Her Substitute Groom

Janice POV

My heart pounded hard against my chest as I sat on the edge of the bed while listening to the sound of the running shower. Many thoughts ran through my mind, and I couldn’t help but shake nervously. My life took another turn for the worse in a space of seconds.

“Ugh! What do I do? I can’t stay here. He is going to kill me if I stay here as his wife,” I mumbled as I ruffled my hair crazily as I sprang up and paced restlessly in the room, thinking of any possible solution, but I couldn’t think straight or come up with anything as my head was blank.

I hurried over to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked from inside and the key was not even inside.

“Damnit!” I cursed under my breath as my heart sank into my stomach. The shower finally stopped running, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that he would be out soon, and that only made me more terrified.

As expected, the bathroom door finally opened, but I turned my back to him sharply when I spotted him walk into the room with just his brief on, and he had a big bulge down there. My breath hitched for seconds.

“What are you doing? Are you playing innocent now?” I heard him scoff, and I took a deep breath, turning to face him. I went on my knees.

“Forgive me, Sir. I won’t ever do such a thing again. I promise to change if you let me off just this once, please. We can’t do this,” This may be fruitless, but still, I needed to try my luck with him.

“Are you kidding me? I thought you said you don’t know me. Did you do something wrong to someone you have never met before? What are you apologizing for?” He mocked me as he went to sit on the bed.

“Please… I’m sorry. I will tender another apology in front of your family if you want. Please give me another chance,” Again, I pleaded with him, hoping it works out, but deep inside me, I was very sure he won’t listen to my plea, but still, trying my luck wouldn’t harm, right?

“What makes you think that I will do what you want? After making me look like a fool, you dare to say those trash to me. Do you want to die?” He yelled at me, and I flinched fearfully. All this time, I couldn’t even raise my gaze to look at him. I may pee on my body if I dared to look him in the eyes.

“‘Who are you, please? Have we met before?’ What did you say again? ‘The fact that you are wealthy doesn’t mean you can treat me the way you like, accusing me of stealing from you’. Ugh! Thinking about it is making me so mad,” He huffed as he threw his head back, and I sighed.

“I won’t ever do that again…”

“How many men have fallen victim? How many men have you duped? You are only twenty-five for fuck’s sake, who knows how long you’ve been like this? This is unbelievable,” He bit his bottom lip since I was looking at him now.

“You are so annoying, and I’m going to teach you a lesson. You messed with the wrong guy, and you are going to taste the consequence of it…” He paused and stood up.

“Stand up,” He uttered, and I quickly stood up to my feet.

“Go inside the bathroom and shower. Come join me on the bed after, and don’t you dare keep me waiting. If you aren’t shaved down there, make sure you do it. Your pubic hair is going to get me injured if you don’t shave,” He uttered sarcastically as if those words meant nothing, and I gasped sharply as I quickly covered myself with my hands foolishly.

“Pardon?” I itched my ears to be sure I heard him right, but he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I told you not to keep me waiting for long, wife. You wouldn’t want to see the ugly side of me…” He paused and covered the distance between us, then tucked the strands of hair on my forehead behind my ear, and I gulped down the lump that formed in my throat.

“We have a long night ahead of us. If you want to sleep early, you should be fast about coming back,” He winked at me, and my jaw dropped.

“No… You… you can’t do that. We… we…”

“We are married, so why can’t I have sex with my wife, huh?” He raised his eyebrows as he searched my eyes for an answer, Buti quickly stepped away from him.

“Make sure you shave your armpits too if you have hair there. Spray some nice perfumes, and smell nice for your husband,” He winked at me before he went to sit on the bed.

“I give you ten seconds to go into the bathroom,” He further uttered when it didn’t seem like I was going to leave the room anytime soon, and this time, I was finally forced to go into the bathroom.

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, tears brimmed in my eyes, and they came falling freely down my cheeks afterward. It has been a while since I last did this, but it seemed like it was the only way to let out my pain this time. I had nobody to talk to, so maybe crying my eyes out would make me feel better, even though I knew deep inside me that it won’t.

“Can I be given one more chance, please? Just one more chance, and I promise not to ever do this again. I will lead a decent life after,” I whispered as more tears found their way down my cheeks, but I guess it was already too late to be given another chance. I knew I was doomed now.

Who would’ve ever thought my life would end up like this, coming to LA? I thought I would live a better life here, I thought the pain from my past would go away, but here I was today, yet in another trouble that may last me for a lifetime.

Living in Maryland with my parents and my kid bro, life became hard for us after Dad was met with an accident that had him confined to a wheelchair, and my mom, who was only a petty trader then, spent everything she had, and we even had to take loans from people so my Dad would be fine. I was in my finals then in high school, and since we couldn’t afford my tuition fee, I had to drop out, and that was the end of me being a student, up until now.

The responsibility of the family shifted on me when my mom couldn’t provide for us, and at sixteen, I had to take on many jobs, but it was never helpful. Two years later, I thought my life and that of my family would change forever after my mom’s friend took me to LA to stay with her, with the promise of sending me to school and getting me a part-time job so I could support my family, but I was deceived. I got to LA, and became her house-help instead. She never gave me a dime, and two years later, I finally had the courage to move out of the house, slept in the street for three months straight before I started this horrible business that ended me up here.

“Are you out going to stay there forever?” My heart skipped when I heard his voice from the room, and I took a deep breath. I guess this is the fate I would eventually have to embrace. Not that it was something I could change, anyway.

“Don’t think about it, Janice. You have to think about the life you would’ve lived if you had married Carl. You can still make it happen. Don’t be too sad,” I assured myself and sighed deeply as I threw my head back.

After I had bathed, I wore the white robe I found in the bathroom, then took a deep breath before I walked back into the room where I met him sitting on the bed. He stood up as soon as I walked inside.

“So, are you ready?” He asked, his lips were laced with a mischievous smirk, but I only stared at him.

“Now that I think about it, you are really cute. I didn’t get to see you well before you drugged me that day. You look sexy, and you know what I like most about you? You are a good kisser, and I love women that are good at kissing,” He finally covered the distance between us.

“You smell nice, and it makes me want to explore your body,” He winked at me and bit his bottom lip, leaning forward and claiming my lips, but I only stood like a statue while he did the kissing alone.

“Make it fun, and reciprocate the kiss. Don’t make our first night boring,” He hushed against my lips as he pulled me close to his body now, his hands were wrapped around my waist, rubbing it gently until he got to my ass, and smacked them.

“You have a pretty nice ass down there,” He commended as he trailed kisses down my cheeks to my neck, and when he got to the sensitive spot in my neck, he grazed it with his teeth, and this time, I was forced to react, since it was always my weak point.

“Yeah! Now, I got you,” He pulled away from me and chuckled softly.

“I just wanted to discover your weak point, and I guess I got one already. Let’s go to sleep. I’m tired, and I guess you should be too,” He winked at me once again before he stepped away from me, and I sighed angrily. Why the fuck did I react to that? I was so mad at myself for being such a fool, but then, it wasn’t my fault…