The CEO’s Substitute Lover

The two maids dispersed hurriedly.

Lilian Drye went back to her room, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

Elda is married to Eldwin, the same Eldwin who has been good to Octavia Gills since she was a little girl, and never thought he would be even better to her when he became her stepfather.

So, they put up a small restaurant with all the money they received from the Drye Family.

Why do their lives get better and better away from the Drye Family?

Now, that little bitch Octavia Gills is back.

After she left, although Tredan still didn’t treat her so well either, at least he treats her better nowadays.

Octavia Gills is a bitch, a plague, born to be a thorn on Tredan’s and her side.

No, I can’t let them live their lives happily, I’m not happy yet, why should they be!!!

With that in mind, she picked up her phone and made a call.

It’s Friday and business is good at Elda’s Bistro. Eldwin and Elda have been busy in the kitchen, and outside, Gar, Domino, and two waiters have been busy too.

“Table five with an extra plate of grilled fish!”

“Hey, yeah!”

“Gar, add a plate of Eldwin’s secret smoked salami for us!”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Yes, coming right up!”

“Gar, pack a box of glutinous rice dumplings for me later, my mother said that yours are the only ones that are authentic!”

“Yeah, that’s my mum’s secret recipe, it’s delicious, so please come often.”

Gar was busy placing orders at the front desk while chilling out with customers.

Domino then directed the waiters to serve the tables in a quick and orderly manner.

The small shop is full of laughter.

Octavia Gills sat in a small corner of the staircase, with a full view of the lower part of the building, the guests will not be able to see her.

She looked at everything in front of her drawing sketches with her pencil.

How nice! The atmosphere was smokey but it mirrors such warmth and joy. Mum’s sticky rice gnocchi and Eldwin’s smoked salami were so quickly recognized by everyone.

Eldwin says that their greatest joy is to see their stir-fried dishes being licked clean off the plates. The clientele was always young, some of whom are from out of town and come to Elda Bistro for a meal when they feel homesick, they say it has a taste of home.

Some of the customers are also rich. At first, it was mostly Woodrow’s friends, and then word spread a little, and pals introduced more friends who were tired of all the fancy food and came here for the homey feeling.

The place attracts the right kind of people, and Gar says that only a few of the rich kids who come here are arrogant and domineering. These young people are becoming friends with Gar and Domino. Last week, a couple sent a gift to thank Elda Bistro for being a matchmaker.

Octavia Gills’ throat itched, so she covered her mouth and coughed lightly twice.

She wasn’t well enough yet, so people wouldn’t allow her to go down to help out.

Octavia Gills was also worried that her coughing might upset her guests, so she sat in the corner and admired them, thinking that she could paint them a picture sometime, though not a picture of the Rhine but a picture of the daily life at Elda Bistro. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Suddenly, there was a blinding sound of car brakes at the entrance!

Seven or eight of them parked across the street in front of Elda Bistro.

More than ten men and women came out of the cars. They were all quite young, maybe 18 or 19 years old, and some were holding long iron bars or something.

The first two girls and one boy who entered looked around the small shop. Some of the diners who were eating stood up in surprise, while others looked at them and continued eating and joking.

Gar was not in the shop because they ran out of the drink that a customer wanted, so he went to the little shop next door to get them.

Domino greeted the new customers, feeling that they were a bit unusual, she still smiled and asked, “How many, please?”

The girl who headed the group sized up Domino, “Are you Octavia who specializes in being a mistress?”

Domino put down what she was holding and looked at the men, “Who are you?”

“Who are we? We’re here to fight.”

The boy next to her suddenly banged the iron bar in his hand on the table beside him, shattering the cups and plates and causing the diners to jump to their feet to avoid the spilled food.

The three boys at the table, regulars, were furious when they saw the smoked sausages they had reserved for days fall to the floor, “Who the hell are you? Pay for my sausage.”

He came up and punched the boy with the iron bar in the face. The boy was defenseless, he was struck squarely so blood flowed all over his face.

This started all the ruckus as the other young kids forced their way in and started smashing things and beating people up, regardless of their differences. Some of the diners who were scared rushed to the side, while others, not afraid of trouble, went forward and joined the melee.

There was a lot of shouting and swearing, cups and plates breaking, and more screaming.

Octavia Gills was stunned momentarily and froze.

Eldwin from the back kitchen rushed out with a kitchen knife and shouted, “Stop all of this!”

His roar was so loud that it made people’s ears hurt and they couldn’t help but stop.

Several of those in the melee were hung over.

Domino had run up the stairs, preventing Octavia Gills from going down.

Eldwin asked one of the girls, “Who are you, people? Why have you come here to cause trouble?”

The girl, with her hair dyed in several colors with stud earrings dangling from her ears, said disdainfully, “We’ve come to find a mistress called Octavia Gills to teach her a lesson, old man, which one is Octavia!”

“I don’t care who you’re looking for, you knocked over my salami so it’s not over today.” Before Eldwin could reply, the diner whose food had been spilled on the floor came forward.

“Boy! None of your business, stay out of the way, or you’ll get hurt by mistake.” A stoutly built boy threatened.

The diner turned back to his companion with a smile, “What luck today, to run into a group of practicing hands.”

Turning back to the other diners, he said, “Friends, we’ve managed to find a place like this, with a delicious meal, and today someone comes along to cause trouble.”

“No problem!” Immediately the diners began to move, the girls were led to the back for safety, and a few of the boys leaped forward, teaming up, while turning back to Eldwin and saying, “Eldwin, you go back to work, we’ve got this!”

“Lin, what are you messing with here!” With an angry shout, Lilian Drye walked in.

“Lilian, what are you doing here? Did you get these people?” The boy called Lin asked.

Lilian Drye looked arrogantly at the young kids and was pissed off! Losers!

“Ms. Lilian, this guy started it by hitting Norvel!” The girl who led the group walked up to Lilian Drye and complained.

“Yeah Ms. Lilian, they started it, he hit me!” Norvel, who had been beaten, hurried over.

“Shut up, he’s the son of the chairman of Kaiat Electronics, now the PR manager for Hyatt, grew up practicing sparring and his greatest joy is fighting.” Lilian Drye said in a hushed voice.

Lin laughed, “Not bad, not bad at all, today I’m lucky to come across this thing that can fight and do good at the same time, even if I hurt someone, my master won’t bother me, so kid, come on over, practice with the prince!”

The boy was taken aback.

Lilian Drye gave him a sullen look, “Lin, just stop it, it’s not your day.”

“Why is it none of my business anymore, he spilled the prince’s food.”

“I’ll make it up to you for him!” Lilian Drye was impatient.

Lin spared a glance at Lilian Drye, “Ms. Lilian, who are you coming on to with this? Who is so lucky to have pissed you off?”

Lilian Drye ignored him and turned back to Elda and said, “Elda, where’s Octavia? I heard she’s back, we’re here to see her today.”

Standing on the stairs, Octavia Gills was about to go down when Domino pulled her back, shook her head at her, and picked up the phone to call Woodrow.

“What do you want with Octavia, Princess?” Elda couldn’t help but whisper as soon as she saw Lilian Drye, after all, she had gotten used to it over the years.

Eldwin pulled her behind him quickly to stop her from speaking.

Lilian Drye sneered, “Eldwin, you’re quite protective of her, I can’t believe Elda is still able to hook up with men at her age, I guess it’s true that when the upper beam is not right??, no wonder Octavia is so resourceful.”

“Ms. Lilian! You better show some respect! Mrs. Drye is a real lady, are you not worried about breaking her heart acting the way you do?” Eldwin said angrily and feeling disappointed.

“You have the nerve to mention my mother? My mother was so good to you and how do you repay her? Now you’re hiding out here using the Drye Family’s money to open this little restaurant, so free that you’ve forgotten where you came from, haven’t you? How dare you shield that little bitch Octavia and allow her to steal my fianc??e!”

The crowd erupted and Lin was baffled, looking at each other.

Lilian Drye said to Lin, “You don’t know this, do you? Her husband died so she was desperate having two children to raise. My mother took them in and paid for her daughter’s education, but her daughter grew up and tried to climb up the ladder by seducing my fianc??e!”

“May I ask if your fianc??e is a rag doll? He was the one chasing my sister from the start and you’re telling us that she seduced him?” Gar walked in carrying a case of drinks and looked frostily at the exquisitely made-up but petulant woman in front of him. He didn’t know Lilian Drye as he had been sick since childhood, basically calling the hospital his home, so he rarely went to the Drye Family’s house.

“And who are you? Octavia has so many men around her! They all treat her like a jewel.” Lilian Drye sneered.

“Watch your mouth, I’m Octavia’s brother! You’re a pretty girl, but your upbringing is not good enough, Miss, if I were your fianc??e, I’d leave without being seduced.”

Lin puffed out a laugh and gave Gar a thumbs up.

Lilian Drye blushed, turning into pale red, and pointed at Gar, “Your sister seduced my fianc??e and climbed into his bed to provide for your medical needs, what are you pretending to be confused about!”

Gar turned pale, “You’re talking nonsense! Don’t you dare slander my sister!”

Gar finished and took a step forward, Elda stopped her son as soon as she could, shielding him behind her, and said in a sincere tone to Lilian Drye, “Princess, Octavia didn’t seduce your fianc??e, no really, Octavia has a boyfriend of her own!”

“Elda, you’re a good pretender! Is that how you got Eldwin? Isn’t it? That daughter of yours is truly your successor!”

“Slap!” Lilian Drye received a solid slap across the face, knocking her out cold.

As soon as she looked up, there stood before her a pale, but angry Octavia Gills.

“You, you dare to hit me? Who are you? How dare you hit me?” Lilian Drye’s eyes were red with anger when she looked at Octavia Gills.

Octavia Gills grabbed her raised hand, “Lilian, my mother raised you and treated you better than she did me, her daughter, and you insult her like this, what has happened to your conscience and upbringing?”

Lilian Drye struggled out of Octavia Gills’ grip, “Octavia, stop this nonsense. What are you doing back here? Why are you back? I’m telling you, stay away from Tredan, you’d better go back to Japan or I’ll make sure this little restaurant will be shut down.”