Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

"I do," Maverick walked out of one of the wards and leaned on the door frame.

Damien chuckled. "I was wondering why you didn’t allow your wife to punish me like she did to her enemies. Now I know why."

"You’ve always been intelligent," Maverick uttered nonchalantly.

"If I do this and come out alive, will you let me marry your sister?"

"She’s old enough to make her own decisions."

"Kim said she can only marry me if you approve."

"Then don’t die... I have no business being friends or inlaws with worthless people." Those were the last words he said before going back into the room he came out from.

Damien’s eyes lit up and a genuine smile spread across his lips. "Chaos agreed!" he laughed out loud before shifting his gaze to Doc Matt. "How dangerous is this treatment? Is my life 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

guaranteed?"

Randy shook his head and sighed. He had seen more than enough from his Boss and his woman over the space or weeks. Now he isn’t surprised at his Master’s stupidity anymore. If he wants to die for love, what can Randy do to stop him? The devil might even go as far as commanding Randy to die with him.

Doc Matt replied, "The dangers are not known so I can’t be specific. However, I’m quite certain that you won’t die in the early stages."

"There are stages?!" Randy gasped.

"Yes, but don’t ask me how many. If I knew, I wouldn’t call it an experiment." Matt retorted.

"How could you not know, yet you want to experiment on my Boss?!"

"Then, do you want to take his place? It’s easy to get some ATOM for you, you know," Matt replied like he was discussing weather.

Randy took a step back, "Thank you, I’m not..." His voice trailed off when he caught sight of his Master’s hard stare. ’What, why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t ask you to do stupid things for love!’ he thought and looked away.

"If you don’t know about the stages, you should know how long the treatment will last."

Matt shook his head, "I’m not sure, but we’ll see." with that, he walked away, leaving Damien and Randy flabbergasted.

...

Inside one of the wards, Maverick was sitting on a chair beside Rex whose head was bandaged. He flipped his book to keep reading before he heard a low grunt.

Turning his head, his eyes came in contact with his brother’s.

"You’re awake."

"Brother," Rex struggled to sit up without his brother rendering help. "I’m alive?"

"The blow to your head is not enough to kill you." he continued reading his book.

"How can you say that? I was hit twice!"

"You deserve a third hit," Maverick gave him a slightly annoyed stare.

Rex sighed, "Indeed, I was too soft at that moment."

"You weren’t, you were stupid."

"Hey, show me some love, I just returned from the land of the dead!"

"I didn’t invite you back. You are free to return." Maverick closed the book and looked at his brother, then changed the topic. "I’m entering the red room, you know what to do. Also, protect the family."

Rex remained speechless for a long time while staring at his brother. He knew this would come but never expected it to be this soon. Finally, he spoke before the door was pushed open.

"Brother... You might not come back."

"Hm."

Doc Matt frowned. "Mav, are you going somewhere?"

"Brother is going into the red room." Rex immediately exposed him.

Doc Matt moved closer to Maverick, looking worried, "Is there no other way? Didn’t you say you’d try something else?"

"None that is effective."

"You should take our people with you," Rex chimed in but Maverick shook his head.

"So your real reason for this experiment is to keep Damien busy and prevent him from going with you?"

"Hm." Maverick answered with a nod.

Doc Matt and Rex couldn’t find words for Maverick’s kindness. If Damien was in Maverick’s shoes, he’d take along as many people as the red romm could allow and use most of them as shield for whatever accident might occur.

Damien knew that Maverick had something very special in his house but had no idea what it was, that was why, when he sent Vera into the house, he gave her two missions.

One was to destroy Maverick’s happy home, and the other was to know what was being hidden in Maverick’s red room... something he had sent a few assassins to check out in the past but failed.

Even though he showed no interest in the room anymore, it didn’t mean that Damien was not curious to know.

Although, the reason Maverick doesn’t want to take him along to the red room is far from what Matt and Rex are thinking. With Maverick gone, trouble might come knocking. Also, if he’s able to achieve his aim, Ruben will be released, and the first person he’d come for will be Jeslyn. That guy is more dangerous than Damien, but Damien is capable of stalling Ruben until Maverick returns.

Also, there’s still the SIN lurking around them. Although they’ve not shown themselves ever since the Ore disappeared, one can’t be sure that they won’t appear again. After all, destroying the Dark Age will definitely get Nancy very upset.

Maverick needed to make a backup plan, and Damien was the right person. Also, he had done his part in the destruction of the organization, so the rest is left for Maverick.

"Sister-in-law, what excuse will you give her?" Rex suddenly interrupted Maverick’s train of thought.

Maverick looked intently at him. He knew his brother is a not happy, "Tell her I traveled."

"Brother, you know her, she’s very stubborn, and I can’t hold my tongue if she gets angry."

Maverick shifted his gaze to Doc Matt, "Can you numb his tongue?"

Doc Matt nodded, ignoring Rex’s shock.

"If he ever says what he shouldn’t, you have my permission."

"Brother!!!" Rex screamed and started coughing. Maverick didn’t wait around and left without caring about Rex’s health... With Doc Matt there, nothing bad will happen.