Substitute Marriage: Reborn As The Top Big-Shot

Adam Swantz stood there, filled with self-mockery.

Why did he have any expectations of his father?

He should have known better!

In Matthew Swantz’s eyes, he was always a useless loser.

Maybe…

Even worse than that.

The more Matthew thought about it, the angrier he became. He pointed at Adam, saying, “Starting today, you’re not allowed to use a single penny from this household!”

Sensing that the situation was tense, Derek Swantz stood up from the couch in time, “Dad.”

“Derek,” Matthew raised his hand, “you don’t need to get involved in this.”

At this point, if he, as the father, didn’t step in to discipline Adam, the consequences would be unimaginable!

He couldn’t just stand by and watch Adam ruin everything he had worked so hard for.

Adam chuckled, “Dad, haven’t you forgotten? I haven’t used any money from home for a long time.”

Adam had achieved some success in esports, and hadn’t asked for money from home since the age of 18.

But Matthew seemed oblivious to all this.

In Matthew’s eyes, esports was likely nothing more than video game addiction.

Hearing this, Matthew became even more enraged. It wasn’t enough for Adam not to recognize his own mistakes, he even had the audacity to argue!

He was beyond help!

“Is your mother’s money not from the family? Adam Swantz! Have I been too indulgent with you?”

“I’ll say it again. I didn’t ask my mom for money! And I never spent a penny from home!” As he thought about the recent events, Adam’s eyes reddened. Feeling increasingly upset, he pointed at Derek, “Will I always be inferior to this illegitimate child in your heart?”

The term “illegitimate child” was like a sharp sword that pierced through the last layer of Matthew’s dignity.

Back then, he had been genuinely in love with Derek’s biological mother, and his marriage to May Marcine was merely a business alliance. If it hadn’t been for the sake of both families, he would’ve divorced long ago.

And now…

His most beloved woman’s child was insulted as an illegitimate child.

Matthew’s heart wasn’t in good condition, and he nearly fainted from anger and stumbled back, but luckily, Derek stood up in time to support him, “Dad, my brother just lost his temper. Don’t stoop to his level. Let me help you upstairs to rest.”

Even at this point, Derek still defended Adam.

And what about Adam?

Did he even have any regard for his father left in his eyes?

Matthew clutched his chest, struggling to breathe.

May Marcine came back from shopping and saw the tense situation between father and son.

“What’s going on?” May hadn’t realized the severity of the situation and asked with a smile.

“You can ask your precious son yourself!”

“If the son doesn’t learn, it’s the father’s fault!” Adam retorted mercilessly, “You never think about what you did when I was a child. What right do you have to question my mother?”

Ever since Adam could remember, there were very few memories of his father in his mind.

After he turned ten, his father had indeed started coming home more often, but at the same time, he also gained a younger brother.

Having said this, Adam turned and walked towards the bedroom upstairs.

Adam’s words successfully enraged Matthew. No matter how poorly he might have performed as a father, it wasn’t Adam’s place to criticize him. Ashamed and furious, Matthew grabbed an antique vase from the side and hurled it in Adam’s direction.

“Are you insane?!” May grabbed Matthew’s hand and stared at him wide-eyed.

“A doting mother is the ruin of her son!”

Matthew shook off May’s hand and headed for the study.

May stood there, dumbfounded.

Derek approached May and spoke in a low voice, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll go talk to dad. You go check on my brother.”

North Bridge High School.

Viola Thompson arrived at the teacher’s office.

“Miss Marseille, hello.”

Miss Marseille was grading papers at her desk. Hearing this, she looked up at Viola.

At first, she seemed a little stunned, then smiled, “You must be the Viola

Thompson that the principal mentioned, right?”

Upon initially seeing this student, Miss Marseille thought she was a natural beauty. Little did she know, she was even more beautiful in person than in her ID photo.

She hoped that her grades would be as beautiful as her appearance!

“Yes.” Viola nodded slightly.”Alright,” Miss Marseille closed the test paper, “you come with me to the class. Our class is a key class. Since you’ve just transferred here, if you have any difficulty following the courses, feel free to ask the teachers and classmates for help.”

“Okay.”

As soon as she arrived at the door of the key class, Viola Thompson was affected by the strong study atmosphere in the classroom. Everyone’s desk was piled high with stacks of books.

“Simulation test paper”, test paper…

In a blink of an eye, Viola’s memory was pulled back to the past.

There was a saying on the Internet:

[I once thought that what I left behind was hell, but now I know that the time we had then was an unrepeatable paradise.]

Viola didn’t know how she got onto the podium, but she was grateful to be able to step back into paradise.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Viola Thompson. In the next year, I will spend my time with all of you and hope to learn from everyone.”

After finishing her words, there was applause from the audience.

The students whispered to each other.

“The new student is so tall.”

“She’s even prettier than a star!”

Viola’s arrival was like hurling a huge rock into a calm lake, causing a storm in the class.

Miss Marseille pointed to the only empty seat in the classroom, “Viola, you sit with Fiona Knight for now.”

“Okay.” Viola nodded and took a seat next to Fiona, initiating a greeting, “Hello, my name is Viola Thompson.”

Her deskmate Fiona wore a mask, showing only a pair of beautiful eyes. She lowered her head, her voice somewhat quiet, “…Fi…Fiona Knight.”

“Can I call you Fiona?”

Fiona?

Hearing this name, Fiona looked up at Viola, her eyes full of amazement.

No one at school had ever called her that before.

Nor had anyone ever wanted to sit with her for more than a day, let alone befriend her…

She had always been a loner; otherwise, she would not have been sitting by herself.

Once the new student found out she was ugly, she would certainly avoid her like everyone else!

With this thought, the light in Fiona’s eyes gradually dimmed.

Someone like her didn’t dare to hope for anything beyond family affection.

Viola was well-versed in psychology and could tell at a glance that this deskmate was different from the others.

She didn’t dare to look into her own eyes, her gaze evasive and her voice soft, indicating that she was sensitive and introverted.

“Everyone calls me Vio, and you can too,” said Viola.

Fiona hesitated for a moment but didn’t respond.

“Fiona, what’s the next class?” Viola asked again.

It seemed that the new deskmate had some kind of social phobia, which made

Fiona a bit at a loss, “Ch…Ch, Chemistry.”

Viola took out her chemistry book, flipped through a few pages, and asked,

“Fiona, which page are we on?”

“36.” Fiona replied.

Viola turned to page 36, “May I borrow your notebook for a moment?”

Fiona handed her the notebook.

“Fiona, your handwriting is so nice.” The notebook had beautiful regular script.

Fiona didn’t say anything.

Because she knew where things would end up in the end.

At this moment, a short-haired girl walked up to the two of them, folded her arms across her chest, and said arrogantly, “Hey! Newbie, do you know why Fiona wears a mask? It’s because she’s the ugliest girl in our school! Let me show you the number one ugly girl in our school!”

As the short-haired girl spoke, she let out a strange laugh and tried to pull the mask off Fiona’s face.

Fiona bit her lips tightly, her body trembling, but she had no strength to fight back.

It was at this moment that a hand grabbed the short-haired girl’s outstretched hand.

Fiona looked up at Viola and froze.

The new deskmate not only had a social phobia, but she was also very strong!

The short-haired girl gritted her teeth in pain, “Let go of me! Why are you hitting me!”

“I don’t hit people, I only teach ill-mannered dogs a lesson.” Viola held the girl’s wrist like this, giving her two choices, “First, apologize to my deskmate, or second, say goodbye to this hand..”