Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

83 Back to square one

That was right. Maverick saw the way his parents lived. Thanks to them, lots of bad things happened to the family. He lost the dearest person in his life to domestic violence and a toxic relationship, so from then on, he made a vow to never allow his women to feel injustice. Even if he doesn't love them, provided he picked them out to be his women, they would enjoy all that a loved wife enjoys, unless his heart and body. 1

"Oh... then my luck is still intact...hehehe," Jeslyn giggled like a child. How many men still respect their wives and treat them like they are treasures? Marrying a man like Maverick wasn't a bad deal for her after all.

He has Valen, a great body, fantastic in bed, caring and loving, and has a cute brother, wealthy, powerful, and mysterious. What else would she need in a man if not all that?

Love doesn't matter anymore, the idiot she loved played her like dirt, so it seems her luck in love wasn't that great. Hmmm, she can fill out the love and replace it with the kindness her husband was showing her. Hehehe....

Done putting on the shirt, Maverick instantly regretted it. The shirt stopped right below her butt. A little bend over would leave all her treasures exposed for everyone to see, but he can't tell her to change into something else, after all, he gave it to her.

Jeslyn looked sexy in the black oversized shirt. She left a few buttons at the top open and made the neck an off-shoulder, totally forgetting the hickeys on her, or probably she did it for some reason. Maverick's eyes lingered on the hickeys he left on her before her happy voice pulled his mind from wandering.

"Perfect!" She smiled and raised her gaze to look at Maverick. "How do I look?"

With his right hand in his trousers pocket, he replied: "Your flight will be in three hours, you don't have much time to waste." 1

Jeslyn playfully rolled her eyes. Why did she expect him to say how she looked? Whatever. No matter what she wears, she'll always be the beauty goddess of Rose City.

Jeslyn left the room after that, hoping to return to Valen's room but on getting to the stairs, she saw the child walking towards her. She smiled brightly and happily called: "Valen, you are awake." The child ignored her and continued walking down with his usual poker face.

Jeslyn pouted. Did she do something wrong again?

On getting to him, she stretched her hand to touch him but he avoided it. Seeing this, Jeslyn narrowed her eyes and blocked his way.

"If you don't tell me what I did, you are not going down," She stated.

Valen looked at her from her smooth straight legs up to where his eyes could reach and gave her a disgusted look before he turned around and started heading back to his room.

Jeslyn's mouth fei! open as she stared at the little child's lonely back. The look he gave her just now spoke of his displeasure but what had she done?

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"Valen?" She called and started to hurry after him.

"Forget it, he won't listen to you now," Pink said from a couch in the sitting room.

Hearing that, Jeslyn went back and stood on the stair landing, overlooking the sitting room. "Sister Pink, do you have any idea why he's like that?" Jeslyn sounded worried. These few days, she had seen that child slowly leaving his shell and welcoming her. She doesn't want him to lose faith in her.

"Hai, don't cause me trouble, call me Pink," She corrected Jeslyn.

"Ok, please tell me what's wrong with Valen.""

"Same as you, I have no idea. By the way, the shirt...looks good on you." Pink praised weirdly.

"Everything looks good on me, but I don't trust your compliment. I'll ask you in a while, let me go and check up on Valen." She went back to Valen's door. 1

Standing by the door, she rang the bell a few times but they went unanswered. She sighed and started to bang on the door, "this stubborn child," she murmured.

A while later, the door opened and Jeslyn got in. She stood by the door after closing it. "Valen, you shouldn't behave like this anymore. I have been-"

"Do you need something?" He asked curtly with his back to her, shutting her up. After a while of not getting an answer, he continued, "I guess not," he answered and turned to look at Jeslyn. "What do you want?" He inquired with his hands folded on his chest.

Looking at his cute expression to his demeanor that was trying to portray a cold person, Jeslyn suddenly chuckled before she burst into a fit of laughter. She started to walk towards him while saying: "Whatever is making you upset, you should tell me now so I can make things right before I leave."

Valen whipped his head up. He was about to say something but he stopped and turned his face away. Jeslyn squatted in front of him and held his shoulders. "Look, 1 -" she stopped talking when she saw his eyes were focused on her neck.

Jeslyn didn't know what he was looking at and assumed he was staring at her like that because she was wearing his dad's shirt.

"Hey," she waved her palm over his view and finally caught his attention. "Are you still mad? Look, I won't take your dad away, I'll just be around him for-"

"Aren't you leaving anymore? I have somewhere to be if you aren't." He cut her off again before he threw her hands off his shoulders.

Jeslyn watched the child walk away from her and sighed. "I guess we are back to square one," she thought with a bitter smile on her lips before she got up and walked out of her room. Time was ticking and she needed to be at the airport soon.

Inside a car, Maverick's mother could be seen looking at tons of Jeslyn's pictures scattered on her lap. "So, she's actually a riffraff? A poor disgusting thing and her precious son? That's impossible! Over my

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dead body! She picked up her phone and made a call.

"Where is she?" She asked after the other person took the call.

"Oh, that's interesting. Keep track on her and finish her off at any slight chance you get." Maverick's mother commanded before she put her phone down.

The woman picked up a picture of a laughing Jeslyn. She looked under-worldly, a fine product of beauty, a picture that could put a smile on anyone's face, yet Maverick's mother only felt more disgusted as her face twisted with hatred.