#THE_LAST_MINUTE_GROOM
©Sir_Zach
EPISODE 58
Pink walked out of the third room on Maverick’s floor which had the red room with tears on her cheeks. She wiped them off and tried to return her face to its natural state but couldn’t. She stopped and faced the wall to let out the emotions she had been buckling up for so long. “I failed you all,” she whispered while sobbing.
“Pink? Is that you? What are you doing there?”
Pink immediately stopped crying but there was nothing she could do at that moment to prevent Jeslyn from knowing she was bawling her eyes out.
Jeslyn walked up to her but before she could touch her, the red room’s door burst open and Maverick stepped out in his full glory.
Looking from Pink to Maverick, Jeslyn pieced the puzzle. It must have been Maverick’s fault. She placed Pink’s matters at the back of her mind and asked: “how is Valen?”
“He has been taken away for treatment.”
“When? To where? Why wasn’t I aware? Who went with him? Please take me to him, I’ll stay with him.” Jeslyn panicked.
“The laboratory doesn’t allow visitors. He will be fine. He has gone there several times.”
Hearing that, Jeslyn’s suspended heart finally calmed down.
Rex cleared his throat before leaving with Pink. He never knew his brother could lie through his teeth like this.
After the two left, Maverick went into his room and Jeslyn followed.
“It’s sad and boring without Valen. A day without him is already like years living in bondage. I think I should start doing things to get myself busy.”
Maverick stopped and turned to look at her when she said that ‘a day without Valen is like living in bondage.’
“You want to say something?” Jeslyn asked while blinking. He shook his head and continued walking.
“Between Writing stories, being a voice over artist, and enrolling with a voice training coach online, which is better? I intend to do everything but I don’t want to rush it. One step at a time.” She already knew what to do but she needed to start making her moves now. Valen must not go through what she went through.
“Voice over and voice training goes hand in hand. You can do both at the same time.” This reminded Maverick of how she used to ask for his opinion on everything on the island. A faint smile rested at the corner of his lips as he gazed at her with warmth in his eyes.
“That’s right. I thought about that too, which means, I will be hitting two birds with one stone.” She smiled. “I’ll go look for a decent coach online and register with him.”
Maverick watched her leave before he picked up his phone and made a call.
While Jeslyn was surfing the internet and going crazy over the over-demanding and amateur coaches online, her eyes swept through an advert.
Jeslyn was so shocked that she accidentally clicked on the website. A while later, she shook her head, “It can’t be. It has to be a scammer.” She chuckled but decided to have fun with the scammer to get evidence before reporting them. How dare they use her idol’s name!
However after going through Celestine Xuan’s portfolio, she became mute. Why would the world’s idol be here? Even her words sounds like her:
[ I’m bored and need something fun to do. One C–lister, one D–lister, and one newbie to train. Offer ends In 5 minutes. Find the signing fee in the link below. Your money will be refunded after the three lucky persons have been chosen.]
Jeslyn glanced at the time, there were still four minutes remaining, so she immediately registered while hoping she was picked. By the time she was done, there were still a few seconds left, with 3000+ entries.
Some hours later, Jeslyn could be seen in the sitting room with Maverick and Rex discussing.
“Tch, Celestine is a lazy brat. I told her to kick that dumb@zz out but she thought I was into her and ignored me. Serves her right for getting a heartbreak.”
“You are so friendly with Celestine?” Jeslyn looked askance at Rex.
“Of course …. Not.” He immediately changed his wording when Maverick who was reading glared at him.
“Then?”
“I’m her fan. I love good music. I follow her on her social media handle, so when the issue of her husband cheating came up, I commented on her post and she replied with, ‘Don’t love me, love my music.’ How dare she talk down at a young master like me? I’m sure if I stand beside her, she will throw herself at me.”
“I’ll be sure to let her know what you think of her. Hahahaha….”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Then, let me message her now.”Jeslyn picked up her phone from the table but got a notification before she could unlock it. She opened her mail to see and viola!
[ Dear Jeslyn Lee,
Congratulations! You have successfully registered for a year’s class with Celestine Xuan. Check the link below for more instructions.
Good luck! ]
“Yeeeh!” Jeslyn jumped up from her seat in excitement.
“You got in?” Rex asked
“Maverick, I got selected!”
“Congrats.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a smile before she clicked on the link.
Reading the instructions, Jeslyn’s heart almost burst due to overexcitement. Even Maverick who wasn’t looking at her could feel the joy in the atmosphere. He raised his head from his book and looked at her.
“What is it?” He asked.
“I’ll be leaving for County Y for the lessons!”
Maverick’s face fell when he heard that. His eyes darkened as he stared at Jeslyn’s phone.
“I need to start preparing. I leave by tomorrow so I can get there early.” She ran off after that.
Well, that wasn’t it. Jeslyn could feel that Maverick’s aura had changed, so she immediately escaped. The date they leave hasn’t even been announced.
“Brother, why did you–”
“Don’t rub it in!” He groaned before picking up his phone and dialing a number. “What did you do?”
“Hey, Chaos. I didn’t expect you’d call me anytime soon.” Celestine smiled.
“Answer me!”
“Oh friend, take it easy on me. What have I done? I haven’t caused trouble for some time now.”
“Why Country Y?”
“Oh, that … I haven’t seen my friend’s wife ever since you got married. Stupid Rex only dropped a hint in the group and wouldn’t tell me anything even though I sent him my exclusive album. So when Matt told me she’s the controversial Jeslyn Lee, I immediately wanted to meet her in person. I heard she’s the most beautiful lady in Rose City and was also praised by my master. It’s not a crime, right?”
“Of course it is, you rotten lady! No wonder you were cheated on. You are too forwar…” Rex trailed off when he remembered the call wasn’t his.
Maverick’s eyes narrowed at the blue ear bud In his right ear.
Rex almost slapped himself senseless for getting caught that he had hacked Maverick’s phone and was listening in on his conversation.
“Upload an embarrassing video of you on the internet,” Maverick commanded.
“That’s not possible,” Rex refused. “How can you think of ruining my reputation because I hacked your phone? How did you not know that your phone was hacked? It was a good thing I did it instead of someone else. That would have been worse. Also, I deserve an accolade for creating awareness.” Rex puffed his chest.
“Shut up Rex, you good-for-nothing. How could you eavesdrop on your brother’s conversation? Gossip monger.” Celestine chastised playfully from the other end.
“Go tell that to your good-for-nothing cheat of an ex-husband. If you had married me when I proposed, you would have still been in marriage right now.”
“I’d rather stay single than marry a Casanova like you.”
“Isn’t your dumb@zz ‘fateful’ husband worse than me? He got his mistresses pregnant while the Madam sleeps alone on a cold bed all night. If I had known, I would have flown to Country Y to keep you warm through those lonely nights.”
“Your brotherhood is not big enough, so I’m not interested.”
Rex froze and his face turned red in fury. “I dare you to say that again?”
“I said, Rex’s brotherhood is like that of a teenager’s.” She chuckled.
Maverick disconnected the call and typed a few words on his phone before he got up to leave.
“Brother, can I escort my sister-in-law to Country Y?”
Maverick glanced at him. “Marry her…” He walked away after that.
“Of course, she’s the Princess in the circle. I’ll definitely force her into marriage and prove to her that mine is bigger and stronger than her useless ex-husband. How dare Celeste call me small? She attacked my honor. I’ll take… beep!”
The sound of a notification interrupted Rex but when he checked the just uploaded article, Rex almost fainted.
[ Breaking News!
An insider report. Rex Lu is confirmed to have a tiny brotherhood. The reason why women can’t stay with him for longer than a few seconds. ]
“M– me?” His lips parted in shock before he screamed. “Celeste, how dare you?! You are dead meat!” He immediately dialed her number to fight her, however, after Celestine laughed hard for a while, she finally replied:
“Why would I do that? You should hold your brother accountable. You offended him by butting into his conversation and making him end the call before he said all he needed to. He told you to post an embarrassing picture of yourself but you refused, hence the vengeance… You know you can’t take it down, don’t waste your time …. poor boy. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.”
“Maverick…” Rex gritted his teeth. He was almost crying. “Am I really his brother?”
“Definitely not. I feel pity for you. You are rich now, you should go look for your parents…” she mocked. Of course, she was only joking.
“Get out! Divorcee.”
“Hahahaha…better than a tiny man… two-seconds man. Hahaha…” she laughed boisterously.
“I promise you’ll feel the heat and bawl your eyes out while you beg me to stop.”
“In your dreams. Hahaha…”
While the two bickered on like children, Christine was busy throwing a tantrum in her apartment. Her Tv was lying on the floor, broken. There were shards of broken glass lying everywhere. Her Assistant’s right cheek had a palm print with five fingers on it.
Manager Miles entered the room and couldn’t help but take a sharp breath. What is it again? She thought.
“You incompetent workers, how difficult is registering for voice training with Celestine?! Why was I rejected? Were you stingy with my money? Didn’t you pay the fee?!!”
“Of course, I did. I paid for it myself and got you registered.” The manager said.
“So, what happened? I’m sure she knows I am popular and she certainly cannot tell me that she doesn’t know of my existence. So what happened?!”
“It must have been her PA or something happened to the website.” Manager Miles tried to bring up factors that could have affected the rejection.
“Who were the chosen ones? Get one of them to sell their spot to me. I don’t want a ‘no’ for an answer.”
“I already tried to do that but their information is confidential.”
“Manager, you are becoming more worthless. Find me a solution before the end of this we….” Her phone rang and she looked at the ID before picking it up and saying in annoyance. “What is it?”
“Your mother needs proper care and–”
“Do I look like a nanny? Can’t you get a new nanny if there isn’t any good one in the house?”
“She wants to see her daughter. Is it too much to ask?”
“Yes, it’s too much to ask. You have enough time to spare with her, yet you became a promiscuous man!”
“Shut up! I am your father!”
“My foot. Wait until my sister returns. She’ll deal with you!” She disconnected the call and threw her phone to the wall. Everyone and everything was annoying her.
Two days later, Jeslyn was ready to leave for Country Y even though Maverick wasn’t happy about it.
“Give this letter to Valen when he returns or when you visit him. I’ll miss him a lot.” She handed Maverick a letter.
“And me?” He pulled her to his chest by the waist, waiting to her say those words.