born, he got back with Mum. In the end, he always went back to Mum, right! That’s why they got back together regardless of her past, and there was me.

The chairman’s daughter then went mad, so dad sent her to the best mental hospital and arranged for someone to look after her. Mum and I were received into Dad’s opulent home.

My half-brother and my mother were always at each other’s throats, so Dad sent him abroad. For so many years, mum and dad lived peacefully, I didn’t know until recently that dad had never been divorced, and I can’t say exactly who interfered with who between my mum and my big brother’s mum.”