Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

"No, boss!" Code 10 immediately went to get his clothes.

A little while later, the man was dressed in his signature black shirt and black trousers and left the hospital with gauzes wrapped around his stomach and chest.

The first place he went to after leaving the hospital was Matt’s house.

When he arrived at the compound of the simple-looking villa, he didn’t get out of his car even when Lolita appeared.

Lolita stood with her head down as she waited with her heart in her throat.

"Where is Matt?" he asked.

"I– I have no idea where he went"

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"He got an important call the night before the Party, four nights ago. And ever since, he hasn’t returned home," She explained.

Just when Maverick was about to wound up his window, Lolita fell on her knees and started kowtowing to Maverick as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Please, forgive me, Mr. Lu, it was my fault! I caused it, please forgive me!"

Code 10 who was standing beside Lolita didn’t know how to react to the sudden change of atmosphere.

Maverick opened his door but didn’t step out. "What did you do to my wife?" He sounded almost uninterested but no one dared to think that way. Everyone around him had been walking on pins and trying very hard to go unnoticed ever since he found out his wife was missing.

Maverick wasn’t showing hostility to anyone but his suppressed aura and the way he sounds when he opens his mouth, though he isn’t yelling and tries to be calm, everyone around him knew it was a facade.

Lolita shuddered and beads of sweat slowly started to form on her forehead. "I– It– I was the one who– who–"

"Should I pry your jaw apart?" he asked in the same tone.

She whipped her head up and immediately shook her head, "No, no, I’ll speak." She sniffed and continued, "I– Jeslyn told me she didn’t want to attend the party because she had an ominous feeling about Reuben attending it and doing something, but I forced her to attend... I– I’m so sorry, Mr. Lu!"

Her words piqued Maverick’s interest and he glanced at her.

"What did you two talk about? Tell me everything."

"Sh–she — W– we talked about Ruben at a shopping mall. She told me he appeared to her, looking almost like you. She mistook him for you until she got close to him... at the gate of Fearless Entertainment." Lolita was shaking from fear of getting killed and the guilt of forcing Jeslyn to the party, so she couldn’t help herself from talking incoherently.

"My son mentioned her health. What did she tell you about her health?" Maverick believed that if his wife could let this lady in front of him know so much about what she was going through, she would have also told Lolita about her health which Valen spoke about three days ago.

Maverick hadn’t had the time to ask Pink and Yellow about Jeslyn’s health. After he left the party three days ago, he delegated tasks to his men and passed out. He just woke up today after the surgery.

"Her health, I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she was spacing out and acting strange–"

"Elaborate," Maverick interrupted with a slight frown.

Lolita nodded and gathered herself to try and sound coherent. "E–ever since she returned from SIN CITY, She sometimes complained of light headaches that disappeared as they came. She would space out, feel dizzy, have nightmares and mood swings."

"And she didn’t tell you why?"

"No, she said she had no idea, so I thought it was because she missed you."

"Hm."

Maverick locked the door and wound up his window without another word.

Code 10 dismissed Lolita and entered the car before driving off.

Maverick’s brows were furrowed. He was afraid that the ATOM in her might have kicked in again. With his thoughts going haywire, he failed to grasp all what Code 10 saying to him.

Code 2 saw that their master was lost in his thoughts, so he shook his head at Code 10, stopping him from talking further.

After a few minutes, Maverick spoke, "you were saying something."

Code 10 looked at him from the rear mirror before replying, "Yes... we’ve taken care of the Xu family as you’ve instructed. We sent that girl who wore your shirt to the hospital, and rewarded the one who saved you... But, your brother and Fin haven’t come to visit."

Maverick didn’t respond for a long time. He moved his gaze to the window, staring at the tall buildings along the way as they zoomed past. "Drive to Rex’s house," he finally ordered after what looked like forever.

"Yes!"

...

Arriving at Rex’s house, Maverick got in with a spare key. The house was clean as usual but it had no sign of a human presence. He went upstairs to Rex’s study room.

Inside the room, there were lots of papers piled up on the desk. He took a clean sheet from the top of the stack of papers. He observed it for a moment, then his eyes caught sight of a pen, sitting quietly in a corner of the desk. The blue pen wasn’t deliberately hidden from sight, nor was it left in the open. If someone else had walked into the study room and saw the pen like that, they’d think it was carelessly thrown out of sight.

Maverick picked it up and pushed the button and a blue touch lit at the other end of the pen. With the paper spread on the desk, he observed the paper closely with the blue light and saw a hidden note.

[ I don’t know what’s happening. I feel there’s something wrong somewhere but I can’t place my fingers on it.

Matt sent me a message before leaving for City B. He said there’s an outbreak of a new disease and the doctors there need him. Fin also gave me a call, saying there’s a serious gang fight in City F and he was ordered by his superiors to go check it out.

As for me, I got a couple of pictures showing me you are in danger. Everything is happening too fast and it all looks weird. However, I can’t risk it. There is an 80% chance that it’s real.

I mean, if you are truly dead, Mr. Hwang would likely cause chaos around the world to distract the people from PEACE Faction. But if you aren’t dead, then it’s a setup and I will need your help, big brother. ]