THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
CHAPTERS 17 & 18
Jeslyn had thought she was thinking that in her mind until she heard a snicker.
She paused her fingers on the document and raised her head slowly to look at the man in front of her. She blinked and blinked again.
‘Huh? I thought I heard him sniffle a laugh. Why is his face still looking like a robot’s? Perhaps I was thinking too much.’ She shrugged her shoulders and continued to flip the pages without reading anything.
Jeslyn sighed again. All her contracts were handled by Maya and Christine. She dislikes reading these ‘tiny’ words filled with clauses, party A, party B, rights, and so on.
Don’t these lawyers get tired? She sighed again. She picked up the pen on the table and just when she was about to put down her signature, Maverick pulled the contract off the table.
“Jeslyn Lee, you haven’t read the terms and conditions, you don’t know what your duties are, you haven’t read what you should expect of me, how you should treat my son, what to expect of him–”
“Mr. Somebody I don’t know his name, I hate reading–”
“Maverick,” he interrupted her with narrowed eyes.
“Eh?” She looked at him in a stupor. Those narrowed eyes sent goosebumps crawling under her skin. She swallowed as her heartbeat took another beating tune.
Seeing how the bunny in front of him was changing from a happy and cute girl to a withdrawn cat shivering under the rain, he suppressed the air around him and explained: “Call me Maverick, that’s my name.”
“Oh, Mr. Maverick…” She draws the name on her tongue while repeating it, checking how it sounds, and also thinking of the meaning.
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
After a while, she slowly nodded while thinking, ‘it makes sense that he bears that name, it suits him perfectly because he doesn’t look, behave, nor give her the feeling of how humans are. It’s understandable though, this is country M’.
She cleared her throat awkwardly when she saw him looking at her.
“Ehm, Mr. Maverick, I believe that you won’t sell me, deprive me of food and sleep, stop me from fulfilling my dreams, and the most important thing, I believe you will not prevent me from seeking revenge.”
Her face turned fierce at the mention of revenge.
Those people, if she doesn’t skin them alive, she’ll leave the face of the earth in the most hateful and dishonored way.
Her name will be painted around the world and also will get a place in the book of world records as the most disgusting human to ever live. This she pledged.
For a brief moment, Maverick pursed his lips when he saw her brief transformation.
‘She’s faking her persona!’ He thought.
It wasn’t known if Jeslyn showed that fierce and evil side of hers out of hatred for her enemies or if she was subconsciously showing the real her, but whatever it was, Maverick got to understand that she wasn’t a harmless bunny.
He had been thinking all these while of how he would make her adjust to the lifestyle and the gloomy air of country M, it seems that’s not necessary now.
Jeslyn beamed at him after her thought and clicked the pen, ready to sign.
“You should know that once you sign that, you–”
He paused when she dragged the contract to her side and signed it before he got to finish his words. He slowly shook his head and stopped talking. She was definitely going to regret not reading it.
There were some conditions in there that he expected her to protest about, like the— no intimacy rule, hidden marriage from the public, treating Valen like she would treat her son– meaning, condoning his excesses, and other bizarre conditions.
“Done. Even though I didn’t read it, it took me almost 5 minutes to sign everything. Mr. Maverick, why are there so many pages? There are literally more than 50 pages. Why is it so much?” Jeslyn tilted her head in perplexity while looking at his gorgeous face.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, you already signed it.”
“No, wait, I can trash it. Another can be sent, right?” She blinked.
Maverick looked at his wife speechlessly for a while before thinking: ‘Jeslyn, are you this careless or just acting stupid?’
He’ll never know.
“I don’t do second chances.” He picked up the document and stood up. “You can do whatever you want, go wherever you want– in the house, but the rooms on this floor are off limits, only this room is open to you on this floor.”
Jeslyn nodded.
“The servants will call you downstairs for your meal. You can decide to have your meals in your room, but joining the family will be better for your task with Valen.”
“W– what is my task with your son?” That’s right, she doesn’t know.
“You missed the chance of finding out when you didn’t read the contract. I don’t give second chances, so find out for yourself.” He walked out after that.
“Say, Jeslyn, why are you this ridiculous? Your brain needs to be checked in the hospital, ah.” Jeslyn murmured to herself while slowly slapping her head. So dumb!
“I don’t even know how old this child is, what he’s like, what he loves and hates… Why exactly am I still living? With this brain of mine, I should have been chewed out in the entertainment industry by those wolves.”
She sighed one more time before she got up and walked out of the room with the thought: ‘ Whatever that boy is, he’s just a child and I can spank him if he’s rotten. Hehehe…’
Talking about rotten children, Jeslyn would prefer to be barren than have one. She calls them; the agent of short life, home destroyers, heart attackers, and any bad name she could think of.
She’ll be like, ‘how can only one child be this troublesome? Giving parents headaches and anxiety. I’ll certainly send my child for adoption if he or she turns out to be a rotten brat.’
Well, Maverick’s child has to be good-behaved due to how Maverick is. She thought.
Jeslyn returned to her room and sat on her bed, thinking about her matters. She still couldn’t believe that her dearest grandfather was dead. She slowly closed her watery eyes as the tears fell down her cheeks.
It hurts so badly. She didn’t get to see his body before he was cremated. She didn’t see his ashes and also, the most painful part is that she didn’t get to bid him farewell or attend his funeral.
That must be the reason she isn’t able to move on. All this while, she didn’t get a place… this quiet to think about her sorrows.
She had two unfeeling friends in prison who wouldn’t want to see her mourn or lament. Now that she is finally alone, she can cry now, right?
“Grandfather,” her lips shook. It hurts… Mentioning his name hurts very much.
“I miss you a lot…” she broke down in tears as she wailed like she had never before.
Jeslyn didn’t feel this way when her mother died and that was because she woke up after two years from a coma. Although she cried for a few weeks, she didn’t feel the kind of pain she was feeling right now.
Her mother was the strong-headed type of woman who wouldn’t tell Jeslyn she loved her but would rather do things to make her know how important Jeslyn was to her.
Ms. Alice was the type that would frown at Jeslyn for playing with dirt and wearing her slippers wrongly.
She was the type that prefers to fight for her daughter instead of letting her daughter fight for herself.
She wanted Jeslyn to only see the goodness in life and protected her so tightly from the evil of the world and that was the reason Ms. Alice didn’t let Jeslyn and grandpa Lee meet for a long time.
Grandpa Lee, on the other hand, was the type of grandfather who would rather join Jeslyn to play with dirt than pull her away.
He was the kind of old man that would wear his shoes the wrong way when Jeslyn does, just to make her happy.
Grandpa Lee was the type of man who would rather let Jeslyn fight her own battles than do it for her. He would stand by the side to blow a whistle to cheer her on.
He wanted Jeslyn to see that the world is like an ocean, beautiful with amazingly gorgeous creatures, but at the same time, the deadliest when she dives into it.
He would tell her, “my child, playing at the bank of the ocean just to admire the beauty is a wonderful thing but not an achievement. However, going into the ocean to see the dangers underneath it and also to learn how to survive those perils is the best achievement you can ever have.
I’m old now and one of these days I will join your mother, but what about you? You and your sister will be the only ones left in the Lee family.
The Lee family might look peaceful and happy at the moment, but when I die, enemies will pour out. Those that would come for the Lee cooperation would, the enemies I made along the road to success would come for you, the homes that were wrecked due to my indirect involvement would show up, and mostly, your beast of a father will come too.
What will you do then? Learn to be strong, grow a thick skin, and hide your emotions under the facade of whatever persona you choose to display.
When the world thinks you are weak, your enemies would go easy on you, then dissolving their attacks would be a walk in the park for you.
I made the mistake of allowing your grandmother to teach your mother that way, but I won’t make that mistake with you. If your mother had not gone away from home and went to live with that father of yours in country G, breaking all communications with me because I showed displeasure for that husband of hers, her life would have taken a different turn.
I only got to know about your mother’s dilemma when she came back home without you. I wanted to destroy your father but she didn’t allow me, saying it would hit you too hard.
Child, whatever you do in the future, never forget the lessons I taught you. Never show your weakness to anyone…”
Jeslyn screamed in pain after remembering her grandfather’s life lesson. He had sat her down beside him on the field after they finished playing golf on that day.
“You were my pillar, grandpa. I rested my whole weight on you, but why did you let me fall so hard and didn’t give me a heads-up?
Grandfather, they killed me along with you. They didn’t just take your life but dug your granddaughter’s heart out. They showed me the cruelty of life the hard way. I will not forgive them. They took you away from me…”
Jeslyn’s voice couldn’t contain her agony. She felt the pain she had been buckling up tearing at her heart. The pain was unbearable.
She curled herself on her bed and muffled her voice with a creamy pillow. The river of tears gushing out of her eyes wet the pillow like it was soaked in water.
Jeslyn stayed in that fetal position as she cried from that morning until the afternoon before falling asleep… curled up.
…
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
“Where is she?” Ray asked the men in black standing in front of him with their heads bowed.
“We are sorry young master Ray, we couldn’t find her.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t find her?!… Where have you searched?”
“Everywhere she could have possibly been–”
“Have you searched her holiday house? The beach? The snow house? The resort? The Lee resting house? The park house? The paint house? The glass house?!…”
“Yes, young master. We searched all the places you asked us to…including the apartment given to her by her agency.”
“F*ck! Where the hell are you, Jeslyn?!” Ray ruffled his hair in frustration.
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
CHAPTER 18
“F*ck! Where the hell are you, Jeslyn?!” Ray ruffled his hair in frustration.
“What about that lawyer and her…” he paused. How can he call that stranger her husband? He refused to give that pauper that title. “…that stranger she contracted to marry her?”
“Ehm… we couldn’t find anything about them. They seem to never exist.”
“That’s not possible. Go and look into them! Don’t come back here if you don’t find anything about that contracted husband and lawyer!”
“Yes, young master.” The guard bowed and left with his people.
Ray narrowed his eyes as he thought of where Jeslyn was. “Jeslyn, I hope you are not with that contracted man–”
His eyes widened like he had gotten his answer and he threw the glass of wine in his hand against the TV that was reporting on the court case of two days ago.
Yes, it had been two days already and Ray still couldn’t find Jeslyn.
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
After he left the bar, he went to the places he believed Jeslyn would be. Using the keys she had given him to all her apartments and houses, he opened the doors but found no Jeslyn.
Those keys that were up to 8 were given to him whenever she was gifted or bought a new house but he had never thought of using them until two nights ago.
He didn’t know why he went there nor how he went there, but when he couldn’t find her, something he didn’t know he would feel for her erupted in his heart.
At first, he felt fear and immediately called the young Miss and Christine, thinking they had done something to her because while doing his own path a few months ago, he made sure they promised him that they were never going to harm her after they had taken her property.
That decision of his had caused the young Miss to fight him for a few weeks before they reconciled.
After he got to know that no one touched Jeslyn, he thought she went to one of the rest houses to cry, but his guards couldn’t find her there either, so he started to panic.
For two days he had been on her case and was even thinking of getting the police involved until he thought of the possibility that she was with that wild contracted man.
“Jeslyn, you better not dare!” He roared.
The front door burst open and Ray’s friend walked into the house with rage. “Ray, what did you do to Jeslyn? How could you do that to the woman you love?!”
“Shut the f*ck up frank! How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t love her? I don’t love Jeslyn!” Ray roared.
“You do, you a*shole!” Frank retorted with the same amount of energy. He walked up to Ray in large strides and stood in front of him.
“Ray, I said, you love her!” With eyes spitting fire and a voice filled with anger, he said to Ray with gritted teeth, waiting for him to deny his feelings one more time.
“I don’t–”
“Pow!”
A heavy punch landed on the side of Ray’s mouth.
Ray felt that. It was damn painful, but still, he had no zeal to fight back. Instead, for some reason he didn’t know, he wanted more of that punch.
“You d*ckhead, I know how much I love Jeslyn, but I stayed back when you got into the picture. I couldn’t drag a woman with my best friend and when I saw how happy she was with you, I was also happy, but what did you do? You broke her for greed!
If I had known before now that you were only playing games with her despite loving her so much, I would have taken her away from you.
When did you intend to tell me about this huh? So if I hadn’t forced your sister to spill the beans, I would have still been in the dark, thinking Jeslyn betrayed you on the altar and you sought revenge by testifying against her in court.
You knew I didn’t go to court, you knew I hate the news, yet you didn’t intend to tell me the truth?!
Ray, this will be the first and last chance I’m giving you. If you don’t find Jeslyn and bring her back here, I’ll ruin you… along with your family.” Frank spat out before storming out.
Ray lost his momentum and staggered to sit on the couch behind him.
Frank was a classmate with Jeslyn and the two got to know each other after Ray got into a relationship with Jeslyn.
Frank has a dubious origin that even Ray, his alleged best friend, couldn’t find out. He is the young master of the second richest family in Rose City and has stuck with Ray for some reason since his return to the city five years ago.
Ray had no idea that his best friend was in love with his woman until now. What the f*ck has he done?!
Losing Jeslyn and Frank were the two things he didn’t want to ever happen to him.
He doesn’t want to lose Jeslyn, not because he loves her, but because he can’t let her go, especially not after the humiliation.
Yes, his feelings for Jeslyn are not clear. He doesn’t know what he feels, but he was sure that whatever he feels, hatred is part of it.
As for Frank, well, there’s a mystery around him that Ray wants to unravel. Aside from that, he genuinely likes to be around Frank.
“What the f*ck is wrong with me?!” Ray pulled at his thick black hair in frustration with reddened eyes and bleeding lips.
That injury left on the corner of his lower lip was so deep that it would take a few weeks to heal.
Christine on the other hand has been discharged from the hospital and was just entering the Chen mansion.
Getting out of the car, she looked around her environment and got lost in deep thought for a while before she stepped into the house.
The minute she did, confetti and cheerful voices welcomed her.
“Welcome home, young Miss Christine!”
The rows of servants in brown uniforms and white aprons exclaimed.
Christine nodded with a faint smile while her eyes darted around the luxurious sitting room. It was beautiful, but the Lee house was prettier.
“Welcome back home, child,” Mr. And Mrs. Wales stepped forward and hugged Christine in a tight embrace.
“Thank you mom, dad,” she smiled stiffly.
“Older sister, welcome home!”
The cute voice of a little girl of about 6–7 years old sounded, and very soon, a girl in a braided ponytail, decorated with a pink tiara and pins, wearing a pink school uniform trotted over and hugged Christine’s thighs.
Christine looked down at the child and smiled brightly before picking her up.
“Older sister, Chi chi missed you,” she hugged Christine around the neck.
“Older sister missed you too.”
“Are you going back to those bad people?”
“No, not anymore. I’m done with work and will stay here with you.”
“What about older, older sister? When will she join us?”
Christine stayed silent for a while before she said: “Call her eldest sister and call me older sister.”
“Ok, eldest sister.”
“That sounds better… As for when sister would return, I have no idea, she’s very busy at the moment.” Christine said that while looking at her parents who shook their heads.
“Chi chi baby, come, let your nanny take you to school before you get late.” Mrs. Wales peeled the child out of Christine’s arms and handed her to a lady in a servant’s uniform.
“Bye,” the child waved at them as she was being carried away.
After the child left, Christine brushed her gaze through the servants that had their heads down and said: “you all should return to your duties and sweep this rubbish off the floor. They look disgusting.” The voice was not as welcoming as it was a while ago.
“Yes, miss,” the servants scattered after that. Some went to get cleaning tools to get rid of the confetti littering the floor.
“Christine, see me in my study,” Mr. Wales said and headed upstairs.
Christine and her mother followed behind him, with Christine’s mother holding her arm.
…
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
Inside the study room, Mr. Wales looked at his wife and daughter sitting on the couch in front of him with a stern look on his face.
“What is that sister of yours up to? What does she mean by the whole property should be transferred to her? Jeslyn is my daughter too and I have the right over those properties more than your sister does!”
“Father, I don’t care what you and my older sister had. However, I’m not in for your drama. Sister wanted the properties and she plotted for years to get them.
If you had also wanted the properties, you should have plotted when you married Alice, but no, you were busy enjoying the marriage… as if cheating on mom wasn’t enough, you got her pregnant and she gave birth to that idiot, Jeslyn.
Don’t get me involved in your fight with my sister. Sort out your problems. I’m heading back to transfer all the properties to her like she instructed.” Christine stood up, ready to leave but her father’s roar made her sit back down.
“You dare take a step from that place!”
“Dad, what exactly do you want? You don’t expect me to disobey sister for you, do you?” She raised a brow at him.
“Both of you take it easy. Wales, Christine is not wrong. You know the daughter you gave birth to. You know what she’s capable of doing if she doesn’t get her way. She wouldn’t mind striping you off everything you own just to prove a point. Let Christine give her the properties. After all, we already have enough wealth.
As for you, Christine, I have told you times without numbers that your father did nothing wrong by staying with Alice for so long. I permitted it and thanks to that decision, we are this wealthy…”
“Notwithstanding, he deserves to be hated. A man who could do that to his wife and daughter isn’t worthy to be called a man!” With that said, Christine glared at her father and got up before storming out of the room.
It wasn’t that she found fault with what they did to Jeslyn and her mother. She was only upset that people kept rubbing it in her face that she was enjoying the privilege of being rich because she was adopted.
She had spoken to her father multiple times to tell the world that she wasn’t adopted, but he wouldn’t, saying it was for the greater good.
Now, after the greater good, he got nothing from his sacrifices and he’s mad about it.
Well, let him be mad because Christine is also angry at him for how her life had turned out.
She would forever be at the mercy of Jeslyn and her family for the rest of her life. Who likes that?
THE LAST MINUTE GROOM : CHAPTERS 1 – 20
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