Her Substitute Groom

Janice POV

I scoffed for the fifth time as I stood in the garden with my hands on my waist. The view here was supposed to be called beautiful, but I couldn’t even think of that because of the shit going on in my head.

“Ugh! That guy is a real bastard. So this wasn’t because of me, but his brother? How could he get me involved, huh?” I mumbled and scoffed because all this doesn’t make any sense to me.

The sound of the footsteps behind me pulled my attention, and I turned to find the youngest brother. I mean, Chase. We have only talked a few times since I’ve been coming here even before I moved in yesterday.

“Hi, sister-in-law,” He smiled at me. I’ve noticed how different he was from every other person in the family. Unlike Connor, he smiled a lot, much more than Carl does too.

“Oh, good evening,” I greeted him as he came to stand beside me, and he nodded his head.

An awkward silence assumed the atmosphere as we both stared into space. I was nervous and curious about why he was here.

“He must’ve come to get fresh air here and met me accidentally,” I said to myself and sighed briefly.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. My two brothers can get crazy when they are angry about something, especially Connor. You shouldn’t have to get dragged into this mess,” He apologized to me, and I nodded my head. The only question I’ve been asking myself since morning after the incident was what transpired between the two brothers that would make one go to that length to get his revenge, but asking Connor or Carl was the last thing on my mind. Not when they still have a lot on the ground to solve.

“Hmm,” I nodded my head, and he sighed.

“While this is going on, you should try to stay out of it. Don’t get too curious and end up asking Connor anything. He can be very crazy. He is my brother, and I know him very well,” His words were already getting me so scared that I felt my heart skip. Is there anything Connor would do to me if I don’t do as he said? I asked myself, but as they said, curiosity kills the cat, so I should learn to mind my business while being here.

“Why don’t I just run away?” I thought to myself.

“Connor is going to find you wherever you go, so don’t ever let running away from here cross your mind. When he sets his mind on something, he never changes it,” I gasped sharply. Did he read my thoughts? Maybe it was just a coincidence.

“Hmm. Thank you,” I nodded my head.

“Hmm. If you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me. I will be your friend if you don’t mind. It doesn’t matter which of my brother’s you married, but what matters is that you are my brother’s wife. If you want to know anything about Connor, I will tell you about it,” He seemed to like Connor a lot as everything he said turned out to be in his favor.

“Thank you,” I forced a smile at him.

“I will leave you now,” He uttered, leaving me in the garden after.

“Ugh! I’m going to lose my mind,” I muttered, ruffling my hair crazily.

I rested for a few more minutes in the garden before I finally decided to leave, but I stopped on my track when I turned around and found Connor standing with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

“Why are you here alone? Thinking of how miserable your life has become, huh?” He scoffed, walking elegantly up to me. He was wearing a white singlet and white shorts that stopped on his knees. His hair was rough, yet looked cute on him.

“It’s time to eat. You should come to the dining room with me,” He said, holding out his hand to me.

“I’m fine. I’m not hungry,” I replied to him, and he scoffed, tucking his hands inside his pockets.

“Why?” He asked me as if he didn’t understand the atmosphere.

“Let me go, Connor. I don’t want to be with you. I will leave to a faraway place where you will never have to see me. I won’t marry Carl either. So, just let me go, please,” I pleaded with him, but he stared back at me blankly for the next fifteen seconds before he scoffed and raised his eyebrows.

“Why should I let you go? We are married now, and we took a vow before the priest. We said we were going to be together till death do us apart. We’ve only been married for two days, and now you want to leave? Why?” He asked, acting clueless.

“I don’t know what happened between you and your brother, and trust me, I’m not interested in whatever happened. You shouldn’t drag me into your revenge or whatever. Just let me go, ok?” I wasn’t sounding convincing, and I know that. At first, I thought this was entirely about me, I thought he was doing this because of what happened back at the penthouse.

“No, I won’t let you go. We are married, and we are going to stay together until I want you to leave,” He said to me flatly as his eyes pierced into mine, and my jaw dropped.

“Don’t even think of running away from here, because I will find you wherever you go, and you wouldn’t want to see the other side of Connor Hughes when you get back here again,” His voice was cold, domineering, and full of dark aura, and I felt my heart skip for seconds.

“You look terrified. Come on, I’m not that scary. Come on, let’s go eat dinner together. Everyone is waiting for us in the dining room,” The way he switched his mood made me doubt if he was the same man that almost made my heart jump out of my chest just now. I’m doomed for real this time.

He held my hand and led me to the living room where we met everyone, including Carl. Carl stared at our hands, and I could see the rage in his eyes, so I tried to remove my hand from Connor’s, but his grip on me grew tighter and I could tell my hand would be red by now even though I hadn’t checked it yet.

“What’s here for dinner?” The way he smiled brightly as he pulled out a chair for me as if nothing happened here today.

“You should be careful, wife. Don’t hurt yourself,” He uttered gently like a gentleman he was not and would never be. He sat on the chair beside me.

“I will serve your food,” He uttered, standing up to his feet. He served my food, but all this time, my eyes were moving around and checking everyone’s expression. His mom looked sad, Chase was just there, the expression on his face didn’t show sadness or excitement. When our eyes met, he smiled at me, revealing his perfect dentition. My eyes met with Claire’s, and she sighed as she diverted her gaze to Connor who was still busy serving me food. And finally, I looked at Carl, and he looked so enraged. Even though I was going to marry him because of his money, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him because he seemed to really like me.

We began eating after he was done serving us.

“Mom, I was thinking of going on a honeymoon with my wife. What do you think?” He began as he held my hand, but I was quick to yank his hand off me.

“Do you have any suggestion, Chase? What about you, Claire? I would’ve asked you, Carl, but we are not that close,” He smirked, and Carl slammed his hands on the table as he rose to his feet.

“Are you out of your mind, huh? How dare you!” Carl yelled, emptying a glass of water on Connor’s face, and I gasped sharply as I covered my mouth.

“Hey! Do you want to die?” Connor yelled as he stood up and ran his fingers across his hair.

“Can you two stop this, please?” Mrs. Hughes slammed her hands on the desk, rising to her feet.

“You stay out of this, Mom. Don’t get yourself involved, Mom,” Carl said to their mom, turning to face me afterward.

“Hey, Janice. You would have to end this here and now, ok? Now, you choose between us. Who do you want to be with? Me, or him?” He asked me, and my jaw dropped.

“Carl…”

“I told you to stay out of this, Mom,” Again, he shut his mom up, and silence assumed the atmosphere.

“What makes you think you can talk to my wife like that? How dare you ask my wife to choose between me and you? Are you out of your mind?” Connor snapped.

“Choose between us, Janice,” Carl insisted…