The Mysterious Billionaire and His Substitute Bride

At the Lester family home.
After hanging up with Emani, Ritchie took a sip of his brandy. The bronze liquid burned his throat, but that was the least of his
problems.
He tried to bite down the anger that surged from the deepest parts of his mind and miserably failed. “Fuck! That crazy woman!
Why would she call me at this juncture? Did she want to bring me down with her?”
Elissa had just gotten home after playing cards with her rich girlfriends and found Ritchie sitting at the garden and fuming with
rage. She frowned, walked over to him, and asked, “What’s wrong? Is it about business? Did the board members pick on you
again?”
“They dare not. I’m a Lester. Only fools pick on Lesters. It’s Ethan’s wife. She keeps making trouble for Lester Silk Fabric. Damn
it! I really have to teach that bitch a lesson!” Ritchie was an irritable man who always did things on impulse. He never let go of
anyone who made him unhappy.
Elissa strode gracefully in front of Ritchie and faced him. With a stern look on her face, she raised a finger and poked Ritchie in
the forehead. “So you’re fighting with women now? That’s what losers do.”
Ritchie rubbed his forehead and complained, “There must be someone helping her, Mom! When we tried to frame Janet,
someone contacted Kirby Wilde to dig up dirt on Emani. I know how the entertainment industry works, and I know what the fans
can do. I thought I could finally bring down Janet, but someone immediately targeted Emani. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.
Janet must have a very powerful backer.”
At the Lester family home.
After hanging up with Emani, Ritchie took a sip of his brandy. The bronze liquid burned his throat, but that was the least of his
problems.
Elissa had also been following the news.
“I wish the rumors were true, that Janet really hooked up with someone in the Larson Group. I’ve been worried that it may be
Ethan who has been helping her. It would be horrible if he had such powers and connections.” The more Elissa thought about it,
the more she felt that it was highly possible.
Ritchie stood up in an instant and laughed sardonically. “Ethan? How could it be him? He’s just a loser! Janet must be sleeping
with someone powerful, and that dickhead, Ethan, is still pathetically unaware of it.”

Elissa glanced at Ritchie and sneered. She couldn’t believe her son’s naivete. “Ethan is just like his mother. They’re excellent
schemers. Don’t be fooled by what they choose to show you. Do not underestimate him. I’ve always suspected that there’s more
to him than what meets the eye.”
There was a reason why Elissa thought so. After Nora’s birthday party, she had sent a lot of people to follow and investigate
Ethan. Either there was nothing important to report, or the men she sent just disappeared, both of which were anomalous results.
Since then, she had been convinced that Ethan was more powerful than he was letting on.
“Are you kidding, Mom? He had never done well in school, and he had always been quiet and unsuccessful. What could
someone like him achieve?” Ritchie didn’t believe it. He had always remembered Ethan as the loser that he constantly bullied.
Still, Elissa thought that Ritchie was making a mistake by trivializing his enemy. “My silly son, if he’s really as stupid as you think,
then how do you think did he get into Seacisco High School’s top class? Do you think that we paid his way in?”
Back then, the Lester family had to “donate” millions of dollars to get Ritchie into Seacisco High School, and he had only lacked
a few scores.
But at that time, Elissa didn’t think that it was a big deal that Ethan also got into Seacisco High School. She thought that Ethan’s
intelligence was no threat to the Lester family’s power and fortune. There was nothing Ethan could do to go against them.
Now she regretted her decision to pay no mind to Ethan.
She realized that dangers were dangers no matter their size, and they should be dealt with the moment they presented
themselves.
Finally able to connect the dots, Ritchie stared at his mother with wide eyes. He was instantly enlightened. He flashed Elissa a
ferocious look and asked, “What if it’s really Ethan? We have to do something, Mom!”
Looking into Ritchie’s eyes, Elissa felt inexplicably anxious. She picked up the box of cigarettes on the table. She fished out a
cigarette and lit it. As smoke filled her lungs, she let herself get lost in thought.
A sense of crisis rose in her heart. She had always been a decisive person. She decided to continue what she wanted to do but
failed back then.

She took several deep drags before flicking the cigarette to the ground and stubbing it with her shoe. “It’s time to get rid of
Ethan.”