The love dilemma

Outside the resuscitation room at Grace Hospital in Eleyrith, Keaton Gordon seized Joelle Lambert's neck and pushed her against the wall. "Why are you so ruthless? How could you harm Elsie?"

Joelle gasped for air, her eyes reflecting both pain and disillusionment. She fought to justify herself. "I didn't. Keaton, believe me. Miss Rowe came out of nowhere. I couldn't stop in time."

Disappointment etched on his face, Keaton retorted, "You're still lying! Eyewitnesses saw you hitting her. What more can you possibly claim?"

"They've been influenced. She framed me!" Joelle asserted in a tremulous voice.

"Absurd!" Keaton's gaze turned frigid and stern. "Why would Elsie jeopardize her life to frame you? How can you even compare yourself to her? Don't overestimate your importance!"

A pallor washed over Joelle's face, and her entire frame trembled.

Even though she was aware that, in Keaton's eyes, she paled in comparison to Elsie, his words still brought a sense of sadness to her.

Back then, while attending to her cancer-stricken father at the hospital, she encountered Archie Gordon, who was unwell and had fainted. After providing initial medical assistance, she escorted Archie for examination and treatment. Subsequently, Archie ended up sharing the same hospital ward with her father due to liver disease. It was only at this point that she crossed paths with Keaton again, a high school acquaintance who had graduated two years ahead of her.

Exhausting her savings in vain attempts to save her ailing father, Joelle found herself ousted from her home by her stepmother and her stepmother's paramour. It was on the roadside that she encountered Keaton.

Keaton expressed his desire to marry her, proposing the immediate registration for marriage if she consented.

Overwhelmed with joy, she agreed. In that moment, ecstasy enveloped her. This was the boy she had harbored feelings for since high school.

She assumed his desire to marry indicated he must harbor feelings for her as well.

However, after they got married in the city hall, he insisted that they keep their marriage a secret.

He said his father compelled him to marry her, though he harbored no genuine desire to do so and held affections for someone else. The only offer he could provide her was a life of affluence.

From that moment onward, all her aspirations for a future married life lay in ruins. She shouldn't have overlooked the fact that, in his eyes, she was, at best, a mere substitute.

Why would the emotions of a substitute hold any significance for him?