Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

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. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

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.

...

"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.