THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

CHAPTERS 13 & 14

The court resumed back from break and this time, there was no suspense at all. Maya admitted to all the crimes immediately.

“I faked the video, I cut the telephone wire to prevent Jeslyn from calling the hospital, I threatened Christine to give false testimony in court or else Jeslyn will be killed. Christine loves her sister, so she did everything to protect her sister, hoping she could find out about me and then arrest me while she brings Jeslyn out of prison.

I blackmailed the doctors to cremate the old man’s body to prevent the investigation from finding out he was poisoned and also, I spiked Jeslyn’s drink so I could make her take the blame and prove to the court that she was on drugs.”

“Miss Maya, why are you protecting them?” Spid asked.

“I’m not protecting anyone, why should I put my freedom on the line for others?”

Spid nodded like he understood. “Why was there a need for you to do all that?”

“Because old man Lee caused the destruction of my family!” Maya said that with so much bitterness and hatred as she glared at Jeslyn with fire brewing in her eyes.

Spid nodded again. While he was doing his research, he found out about the business deal Maya’s family had with old man Lee which turned sour and wrecked her family years ago.

“It was clear that your family was greedy and were never satisfied! Good that my grandfather ruined them. If I had known you were one of those power-hungry people, I would have ruined you a long time ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t know you were a leech just like your ungrateful family!” Jeslyn yelled from her chair.

Ever since the court session started, she hadn’t said a word. She also has no idea who Maya’s family was nor did she know about the matter, however, hearing all the excuses Maya was giving and claiming she did everything, irked her.
Plus hearing her saying nonsense about her grandfather automatically pulled out a nut in her head… forgetting she was in court.

“Your grandfather was nothing but a beast and a bully!” Maya retorted.

“My loving grandfather is the sweetest person anyone could ever wish for. I’m proud that he’s a good beast and a righteous bully! Nobody except your mentally unstable family had issues with him. How can a worthless family like yours have eyes on my grandfather’s wealth? Of course, they were courting death and he gave it to them like they deserved!”

Jeslyn was very sure that the problem wasn’t from her grandfather and also, looking at how Maya and her brother grew up to become people who had eyes on other people’s things, she was sure that the family was the same. They must have wanted to defraud her grandfather and when he retaliated, they couldn’t take it and that ruined their family.

Using that explanation which wasn’t far from the truth, Jeslyn’s belief solidified.

“Now you are reaping what he sowed!” Maya retaliated with mockery in her eyes.

“The same can be said about you. Aren’t you going to prison for ‘avenging’ your worthless family? No, you are not avenging them, but taking someone else’s place. Hahaha…your family must be crying in hell right now for giving birth to a junky child like you. I might have been a bad judge of character and fallen into schemes, but you are nothing but a pawn and a used puppet who has exhausted their usefulness is always made to take the blame.”

“Order in court!”

“Lawyer S.P, caution your client,” the judge sounded a warning.

“Sorry, your honor, my client was merely agitated. She’s very well-behaved and has never said a thing since. Worry not because she won’t utter another word after she is done venting, after all, she’s just a human with emotions.”

The judge stared at the lawyer in a black mask who was staring back at him for a while, in silence. The judge was shocked that a knowledgeable lawyer like him would condone disorder in court and expect him to do the same.

No, that’s not just it. If he understood lawyer Spid’s statement well, he meant to say Jeslyn could continue to exchange words with Maya until she’s satisfied and the judge and everyone else has to swallow their saliva and just watch with closed mouths!

Who is this lawyer? The judge thought.

“Ahem… lawyer S.P, are you aware that this is a courtroom?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“And you are advocating disorder in court?”

“No, your honor… However, as a human who was unjustly sentenced and had to bear so much agony and suffering in prison, my client has the right to fight back when she’s provoked.

My client was beaten by so many people in prison, starved for days, made to do hard labor, slept on the floor, washed the toilet, and was even deprived of a good lawyer after her beloved grandfather died. Isn’t such a person allowed to vent a little?”

“….”

The judge was rendered speechless for a while before he asked: “Isn’t that why we are in court? To prove her innocence?”

“It is, but can her life be returned to her? The trauma she went through in prison, will Miss Maya be able to soothe her? So, your honor, if venting a little can help her get better, please, you should allow it and turn a blind eye. Besides, my client is done venting, right, Miss Jeslyn?”

She nodded with a faked beam.

“See?” Spid smiled at the judge with his eyes.

The judge looked from Jeslyn who was looking at him with puppy eyes to lawyer Spid who still had that smile in his eyes and waved his hand in irritation.

“Go on, go on!”

“Thank you, your honor!… Miss Maya, you did so many atrocities for that reason?” Spid asked.

“If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you have done the same?” Maya reciprocated with a question.

“I can’t be in your shoes, Miss Maya…” he stretched her name while his mind completed the statement, ‘…because all those who bothered me are already 6 feet below’, his eyes smiling at her.
“So, in other words, you don’t feel remorseful?” He asked again.

“I don’t.”

“Your honor, that’s all I have to say.” Spid returned to his seat beside Jeslyn while waiting for the court to carry out Maya’s judgment.

The audience watched the judge who was writing in his booklet, waiting to hear the judgment.

Maya composed herself although her heart was a mess as it beat chaotically. If it were in her power, she would choose to walk out a free person, but she knew it was not possible.

A while later, a young lady walked out of a side room and handed some papers to the judge.

The judge looked through the papers before he cleared his throat and started to give his statement.

“On this day, 27 October, an appeal was filed on the case of murder carried out by the trial court of Rose City on the 15 of October 2022.

However, after new evidence was found and the court heard from both parties, the jury, having returned the verdict of guilty murder in the first degree on deliberate premeditation and extreme cruelty and atrocity, Jeslyn Lee was found… not guilty and is hereby discharged of all crimes leveled against her.

Maya Wang, the court having duly considered your offense and your act of not showing remorse hereby sentence you to death by Lethal injection which will be carried out on the 31st of October, 2022!”

The second after the judge pronounced Maya’s sentence, he broke the nib of his pen and got up to leave the room.

Maya couldn’t believe her ears. She knew she would be sentenced but the death sentence was out of her expectation!

How could they give her a death sentence? Wasn’t Jeslyn accused of the same crime? Why wasn’t she given life imprisonment?

The cops approached Maya while those thoughts ran through her mind.

They tried to cuff her hands but Maya wouldn’t cooperate. She started to struggle while screaming at the top of her lungs.

“This is injustice! I refuse this verdict! Let me go, let me go! This is unfair!!!” She cried as she fought to be freed.

Jeslyn was surprised at first but later burst into a puddle of laughter. She wasn’t laughing because she was happy that Maya would be dying. She was laughing because her name had been cleared and she was a free bird now.

A teardrop slowly fell from her right eye and she wiped it before she stood up from her seat.

“Jeslyn, Miss, please save me! I’m sorry, please I beg you, talk to your lawyer, he can save me, please, I don’t want to die!”

She begged frantically as she was being dragged away.

Seeing that Jeslyn wasn’t feeling concerned, she hurriedly opened her mouth as they were already approaching the entrance.

“Jeslyn, they are lurking around you. They don’t intend to give up. The Miss has no intention to let you go!” She had thought that by saying that, the kind-hearted Jeslyn would tell the police to stop, but to her astonishment, Jeslyn was looking at her with a smile while waving at her.

Her desperation grew stronger as she changed her tone and started to beg for her dear life.

“I’m sorry for betraying you… please give me one last chance… forgive me and tell the judge to take back his verdict! Please Jeslyn, Jeslyyyyyyn!!!

Maya’s voice faded away as she was dragged out of the entrance.
Jeslyn looked at her family after Maya was gone and the corner of her lips curled into a sneer.

“Whatever comes, I’ll face it head on. It won’t break me but rather make me stronger.” She said before she followed Spid who just came back from signing some documents out of the court.

The people were excited when they heard Jeslyn was innocent. While some were crying, others were rejoicing.

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

Meanwhile, in another country, Maverick who was sitting beside Rex picked up his phone and made a call while his eyes were on Jeslyn who was going out of the courtroom with Spid.

“Bring her here.” He said into the phone before he disconnected the call and set his phone aside.

Rex, who had been watching the court preceding while eating popcorn, turned to look at his brother.

“Huh? Who are you bringing here?”

Maverick ignored him and picked up a magazine to read.

Rex drew closer to him and beamed. “Brother, who is my sister-in-law? I have waited for so long and my organs are no longer stable. Just tell me who she is, please.”

Silence.

“A little, please!”

Silence.

“Ok, the first and last letters of her name.”

“Has the goods been seized from them?” Maverick asked without looking at him.

Rex’s lips slowly covered his teeth and his face changed. He formed claws with his fingers and made a strangling gesture, like he was imagining himself chocking his brother.

“It’s been a long time since you strangled someone. The CEO of latex needs to be strangled, go do it… I want the result tonight.”

“Ah?!” Rex was startled by his brother’s order.

“Rex?”

Maverick turned his gaze from the magazine to look at the astonished-looking Rex.

“B– brother,” he swallowed. “T–that guy is a tough one.”

“Hmm, that’s why you have to be the one to go strangle him. Kill him with your claws. Don’t use the gun, nor employ a seductress.” With that said, he got up and left.

Rex almost cried as he watched his brother’s back. “Who is going to save me from this monster? I have lived a sorrowful life for so long!”
…
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

At the front of the court, Jeslyn who was now wearing a white gown instead of prison uniform stood by the black car as her mind wandered around.

She remembered she hadn’t bid her friends in prison a proper farewell. She bit her lips as memories played in her mind. Those few days with Pink and Yellow were one of the greatest days of her life and she didn’t wish for days like that to end.
Secondly, she thought of how her life would be now. Everything has been taken from her and she has no place to go.

She didn’t bring up the matter of the inheritance in court because she knew that whoever the young Miss was, she wouldn’t give up until she ruined her completely and to achieve that, her grandfather’s reputation will be placed on the line.

Then she thought of her career. Which agency would agree to take her now? Even if the doors are open, the so-called young Miss who’s after her life wouldn’t allow agencies to take her in and no agency would want to fight those people for a D-list singer like her.

And that husband of hers. He isn’t even here to pick her up, which means she was right all along. He has forgotten about her. Anyways, why was she even adding him to her list of worries? Whenever she sees him, she’ll just drag him to the civil affairs bureau to get a divorce. After all, what she needed the marriage for, she couldn’t protect it anyway.

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

CHAPTER 14

Then she thought of her career. Which agency would agree to take her now? Even if the doors are open, the so-called young Miss who’s after her life wouldn’t allow agencies to take her in and no agency would want to fight those people for a D-list singer like her.

And that husband of hers. He isn’t even here to pick her up, which means she was right all along. He has forgotten about her. Anyways, why was she even adding him to her list of worries? Whenever she sees him, she’ll just drag him to the civil affairs bureau to get a divorce. After all, what she needed the marriage for, she couldn’t protect it anyway.

“Young Miss, please get in the car,” Spid said as he walked over with two cups of milk tea in his hands.

Hearing that, Jeslyn instantly remembered what Pink warned her about and she took a protective stance.

“W–what do you mean?”

Spid stretched the milk tea to her and said: “Now that you have won the case, you should take something. You haven’t eaten since.”

Jeslyn took the milk tea from him but that didn’t make her relax her guard. She looked at him skeptically, waiting for him to explain what he meant by ‘get inside the car’.

“Where do you want to go now aside from following me?” He asked her with a brow raised.

He knew that her property had been taken from her but his boss told him to not care about it in court, so he didn’t bother to bring it up.

“I still have other places I can live. I’m old enough to take care of myself. By the way, I don’t know you, and you still won’t tell me who sent you.” She said while taking the straw in the cup to her lips.

Seeing that she was dragging the content in the cup, Spid’s eyes smiled before he said:

“Hmm,” he nodded. “I can see that you have a place to stay, it’s written all over your face. As for who sent me, I don’t know how you both got to be familiar with each other, also, that isn’t my business. I’m almost done with my task, so don’t make…”

“Sister!”

The minute Jeslyn heard that voice, she knew Christine was about to play the white lotus card in public. She would probably cry and show the world how much she loved her sister.

Jeslyn didn’t bother to turn back and hurried into the car. “Mr. Spider, please start that car, I don’t want to have anything to do with those people.”

Spid turned to look at the court entrance. The Chou and Zhou families with a few reporters were heading towards them with Christine running over while wiping her face. She looked like a good sister crying for her older sister.

Spid whose face was concealed behind a mask narrowed his eyes at Christine who was a few steps away from the car before he opened the driver’s seat and got in.

He waited for Christine to hold the knob of the back seat’s door… attempting to open it before he turned the key, started the car, and stepped on the accelerator.

The action of the car speeding out of Christine’s hand shocked her into falling with a loud thud!

Unfortunately for her, the area she fell to wasn’t a flat surface, so she fell head-first on the raised side of the road.

“Christine!” Mrs. Wales screamed. She rushed to help her and rested Christine’s bleeding forehead on her lap while screaming for an ambulance.

Looking at the cameras, Christine burst into tears while saying: “Mother, father, older sister hates me now. She misunderstood me again.” Her voice grew weaker and weaker until her eyes closed and her breathing went slower.

“Christine!”

“…”

“Call the ambulance, hurry, my child!”

The reporters ran wild and started to take pictures of Christine who had fainted.
“Poor Christine, that fall must have shocked her so badly, coupled with the hatred from her sister!”

“Jeslyn is too ungrateful. Christine did so much just to preserve her life and yet she almost ran her over with a car!”

“Jeslyn might not have killed her grandfather, but with what she just did, she is capable of killing someone, such a black-hearted lady, hmph!”

Even though it was obvious that Jeslyn wasn’t the driver of the car, the people believed that she asked the driver to run Christine over.

The public that was rejoicing over Jeslyn’s release a while ago suddenly didn’t know what to start feeling anymore.

Some were in a dilemma, asking themselves how they would feel if a family member they loved so much testified against them in court.

Some supported Jeslyn while others supported Christine.

Whatever the public thought, one thing was apparent. Christine was not hated by the masses, instead, they felt sorry for her. Also, she succeeded in making Jeslyn a dubious character in the eyes of many.
….

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

Inside the car heading to the airport, Jeslyn could be seen with her head on the headrest, eyes closed and breathing calmly.

Spid pulled off the mask to reveal a well-sculpted face. He glanced at the sleeping Jeslyn, then curled his sexy lips into a faint smile before he picked up his phone to make a call.

“Hey, get the plane ready.”
…

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

That night, Ray was seen at a bar drinking himself into a stupor.

“Ray, that’s enough, stop it already!” His friend tried to force the glass off his hand.

“Let go of me!” Ray pushed his guy’s hand away.

“What the hell do you want, Ray? You never liked her, so what’s your problem?!”

“Yes, I never liked her! For four years, I felt nothing for her, she was like a pest to me, but what the hell did her lawyer mean by all that? What did she tell her lawyer about me?!”

“Well, Ray, actually it was 5 years, you two had been together for 5 years…”

“Shut the f*ck up and stop acting like that damn lawyer!” Ray’s mind flashed as he was forced to remember the event in court.

“Mr. Ray, for how long have you been together with Miss Jeslyn?”

“Four years–”

“From your report, it’s been 5 years, Mr. Ray….Your honor, if Mr. Ray cannot even remember how long he and Miss Jeslyn had been together, then how can he claim he loved her?”

Ray watched as the judge nodded his head before the mask lawyer continued.

“Mr. Ray, have you ever had intimacy with Miss Jeslyn?”
“No.”

“But she had visited you a lot in the past.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever shown her your naked body?”

“No”

“Oh? And you mean she hasn’t seen your great body anywhere before?”

“Yes, I have never shown her my body. She tends to be shy when she’s with me and I wanted to honor and respect her, so I made things easy for her by covering up any time she came around.”

“Then, what do you guys do when she comes around?”

“We either go out or watch some movies with popcorn while she sits in between my legs and I hug her in my arms. She likes that a lot…” his voice trailed off like he was reminiscing something.

He slowly looked at Jeslyn and saw she was glancing at her nails. She does that too when she’s sad.

Ray slowly bit his lower lip. He didn’t understand what funny things his heart was doing at the moment. It felt bitterness and anger, but for who?

“Ok, so, all in all, she has never seen you without clothes on. Your honor, please kindly note that down.” The lawyer said before he continued. “Mr. Ray, what if I say that the reason Miss Jeslyn abandoned you on the altar and married a stranger was that she found out you have been cheating on her?”

The audience gasped and so were those watching from other places that knew the couple too well.

That allegation was too much for people to believe, so the majority of those that knew the couple denied the fact. They believed that the lawyer was only saying that to lead Ray to confusion.

“That’s not true! I have never cheated on Jeslyn for the four…five years we have been together. If she’s looking for something to defend herself for humiliating me on the altar and shattering my heart, then she should look for another lie to tell!”

Ray glared at Jeslyn. He was sure he left no evidence behind, so what could they find to pin the crime of cheating on him?

That’s right, Ray left no evidence behind and even the videos that were sent to Jeslyn were wiped out, so how is Spid going to find the evidence?

“Fine… If Jeslyn had never seen you without clothes on, how then did she know about the tattoo on your butt?”

The audience took in a sharp breath and so did Ray.

“W– what are you talking about?” Ray panicked.

“What I’m talking about, Mr. Ray is that you have a tattoo… a butterfly tattoo on one cheek of your butt, and Jeslyn, who had supposedly not seen your body, knew of the tattoo.”

“How is that possible?!” Ray was alarmed.

“That’s right. How is that possible?… It can either be that she saw you in the shower, or she met you sleeping on your belly while naked, or you were sleeping with someone.”

“T–that’s not possible!”

“Hold on, Mr. Ray, let me analyze it for you since you don’t understand.”

The lawyer squinted before he continued, “Jeslyn whom you said is shy around you must definitely not enter your shower even though she’s in your house while you were showering, let alone, you don’t have a reason to shower when she’s around.

Secondly, Miss Jeslyn cannot enter your room to meet you sleeping naked because you never sleep naked…” he paused to look at Ray’s shocked expression.

However, Ray had his eyes glued on Jeslyn.

“…You don’t sleep naked Mr. Ray and in fact, you hate that idea.

Thirdly, there’s a possibility that you were sleeping with someone, unbeknownst to you both, the scene was being recorded and sent to Jeslyn, so she saw the butterfly tattoo. If you say I’m lying, pull down your pants.”

That comment was supposed to be funny but everyone was too shocked to laugh.

Jeslyn and Ray were known to be the best couple in Rose City. Their lovely relationship was the envy of every lady. That was why the people were angry when they thought Jeslyn broke Ray’s heart.
Ray couldn’t defend himself, and neither could his lawyer. So Spid went ahead to finalize his words.

Now that they found out Ray was the unfaithful partner, the people couldn’t help feeling betrayed.

“Your honor, Miss Jeslyn found out her fiance of five years was cheating on her. Heartbroken, she thought of making him pay. While leaving to cancel the wedding, she saw a man coming out of the bathroom and asked him to marry her for one year before divorcing her.

Miss Jeslyn and that man were strangers, and Jeslyn never cheated on Mr. Ray.
So, your honor, Mr. Ray’s testimonies cannot be taken because he said those words out of anger for Miss Jeslyn. He was angry that she humiliated him on the altar and also wanted her to suffer.

We are men with egos and when a woman shatters our ego in public, we tend to want to make her pay. Mr. Judge, you are a man, so you can relate.”

That was how Ray was labeled an evil fiance by the people and they started praising Jeslyn for destroying him on the altar.

Ray snapped out of his reverie and held the tumbler firmly.

“Jeslyn, I won’t let you off!” It would have been nicer or less painful if the man she chose over him was someone she knew.

Picking a random stranger over him was the greatest insult Jeslyn could give him and it was about to drive him crazy.

“Jeslyn!!!” He screamed her name in frustration and rage as he smashed his glass on the tiled floor.

“I won’t give you rest, I promise. I’ll ruin you and make you pay for everything you did to me!… Ahhh!” He swept off the wine bottles and cups on the table, including phones.

“Ray, take it easy, you’ll hurt yourself. I thought you didn’t have any feelings for her, now look at how you are.”

“I don’t have any feelings for her! Damn it!”

“Tell that to an idiot who would believe you. Tsk.” His friend clicked his tongue in irritation.

He sat there and allowed Ray to continue venting until he couldn’t vent anymore and broke down. His reason for reacting this way was not known, but whatever it was, Ray’s friend was sure that regret was part of it.

THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20

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