Her Substitute Groom

Janice POV

“Are you going to keep me here forever, Carl? This is not fair!” I yelled at him angrily as soon as he stepped into the pit of hell that was supposed to be my room. I’ve been here for five days and haven’t stepped out of this room since then. I was only allowed to go to the living room and back to my room. I wasn’t even allowed to see the light of the world, and guess what? My windows were fucking locked maybe because he didn’t want me to escape through there.

“Why are you keeping me hostage, Carl?” Tears trickled down my cheeks as I yelled again, but he just leaned against the wall and stared at me with his one eye like I was ranting.

“You are going to hurt yourself if you keep yelling like that,” He said calmly as he brought out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a lighter. He then took out a stick, lit it, and started to smoke it.

“You are hurting me, Carl… You are driving me crazy, and…”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“That’s because I love you, Janice… Can’t you fucking read the bold handwriting? I fucking love you. I want you, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to have you all to myself!” He yelled at me then puffed some smoke from his mouth, and I scoffed.

“And you think it’s going to work by doing this to me?” I huffed and ran my fingers through my hair frustratingly. It almost felt like I was about to lose my mind.

“Who knows,” He just shrugged, and I sighed.

“You had a call from… What was the name again? Jeff, I think. Sorry, Jeff kiddo,” He uttered as he brought my phone out of his pocket and scrolled through it. Did I forget to add that he seized my phone and I never had access to anyone since I’ve been here?

My eyes narrowed in shock as I rushed toward him to get the phone, but he shoved me off with his hand, sending me roughly to the ground.

“Are you ok? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” He rushed over to me and helped me up even when I tried to push him off.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean that,” He apologized as he sat me on the bed, and I sighed briefly.

“Can I have my phone now, Carl? You’ve seized my phone for five fucking days. Are you not planning to give it back to me?” I demanded, but he shrugged.

“You never told me you had a brother or even parents. How come you never mentioned it?” He stood up from the bed and went to sit on the sofa in the room, swinging his leg over the other while reclining on the sofa.

“He sounded nice, and your parents too,” My heart skipped a beat when he said that, and fear gripped me.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Carl. Don’t you dare touch my family,” I snapped at him like I could do anything to him if he ever decided to hurt them. I was just offering him empty threats and could never harm him.

“Why would I harm my soon-to-be in-laws?” He shrugged as he puffed smoke from his mouth, and I huffed.

“You are being delusional if you really think we are going to get married, Carl. I’m never going to marry you. Never!” I yelled at him even though I knew that I was making a mistake being like that to him.

“Does it look like you have a choice?” He raised his eyebrows as he looked at me, and I bit my bottom lip.

“We are getting married, and that is final. The decision is mine to make, and you don’t get to tell me you are not going to marry me,” His eye darkened as he leaned forward, and I swallowed nothing. It felt like he could kill me anytime soon.

“Come on, baby… You don’t need to be so scared… I’m not going to harm you,” He rolled his eyes as he stood from the sofa and walked over to me, and I flinched.

“Come on, don’t be scared. We are going to get married, so stop being like this,” He finally came to sit beside me on the bed. My heart pounded hard against my chest as he reached for my face and cupped my cheek in his palm, and I held my breath. I felt my skin crawling disgustingly, the urge to slap his hand off spurred through me, but I changed my mind when I saw the pistol in the holster attached to his black trousers. I swallowed nothing.

“Come here,” He said huskily as his hand snaked its way around my neck, and he pulled me in.

“Wh… what are you…” My voice trailed off when his lips crashed against mine.

“Let me go…” I struggled to break from the kiss, but he was way too strong so he forced his tongue inside my mouth, kissing me roughly like he’d gone crazy.

“Let go of me!” I finally was able to push him off, and breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath, but a hot slap landed across my cheek, and I yelped in pain as I help my cheek.

“What was that? Do you want to die?” He rose to his feet pulled out his pistol and pointed it at me, and I flinched fearfully.

“If it’s that bastard, will you push him away? How dare you do that?” He roared, still pointing the gun at me, and I could swear that my soul left my body. It felt like I was already in another world. In the world of the dead. My heart struggled to escape before he pulled the trigger, but there was no way for it.

“Ca… rl… Please… don’t… do this…” Slowly, I shook my head as I drew back on the bed. My body trembled fearfully, my body suddenly became hot and sweaty.

“Please don’t kill me,” I pleaded with him, and he sighed.

“Get dressed. You are going shopping for the arrival of your family,” He uttered, and I froze on the bed.

“Hu… huh?” I blinked my eyes a few times and itched my ear to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or that I didn’t hear him wrong, but I[ didn’t seem like that. He really said that.

“My family?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“Yes, baby…” His lips slowly widened in a grin and like that, he crawled up the bed and leaned over me while I was pressing my back hard against the wall, hoping I could disappear inside.

“Don’t you want your family here? I learned that it has been a while since you all have been together in the same place. You should be grateful to me, don’t you think? This is one of the best things I thought of doing for you,” He hushed as he tucked the strands of hair on my face behind my ear, and I swallowed nothing.

“Ca… Carl… Wh… what are you up to?” I stuttered because I could sense a bad omen.

“Nothing. Just trying to get to know my soon-to-be wife’s family. Is that a crime?” He shrugged as he put back the pistol into his holster. I sighed briefly in relief. I have been wondering what he does, how he was able to afford this kind of house, the guards here, everything. What work does he do now? Why did he have a gun? I’ve been trying to figure all those out, but nothing was adding up.

“Don’t keep Royce waiting,” He stated then stood up and walked out of my room, slamming the door behind him. Royce was the ugly guy I saw back in Texas, and he turned out to be Carl’s personal assistant.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I hugged my knees to my chest, my body trembling. For how long was this going to last for?