Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

"First of all, Matt is not an object, but a human as stubborn as your husband. We both know he won’t come. Secondly, I can no longer be cured. Even if Matt comes, he’d give me the same diagnosis I’ve received more times than I’m willing to remember. So, Mrs. Lu, what kind of business are you proposing and how does that benefit me?"

"Woohoo! Clap, clap!" Jeslyn clapped while smiling. Then her smile slowly slipped off her face as she said, "Mrs. Hwang, You do know you owe me more than you’ve paid. It’s quite unfortunate that your man died and I can see that you’re deeply hurt by it. So can we say, you’ve paid for my Cousin’s death?"

Jeslyn didn’t wait for the woman to agree or disagree before she nodded. "Yes, we are even on that. But what my brother had gone through in your hands, you need to pay us too... And Pink’s troubles after coming here."

Nancy looked intently at her face for a long time before she looked at her juice. "You’re blunt with your revenge. Fine, I’ll give you some men to do your bidding. That’s for going after Pink. However, I owe you nothing in how I treated my son–"

"My brother!" She corrected, then smiled. "Mrs. Hwang, you do owe me for stealing my twin brother away from me. The relationship that we could have built, you stole that away too. You caused us too much pain, and I honestly don’t think I can forgive that." She looked seriously at the woman.

Nancy stayed silent for a while before she opened the compartment below the desk and pulled out a black gun.

The instant Code 5’s hawk eyes saw that, he immediately raised his and pointed it at Nancy.

Nightcrawler, who wasn’t far away, also pointed his gun at Code 5.

Jeslyn’s lips twitched. When did a diplomatic discussion become a gun-pointing affair?

Although she was scared that the stoic-faced Nancy might shoot her, for some reason, she chose to remain level-headed even though her heartbeat could race with a car.

To her surprise, Nancy placed the gun on the desk and gently pushed it to her. "If you hate me so much, use that. I promise you, nobody will touch you."

Jeslyn was taken aback. She looked at the woman who didn’t seem to be lying. Jeslyn took the gun and weighed it on her palm. It was light and beautiful. Exactly what she’d love, but then again, she said the opposite of what she thought, just like always.

"What kind of a gun is this? The gun has nothing to tell of its brand or model... so classless."

She placed the gun down and pushed it back to Nancy. "I don’t use guns that weren’t given by my husband. What if it backfires?" She rolled her eyes and picked up her glass of juice.

Code 5 and Nightcrawler’s lips twitched. What kind of quirky excuse is that?

Nancy smiled. "You don’t have the heart to kill me or see me dead. In other words, you’re not as angry at me as you thought. But you feel you need to seek revenge. True, I deserve to pay but like I said, I won’t pay for taking Brian."

"Why?"

"Because he’s my SON!" She looked at Jeslyn and for a moment, Jeslyn saw a vulnerable look of love and adoration when she called ’son.’ To be sure, she decided to dig deeper.

"Coming from someone who wants her stepson dead, I’m not moved," Jeslyn rolled her eyes.

"If your enemy is living every day of his life, looking for your weaknesses, I’m very sure you would have done the same thing I did.." She paused to a deep breath. She had never openly told anyone how she felt about Brian, except her Nanny Xie, Nightcrawler, and Death.

"I know I was being a toxic mother but I did that for his safety. Hwang Min doesn’t care about anything but himself. I make Brian go through so much just so his father doesn’t know that he is my weakness. I forced Brain out of the entertainment industry just to pull you two apart and kill the sibling relationship between you both because Hwang Min was starting to investigate your matter. I killed the first few people he sent after you, then wanted Brian to marry a friend’s daughter because I knew my time was short. Those people can protect him on my behalf... I know I owe you and everyone else an apology but I won’t apologize to your mother, because just like my twin sister, she’s stupid and still can’t read Hwang Min to know why he’s still with her."

Jesslyn flattened her lips. This wasn’t what she envisioned and never thought that a day would come when she would feel sorry for this woman.

"Why didn’t you tell Brian all these things you’ve just told me? He thinks you hate him and have been using him to secure your place here, I mean, I thought so too."

Nancy twirled the drink in her cup a couple of times. "He wouldn’t believe me, he loves his father. I also hoped that he would learn the hard way, so that when he finally does, he will becomes strong and courageous enough to face the world."

Jeslyn sighed and patted the woman on the shoulder. "You’re indeed a pitiful woman... but don’t worry, I have no place in my heart to save pity for you."

She lied but because Nancy wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone feeling pity for her, Jeslyn decided to always treat her like this. Whereas, her heart was bleeding.

"Crawler!" Nancy called.

Nightcrawler walked over and bowed in front of Nancy.

"The Token," she stretched her hand out to him. Nightcrawler was stunned as he looked at the woman. His eyes moved to Jeslyn who was staring at them both. The guy was reluctant for a moment before he brought out the black token and handed it to Nancy.