Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

75 My room in 10 minutes

"I understand, but Valen is too young for such, he should be playing with toys at this age and when he's a little older, he can then do what he needs to do." (1

Pink sighed and shook her head. What else could she say? No matter what she said, Jeslyn wouldn't reason with her so she left her to do things how she wanted. "Since the day you got married to Master, little master became your responsibility, hope you know

that?"

Jeslyn nodded.

"Master won't interfere in how you raise him, the same way he didn't interfere when Mulan was taking care of him. No one will stop you from training little master however you want, but... make

sure you

don't turn him into a simp. I can see that the boy has started to like you, make us proud, dear little bunny." Pink advised.

"Hmm..."

Seeing Jeslyn nod, Pink got lost in her thoughts for a while as she looked at the beautiful Jeslyn.

Pink snapped out of her thoughts and got up. She walked to the bed and stood beside Jeslyn.

Jeslyn turned to look at her, wondering what she wanted to do before Pink picked up the duvet and spread it on Jeslyn. "You should sleep, this is almost midnight."

Jeslyn nodded but then asked: " aren't you sleeping?"

Pink didn't say anything and returned to the couch. She couldn't tell Jeslyn that she was here to watch over them through the night, Jeslyn would freak out and force her to go to sleep. "When do you intend to go back to Rose City? Yellow told me you are planning to go greet your grandfather."

Jeslyn nodded, "that's right, but I'm not sure your boss will allow it," she sighed. He didn't allow her to finish the words the last time, so there won't be any reason he'll let her say it again this time. "Weakling," Pink rolled her eyes.

"Huh?" Jeslyn sat up and rested her back against the headboard, "he must have a reason for not letting me go, right?"

"Of course... but he has the power to protect you, don't be stupid."

"I'm your Madam now, shouldn't you give me a little respect? Hehehe, Jeslyn teased and waggled her brows. 1

"Tsk, keep dreaming..." Pink snickered.

"Hahaha...I'll find it weird if you start bowing or addressing me as others do. I'll be grateful if you don't slap my head in public." Pink was a lot older than Jeslyn. She might look very young like she's in her early twenties, but Jeslyn could tell that Pink and Yellow were in their late thirties or early 40s.

"I might do that when I desperately want my head on the stake."

C

people are- rumors."

Pink looked at Jeslyn for a long time and sighed. "You want to know?"

"Hm...yes," she nodded.

"Boss is a very-"

"Click"

Pink stood up at the clicking sound of the door. Her hand moved to her waist and rested on her gun, ready to pull it out. Jeslyn frowned as she looked towards the door, waiting to know who it was that didn't bother to sound the doorbell.

Without suspense, he walked in. Just like always, his demeanor was suffocating.

"Boss," Pink bowed in greeting.

"Hmm, leave," Maverick said slowly, however, Pink knew the order was for her, so she bowed and

walked out. 7

"Y-you are back," Jeslyn said a little nervously.

Her mind traveled to the event of that morning and the words he told her; 'We are consummating our marriage tonight'.

Jeslyn's cheeks turned pinkish at the lewd images flashing in her mind... she was imagining how things would go down.

'Would there be blood stains?'She heard and learned that the majority of women see blood for the first time. She also learned that some don't.

Jeslyn never stopped wondering what category she would fall in. However, she'd like to see her blood on the bed after the deed.

"...are you listening?" His voice came out colder than it used to be.

"Y-you said?" Jeslyn looked up at him sheepishly. 'Did he say something?' she thought.

Maverick stared at the blushing girl in silence for a long time before he walked unhurriedly to her on

the bed.

With every step he took slower to her, Jeslyn's heart beat hard against her ribcage.

Anticipation, excitement, nervousness, and all the weird feelings she couldn't place her fingers on, rushed into her, knocking her into staring foolishly at him. He stopped beside her and lowered his height.

Jeslyn got a shock with him being in her view, almost too close for a kiss on his cheek if she wanted

1.

'Is he about to start?... Here? Valen is...' she slowly turned her head to look at the child, his eyes tightly shut with his hand resting on her waist under the blanket. Jeslyn turned her head, took in a sharp breath, and widened her eyes as her face almost collided with his.

"Are you ok?" He asked in that deep voice.

Jeslyn swallowed and nodded. Her face was getting hotter and hotter. She slowly closed her eyes. Whatever the eyes didn't see, the mind wouldn't think.

However, after a long while, she didn't feel his skin on hers. Her brows furrowed slightly. Just when she was about to open her eyes, she felt the sheets on her getting tugged.

She snapped her eyes open to see Maverick kissing his son on his forehead before he raised himself to stand erect.

Jeslyn felt embarrassed at her own shameless thought. 'So all these and he was only intended to kiss his child? Goodness! What was I thinking?! 1

As Jeslyn was chastising herself, Maverick started to walk away. Jeslyn almost spoke out of disappointment.

Didn't he say this night? She thought he was a man of his words. After making her think of it throughout the day...

"mtchewww," Jeslyn mindlessly hissed. It wasn't loud enough for Maverick to hear, but Jeslyn thought he heard her hiss because, at the same time, he paused in his steps and turned around to look at her. "Meet me in my room in 10 minutes."

'Whaaaaat!' Jeslyn couldn't believe her ears. They must be playing jokes on her.

"Wh- what do you mean?" She summoned the courage to ask.

"My room... in 10 minutes..." he walked out after that. 1)

76 10 minutes- Valen and rain

"My room... in 10 minutes..." he walked out after that. 1

Jeslyn suddenly felt her throat go dry. Is it really going to happen tonight? She touched her reddened cheeks and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. From the way her heart was pumping, she was very sure that her face was as red as a tomato right now and Maverick must have seen it too.

"Was that why he changed his mind?" She asked the rhetorical question to herself and then shook her head, "I don't think so."

Jeslyn glanced at Valen, then shifted her gaze towards the window. The striped black and white curtains were pulled apart. Although she couldn't hear the pitter-patter of the rain, she could clearly see the lightning and thunder flashing across the sky.

Before Valen went to sleep, they were discussing some random stuff when the rain started to stream down from the sky. At first, Valen wasn't aware of the rain but when he accidentally saw the lightning flashing across the sky, the child subconsciously gripped Jeslyn's nightwear tightly.

That was when the observant Jeslyn got the hint that the child had a traumatic experience with rainy days.

Instead of letting the curtains down, Jeslyn didn't. Her reason was that she wanted the child to stop running away from his fears and embrace them.

"Valen, I can't close the window, shutting your fears away isn't the best solution to overcoming them. Take for instance you go out with your friends or you are somewhere in the open and the rain. unexpectedly starts to pour, what would you do then?

Showing your weakness at that moment means you have given your enemies the bullet to kill you

with."

"T-then, how do I embrace it?" Valen tried to not show his dread but he couldn't help it. Mulan didn't tell him how to embrace his trauma. She only told him to seek refuge in his room and put down the curtains. Looking at the child, Jeslyn almost couldn't stop the tears that had gathered in her eyes to not run out. She pulled the child into her embrace and said:

"I read a book called 'Mom is Mine' written by Hassy_101. The female lead was just like you, she had a very bad experience with rain at the age of... I can't remember, but you are older than her. From that day onwards, the female lead started to avoid rainy days, not like she could though, but she made sure to seek solace where there were lots of people and loud music to shut out the cry of thunder. 11 The villain tried several ways to get her but couldn't and in the end, her weakness which was the fear of thunder and rain was used against her and she suffered terribly.

That was where I learned that if the male lead had made her get accustomed to her weakness and made her embrace it instead of running away from it,Wei Yang wouldn't have gone through that much

trouble.

So, Valen, I don't want you to be like Wei Yang, but instead, I want you to look at that thunder with bravery. It won't harm you physically. It's just what your fears want you to believe. See..."

Jeslyn pointed at the window. Valen's eyes followed her finger and the child just happened to see the brightness of the sky. If the room wasn't soundproofed, Valen could have heard the deafening clap of

that thunder.

The child shook and held tightly unto Jeslyn's pajamas. He was really frightened however, Jeslyn asked: "After you looked at it, did it hurt you?"

Valen shook his head.

Jeslyn nodded and placed her hand on his head as she brushed his hair backward. "That is how it is. The sound and lightning of thunder will not hurt you nor would rain harm you. Also, there are people around you, I'm here."

After that, Valen's eyes started to linger on the window. Although he still feels uncomfortable with every flash of lightning in the sky, it wasn't as before where he would immediately pull a cover over his head while shivering from the fear that something bad would happen to him.

Seeing that it was getting late and Valen wouldn't sleep, Jeslyn started to sing him a lullaby, and that was when Pink came in.

Jeslyn snapped out of her thoughts and got down from the bed. She walked to the window and stared at the dark sky for a while before she pulled the curtains closed.

The lesson she taught Valen a while back was what she learned from her grandfather.

While leaving the room, Jeslyn was thinking of the old man. If there would be a life after this and she was allowed to choose who her family would be, she would choose old man Lee as her grandfather again and again. Inside Maverick's room...

Just like before, the room didn't change, darkness shrouded the room except for the lamp beside the bed, illuminating a small part of the room in a faint yellow glow, though enough to see the activities happening on the bed.

Maverick, who was lying on the edge of the bed and reading a book with the help of the light coming from the lamp, heard the sound of the doorbell. He glanced at the alarm clock which was placed on the drawer top by Rex a few days ago. 2

He picked up the remote lying close to the lamp and pressed a button with his hand stretched towards the door but his eyes lowered to his book.

Once the door was opened, Jeslyn walked in.

"You are ten minutes late," he said nonchalantly without raising his head. 1

Jeslyn answered while walking towards him, "I couldn't leave Valen alone."

Maverick stayed silent for a while before he asked: "Have you experienced it before or you are new to It?" 1

Jeslyn stared stupidly at the man reading and couldn't decipher if he was talking to her or reading aloud.