Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 415: Misleading Signs

"At least Bradon is working hard to enjoy the day in his place," I replied as I kept my eyes glued to the television screen.

"Really? The man just looks dead bored, as if he would gladly die just to be somewhere else," Diana said, followed by a loud laugh.

My brows furrowed as I kept on staring at Bradon as he worked hard to put on his best act as his younger brother. Of course, I knew very well that behind that perfectly smiling mask was a man who was slowly dying on the inside as his patience was slowly fading away.

"Don’t say that. He’s trying his best to hang in there for Anthony’s sake," I snapped.

"Then he should just ditch all the party and turn up here," Diana retorted bitterly.

There was a large part inside of me that agreed readily with my sister, but I also knew that preserving Anthony’s life for him while he was away was the right thing to do. When Anthony regains his consciousness, his life will be there waiting for him as if he had never fallen into his long slumber. That was probably what Bradon wanted for his brother as well.

"He’ll be here soon enough," I mumbled softly.

Time seemed to crawl by until late evening came around. By that time, I felt quite exhausted from being so on edge from both worry and excitement. Diana acted as good company by not complaining about how late Bradon was, but I could tell that she too was close to her limit.

"Sorry that I’m late," the voice that I had been longing to hear apologized the moment that the door to

Anthony’s hospital room opened.

Bradon arrived, wearing an all-white suit that made him elude the air of being Anthony himself. For a moment, I noted in my head just how similar the two of them could look, and yet just how different they actually were.

"Thanks for coming," I quickly replied with a smile.

"Shall we just get down to it?" Diana said before flashing an exaggeratedly sweet smile at both of us.

"Yes, we should," I replied with a firm nod of my head.

It felt like a significant ceremony was about to start, but in reality, all we had planned was just to sing a short happy birthday song to Anthony while we held the cake that Diana had prepared for him before wishing him well. It was just standard procedure, made even shorter with the absence of candles, but at the same time, it felt so significant. I felt like if I didn’t do it right, I would feel endlessly guilty.

"Happy birthday to you..." we all sang quietly.

The song came out sounding more solemn and depressing than cheerful. Anthony did not move a muscle during the celebration, but that was to be expected. Diana wished him a very happy birthday and prayed for his swift recovery. Bradon whispered something into his brother’s ear that I could not hear. I held the birthday cake in my hand to show it to Anthony one last time before setting it down on the table nearby.

"Your turn to wish him a happy birthday," Diana urged when I returned to Anthony’s bedside.

"Right..." I mumbled.

I took Anthony’s hand into mine as I leaned in to bring my face closer to his. At first, I didn’t know what to say because it felt like nothing I could say or do would ever be enough. Of course, I could wish a million times for him to wake up from his coma, but that didn’t mean that it would simply happen.

However, just for one more time, I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to wish with all my heart that Anthony would recover from his coma-and that was exactly what I did. With my eyes tightly closed, I prayed that Anthony would wake up from his slumber as soon as possible, all the while holding his hand tightly in my own. At the end of my wish, I gently lifted his hand up to my lips before gently kissing it. I felt tears swelling up in my eyes, and that made me not dare to blink in case they overflowed. It was such a bittersweet moment to be celebrating Anthony’s birthday while he was still unconscious.

Suddenly, I felt a twitching sensation in my hand that I quickly dismissed as my own-just a result of me becoming slightly upset and emotional. However, I felt another twitching sensation, and this time it felt more real than the one before.

"What’s the matter?" Diana asked as she came close to me. I could see the troubled look on her face, but my lips wouldn’t move to give her any answer. The way that Bradon was looking at me told me that he was equally as concerned, and I wondered what kind of look I had on my face at that moment. I stared at Anthony’s hand, still held within mine.

"I think his hand just moved," I replied as I felt my lower lip shaking.

Bradon looked surprised, but Diana only looked disappointed. I didn’t understand why she suddenly began patting my back as if trying to comfort me.

"I really felt it. I felt his hand twitching in mine," I said with more certainty this time.

"I know what you’re thinking, but just because his hand is randomly twitching in yours doesn’t mean that he has regained consciousness. It has happened many times before, and the doctors told us that it is nothing but random reactions of his body," Diana explained with a sad look on her face.

It seemed like this wasn’t the first time that it had happened, and perhaps Diana had witnessed it herself before-probably during one of her visits while I was still unaware that Anthony was unconscious and hospitalized.

"Oh..." I murmured, unsuccessfully trying to hide my disappointment. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Don’t look so down. I just don’t want you to have the wrong expectations," Diana said softly.