Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

Fat tears pulled out of Alex’s eyes. She could feel the stabbing pain in her chest. She slowly clawed her chest. Her daughter and sister suffered so much, yet her sister told her nothing about it.

On that day, while they were fighting the enemies, Alex saw her sister bleeding from the stomach and it wasn’t a bullet wound, so Alex thought it was the enemies’ blood. After all, they were using anything dangerous– that included guns and surgical tools. If she knew that the blood on Alice’s stomach was from Alice’s injury, she wouldn’t have allowed her to continue fighting.

Coming to that realization, Alex couldn’t contain her sorrow anymore. She cried so hard that her voice broke.

All these while, Diana was looking at her without consoling her. That was how she cried too. Everything was Alex’s fault, so I’ll let her cry blood! She thought.

After a while of Alex’s silent sobbing, her mind jolted and she quickly asked; "Th– the child?" She already knew who the child her daughter gave birth to was.

If the stillborn Vera gave birth to was switched with Jeslyn’s son, then does Alex need a soothsayer to tell her who the child was? However, she was hoping it wasn’t what she was thinking.

"Valen Lu..." Diana paused to watch how Alex broke down even more.

Anybody would. Pink had been living with her grandchild for so long but had no idea. She saw how Mulan almost ruined Valen’s life, yet, she turned a blind eye. She forsook her family and also her grandchild.

"What kind of a mother and grandmother am I?!" She wailed loudly, detesting herself even more.

Diana wasn’t feeling pity for her but still patted her shoulder anyway. Alex’s heartfelt pain was rubbing off on her. She didn’t want to cry because she was already dressed for an outing.

A whole later, Alex had composed herself and asked; "what about Maverick, where did he go when all these were happening? Vera was already living with him while she was pregnant. She should have given birth with Matt being the doctor. She should have been in Country Y’s hospital, so why did he allow her to go to Rose City?!"

"A month before Vera was supposed to give birth, Maverick was caught up in a life and death battle with the Dark Age organization. Weird coincidence, right?"

"Damien..." Alex gritted her teeth and balled her hands in tight fists.

"Yes, Damien did it." Diana took a sip from the glass cup. Telling Alex everything in detail was so that Alex would hate herself even more for being a bad b!tch.

Alex looked at her, urging her to continue. It was better she knew everything at once than to get them bit by bit. She doesn’t like such things.

"Using the war as a cover up, Vera went to Country G and after the deed was done, she was transported to Rose City before Maverick’s men that escorted Vera around finally got through to Maverick. Ruben was able to carry out the plan with guards around because the head of the guards was bought. I heard Maverick killed the guard a few months ago... Code 4 was his name."

Alex slowly nodded. She was in prison when Code four was killed for betrayal. Maverick hates betrayers and wouldn’t spare anyone even if they were his trusted subordinates. However, what she cared about at the moment was why the other guards couldn’t reach Maverick in time. "Network was disturbed?" This was the only thing that would cause hindrance to communication.

Diana nodded. "Network in Country M at the time was very bad, so the men couldn’t get through to Maverick and at the same time. Vera was able to run away from the hospital thanks to Code 4 and Ruben."

"Ruben?... Not Damien?" Alex wiped her face.

"Ruben." Diana frowned.

"How so?"

"The puzzle cannot be solved without knowing what Ruben’s plans are. I didn’t get to find out how Ruben replaced Jeslyn with Vera without Damien knowing. But what I know Is that Damien never intended for Jeslyn to hold on to Maverick’s child. He wanted Jeslyn to give birth, snatch the child and send him to Maverick, then when Maverick starts to look for the mother, Damien would send him another woman. But how did he not know that Vera was playing exactly that role in Maverick’s house?"

"Does that mean Ruben played a part in confusing his brother?" Alex asked in a weak voice.

"It could also be possible that the task was left to Ruben, so while he was doing his own agenda, Damien was thinking it was for his foolproof plan." Diana analyzed.

Diana was the best analyst in Half–heart organization. Thanks to her sharp mind and the ability to dissect schemes, her betrayal was pardoned and she became an Elder in the organization.

"What information do you have on Ruben?" Alex asked.

Diana shook her head. "My friend refused to divulge Ruben’s information to me. He said Ruben is a confidential case... however, he only got to spill a few words when I took over his ’little brother’ and sent him to cloud nine."

Alex narrowed her eyes. "Then that makes Ruben more dangerous."

"Yes, Ruben is no ordinary person. He went to Rose City and became friends with Jeslyn’s ex–fiance under the name and identity of the Young Master of the second richest family in Rose City... He killed the young Master and took over his place while on disguise. After he returned to Country M, he forged an airplane crash with ’Frank’ in it and the family then believed that their son died in a plane crash... His acting skills are top–notch. He can take on any role he wishes to."

Alex stayed silent. She didn’t know what else to say concerning this Ruben guy. She had only seen him once and that time, he was walking behind Damien like a puppet. No one would believe that such a person can do all these.