#THE_LAST_MINUTE_GROOM_S2
©Sir_Zach
EPISODE 40
Jeslyn waved her index manicured finger. Clicking her tongue, and shaking her head, she rejected him outright: “Not a chance, CEO Wu. You are buying my voice and talent, and not my face.”
Dissapointment flashed through his orbs for a moment before he shook the thought off his mind. Looking at the lady in front of him, even though she looked elegant, classy, and cunny, he was pretty sure she was not a virgin. Whoever is backing her must have eaten the fruit a few times, so, he’s not interested.
“Mark, bring the contract,” he instructed.
“Don’t be in a haste, CEO Wu. I’d also like to make things clear before we sign any contracts. So, bring me a pen and paper. You would like to rewrite that contract.” She leaned back and rested her back on the chair with her eyes squinted.
CEO Wu was getting fed up with this lady but he couldn’t drive her out because he really needs her to get a taste of Christine’s sweet pot. Her b|__wj_b was too good. Even though she was clumsy, he enjoyed every bit of it. Especially the shyness she was exuding. Christine will be fun to teach. He thought.
….
After Jeslyn signed the one-year contract with Sparkle Entertainment, she was supposed to stay away from other companies and only focus on practicing Christine’s debut song, but at this moment, Jeslyn was busy auditioning at Fearless Entertainment without a disguise.
After VJ Cute was stolen from them, Fearless Entertainment continued their audition process and surprisingly, they didn’t fight for her.
The Company was ready to fight but the higher-ups didn’t allow it, so they had to tell the public that VJ Cute pulled out and was poached by Sparkle Entertainment.
The majority of the fans were elated. They felt that it was only right that VJ Cute was groomed by the big companies so that her talent won’t be wasted. Because of VJ Cute, Sparkle Entertainment soared higher and was almost about to tumble Velvet Entertainment even before VJ Cute made an official debut.
Sitting on a chair beside Lolita, in the waiting room with almost a hundred other singers waiting for their turns, Lolita couldn’t help looking confused. “Rossa, I don’t understand something. What is going on? Two days ago, you were supposed to audition as VJ Cute, right? So what am I hearing that VJ Cute has gone to Sparkle Entertainment, but you are here as Jeslyn? I can’t place my fingers on what you’re thinking.”
Jeslyn glanced at her and said: “Just say, there’ll be a big drama coming up soon.”
“Hmm? Talk to me,” Lolita pressed on.
“Not here. I’ll tell you because I might need your help along the line. Meanwhile, it’s your turn.” Just after she said that Lolita’s name was called after her name and number appeared on the screen that was placed on the door, where the judges were.
Jeslyn, who was wearing a faded blue Jean and a plain white top with a black face cap, looked around her and suddenly smiled. ‘The plan starts now.’ she said to herself and got up. She removed her face cap and dramatically shook her hair, drawing the other’s attention.
In a place filled with almost a hundred singers, there should be someone who has seen her pictures or heard about her controversial news when she was still a singer in Rose City. She wanted to spread the news that she was still alive and is back to the entertainment industry. However, the best way to do that as a ‘poor’ and ‘helpless’ girl, is to use the people to spread the rumor.
Jeslyn believes that with her reputation, she won’t be able to quickly get to where she wants to be before one year, and might not be able to gather fans and h@ťěrs that would later become her true fans and help her destroy her enemies. So the best option for her is to start like this.
After she had drowned their attention, she stopped and started to park her hair when one of them asked in doubt.
“Is that not the singer who almost ran her sister, Christine over with a car in Rose City last year?”
“You mean, that wicked girl… I think her name is Jeslyn?”
“Right! Wasn’t she said to be dead? Why is she here?”
“She must have faked her death to deceive the world. Now she’s here!”
“She thinks Country M will be her safe heaven? I pity her. She’s going to be drowned by Christine’s fans soon.”
“Speaking of Christine, she hasn’t released a new song for months now and I read that she is in the country.”
“I heard insider news that before she came to Country M, she was attending singing lessons with voice coaches. Apparently, she was making preparations and going harder on herself to grow. Unlike some evil and jealous people who only cared about ki||ing her sister out of hatred and jealousy.” The lady eyed Jeslyn.
“Christine is an icon that deserves respect from everyone and I’m very sure she’ll break records too. Ah, let me take a few pictures of the vixen and alert Christine’s fans that the evil sister has risen from the dead. Hahahaha…”
Most of the contestants mocking Jeslyn weren’t from Country M, so they weren’t used to evil. However, the contestants from Country M felt that merely ki||ing a sister can’t be counted as anything. So they felt irritated that the others weren’t letting them sit in silence.
Jeslyn sat down amidst the taunting and gossip, looking like a quiet and innocent bunny. From the peripheral vision of her eyes, she spotted a few girls about to take photos of her, so she turned her face to them with a shocked look.
‘Perfect for my new image.’ She thought as she snickered in her mind.
Throughout their taunting and gossip, Jeslyn was trying to hide away by shrinking her neck and shifting on her seat like she was sitting on pins.
Soon, Lolita walked out and Jeslyn’s number was called.
“Contestant 50, Jeslyn Lee, head to the audition room!”
In the audition room, the judges accessed the petite Jeslyn for a while with satisfaction. Her face is remarkable and would certainly help her in the industry. All they need now is just a little bit of talent from her and her beauty will do the rest.
“Jeslyn Lee, that name rings a bell.” The only female judge in the room said with doubt and a tinge of malice. She couldn’t remember where she heard that name from.
“She probably got into a scandal due to her face, I’m sure.” One of the male judges replied.
Another male judge nodded: “The face is indeed enough to cause controversy. So, it’s understandable. But then, if she uses it well, she’ll be an A-lister in a year. After all, talents don’t matter these days.”
The judges spoke amongst themselves in low voices. Although Jeslyn couldn’t hear them, she was sure it was about her. She sighed and hoped that she wouldn’t get disqualified before her plans even began.
“Jeslyn Lee, you can start–”
The door burst open at that moment and the female Judge’s Assistant, a lady, hurried in and proclaimed loudly: “I’m sorry, you can’t allow her to join the audition.” She said, almost out of breath.
“Why?”
“Because Jeslyn has a bad record. She was involved in the case that stirred the world… case of murdering her grandfather and almost ki||ing her sister.” The Assistant concluded.
“Oh, so it’s her? No wonder the name sounded familiar.” The female judge looked disdainfully at Jeslyn and snorted.
Jeslyn sighed. How huge was the impact of her ‘crime’? This is absurd!
“Well, she didn’t ki|| her sister and the Supreme Court found her not guilty of the crime of ki||ing her grandfather, so…” one of the male judges said.
“That doesn’t change anything. If she hadn’t tried to ki|| her sister in broad daylight, she would have been able to manage the crime of ki||ing her grandfather.” The woman judge who seemed to have something against Jeslyn refuted.
“Ma’am, how did you know I tried to ki|| Christine? Were you there?…”
“You–”
“You saw the video from the angle the cameraman wanted you to see it from. I wasn’t even the one in the driver’s seat, so how did I become what you accuse me of? Mind you, before you lay claims like those brainless people that I made my boyfriend, the driver, do it, you shouldn’t forget that he’s a lawyer. Also, if the lawyer was my boyfriend, then would he have allowed me to go to prison for a few weeks and get my image tarnished?”
“Insolence! How dare you disrespect me! You are canceled!” The woman roared and struck Jeslyn’s name off her list.
“You are only this angry because you don’t have a comeback. You know I’m right.” She sighed and shook her head. “Ma’am, I don’t understand why you seem to h@ťě me but you are high above others, both in age and experience. I’m sure you are an indigene of Country M and had seen families betray each other. I’m sure someone in your family had backstabbed another, so you should know how these things work. For the fact that I’m not trying to defend myself and even had to hide away for one year and allow those who were after me to have a good life should tell you how good of a person I am.” Her eyes slowly started to gather salty water.
“If your claims are right, you were framed, why haven’t you come out all this while? Why aren’t you seeking revenge? I saw you exhausted the inheritance you stole!” The woman chuckled.
“You might think I didn’t seek revenge on them because I’ve exhausted my stolen inheritance. While you are entitled to think that way, you should also know that a person who has nothing to lose is not scared of fighting to the death with their enemies. My grandfather was the most beloved person to me, but I lost him, thanks to people’s schemes. If you were able to find out my ‘crimes’, shouldn’t you have dug a little further to know the relationship between my grandfather and me? Do you think that such a man wouldn’t leave a dime for me that I’d have to steal the inheritance?”
“Ok, let’s assume what the people and you said about me was true. I pushed my grandfather because he slapped me for disgracing my ex-fiance on the altar. My grandfather does not know that I’d be doing something like that, right, and I’m his only granddaughter– sorry, first and most beloved granddaughter of his. That should mean that I was mandated to have an inheritance from him but why am I this poor and I couldn’t even hire a lawyer and had to stick with a worthless one that was given to me when I ‘stole’ my inheritance already?
Do you think as a Miss of the Lee family, I wouldn’t be able to afford the best lawyer in Country A with my own money? Shouldn’t you be thinking of why I suddenly became helpless and didn’t get a lawyer? Do you think I wanted to take a tour around the prison and experience how life there was? No, my accounts were frozen and my grandfather’s inheritance wasn’t ‘stolen’.
Do you still want to know who did it? I don’t even know, so I can’t tell you. As for my grandfather’s properties, instead of thinking I stole them and still ended up like this, you should be rather concerned about who you think they went to. Point to note, my mother willed all her properties to me and the papers stated that I could only get access to them if I got married before my 26th birthday.
The day I got married was a day before my birthday, so shouldn’t I have gotten my mother’s properties by now, since I fulfilled the requirement? But do I look like some rich girl right now? My mother and grandfather were the richest people in Rose City. With their wealth combined, do you think anyone, including Rose City’s law, can get in my way if I had their wealth? I could have simply settled everything with money. So I’m sure your belief is broken now.
Meanwhile, if my grandfather was angry that I disgraced my ex-fiance on the altar, he wouldn’t have hugged me, spoken softly to me, and shielded me at the wedding venue, in the presence of all the guests. If you are still in doubt, do thorough research, ma’am.” She concluded. Jeslyn explained every single thing like she was schooling children because, who knows, it might be helpful to her in the future…
A pin-drop silence overtook the hall as all the judges were in deep thought. After a long while, a male judge asked: “So, are you saying your sister framed you?”
Jeslyn shook her head. “I can’t accuse her of any crime because I have no evidence to back it up. That is why I’m standing in front of you right now. I want to uncover the truth and seek justice for my grandfather and clear my name.” Fat teardrops started trickling down her cheeks and she slowly wiped them.
The judges gazed at each other. Jeslyn’s voice, story, and body language were too convincing and her eyes weren’t lying either. Her appearance was that of an innocent little girl accused of stealing but knows who did it, yet cannot point out the person because that person would find their way around it and later make her suffer. So sad.
“What do you all say we give her a chance?”
“Yes, give her a chance.”
.
.
.
“Impossible!”
Four judges agreed but the woman judge refused.
“Mrs. Mabel, Why?” One of the judges frowned at the woman.
“She’s not fit to be on the screen. Even though she managed to prove her innocence, her reputation is already tarnished. Fearless Entertainment is a startup company and cannot handle too much backlash. So–”
“We can help her clear her name and Fearless Entertainment would soar along with her. The people will feel remorse and be grateful to Fearless Entertainment for being with the bullied. Plus, having an eye candy in the company would be nice too. That would be hitting two birds with one stone.” One Judge explained.
“Fearless Entertainment can soar without her. I refuse.”
“What if we disagree with you, Mrs. Mabel?”
“It’s either her or me!” She glared at the judges who were looking at her with disbelief.
They couldn’t believe this woman who is the best critic and a great character in Fearless Entertainment would want the company to choose between her and a newbie. How much h@ťě does this woman have?!
“I’m sorry for causing trouble, I’ll leave. Thank you so much. I’ll just look… look for other means.” Jeslyn uttered amidst crying.
“Jeslyn Lee stays, Mrs. Mabel, you are fired!” A loud voice boomed from the public address system of the building. Even the guards outside the company heard it.
The staff and artists of the company couldn’t help wondering what Mrs. Mabel, one of the best higher-ups in the Company, did to get fired.
Inside the audition room, Mrs. Mabel was as shocked as everyone outside the audition room. She couldn’t believe her ears.
She was the backbone of this Company. Now she’s getting fired because of this low-life pretty vase? She curled up her lips, stood up, and walked to stand in front of Jeslyn. “You’ll regret this, you little who*e!” She spat out the malicious words and walked out in large strides.
Her Assistant, the lady who brought Jeslyn’s news glared at Jeslyn before she followed her boss out.
The other judges couldn’t help shaking their heads and sighing.
Mrs. Mabel had always been like this. Her hatred towards beautiful women is something no one could place their fingers on.
Meanwhile, Jeslyn was laughing in her mind. She’ll regret this? Wouldn’t that be if Mrs. Mabel gets the chance to reach her home and plot? Like Rex said, she wasn’t going to give new enemies enough time to hurt her. Whoever has made their malicious intentions known to her will not live to plan it out.
“Ms. Jeslyn, you can start your audition now.” A judge pulled her back from her reverie.
At the car park…
Inside an inconspicuous black car that was quietly sitting in the underground parking lot of Fearless Entertainment Company, Code 5 who was watching the happenings in the audition room, raised his head from the laptop placed on his lap.
About an hour later, Mrs. Mabel came out of the elevator and entered her car with her Assistant. Inside the car, she made a call. “Wait for me at the usual place. You have a new job.” After making the call, she narrowed her eyes at Fearless’ building. “Jeslyn…” she gritted her teeth before her lips raised.
As the car moved out of the car park, Code 5 pressed on the white earbud and commanded. “ki|| her.”
Mrs. Mabel was in her car, imagining Jeslyn’s face and body to be hers. She was an ugly girl while growing up and beautiful people made fun of her and bullied her a lot. When she was 15 years old, she sold her brother to human traffickers. They ki||ed him and took his organs for transplant, then they paid her a hefty sum.
She then went to do plastic surgery and gave her body a nice shape. Although she was beautiful now, it wasn’t natural, and seeing Jeslyn in person infuriated her. Jeslyn didn’t need to work hard to be beautiful, whereas, she had done so many evil things, yet her most gorgeous state couldn’t hold a candle to Jeslyn without makeup and a nice dress on. Isn’t that too much of an insult and bullying?!
While she was thinking about how she would ki|| Jeslyn, she had no idea that her death certificate had been written. Just when the car was about to run past a ‘T’ junction, a trailer without break came out of nowhere, and in a blink of an eye, Mrs. Mabel’s car was damaged beyond repair, leaving behind no survivors.