Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

113 The truth about Valen

“Ehm…Maverick, I’ve been thinking… Well, uhm, I wanted to ask. What happened to Valen’s mom?” She looked at his side profile. She knew they weren’t close enough to talk about these things but curiosity got the best of her. D

“Why?” He asked without looking at her.

“I just… I’m wondering what would happen if she returns while we were still… you know, married.” She lowered her eyes at her wedding ring, then shifted her gaze to his fingers but there was no wedding ring on it.

This wasn’t the first time she noticed it. He doesn’t wear his wedding rings. Not that it mattered though, after all, the ring was never his size, so… but then, why was she feeling…disappointed? 3 Wait! Is this the feeling of disappointment? But why? It never mattered to her, so why is she suddenly feeling bad about it? This is stu pid. It must have been that she’s unknowingly stressed out because of Valen’s condition, yes, that’s right. She concluded.

“She left. She won’t return…she doesn’t want to return.” He replied with his eyes still on the road. He had searched everywhere for Vera but it’s like she disappeared into thin air. 5

Did he just explain to her? Like, he really answered her!

Jeslyn was elated. She immediately started to test the waters with the questions she had in mind for a long time, hoping he would answer a few, if not all.

“Did you two have a fight?”

“Hmm,”

“Oh…that’s bad. But you shouldn’t have let her leave. Why didn’t you go after her?”

a thin line. After a long time, he parted his lips: “I

about that, so she changed the topic. “Valen missed her a lot. Although he looked tough, that child is a bunny inside, just like me.” She smiled bitterly. “He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way by the

that boy wants to run around the compound laughing out loud with you and his mother playing with water guns. He wants to attend a regular school like every other kid out there. That child wants to wear colored clothes, and he wants to eat what every other child is allowed to

Maverick had pulled up and was staring at her.

“I’m

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raise your son, but I couldn’t help it.”

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you?” He didn’t sound angry

not sure.” She

so you could change

“Huh?”

him to see the difference between you

explaining his actions one day. Here he was trying to explain his reasons to this woman. Why?

that, so why? He used to ignore her when she asked personal questions. So what

do you mean by ‘his remaining days’?” It

the car. After a long silence, he

you mean?”

life after

With one hand on the steering, the other scrolled through his phone until he

him and matt.

her lap and focused on

two to live. He also said that the symptoms wouldn’t be frequent nor would they be serious. Sometimes it might be a mild headache, other times it might be a cold or mild fever.