Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

"I'm thinking of dying my hair..." she was still speaking and Jeremy was in no mood to listen.

"I want to kiss you..." he spoke in a low voice, covering his face with his hand. He thought she won't hear him, but she stopped speaking right at that instant and his heart skipped a beat.

Jerlina did hear one bit.

'...kiss you.'

She wondered what he was about to say.

"What did you say?" she asked and saw him bowing his head, placing the cigar between his lips.

"Nothing... So, what are you cooking for breakfast?" he tried to change the topic.

"You said something about a kiss. What were you saying? I couldn't hear it," she probed.

"Nothing much. Leave, I'll have to-"

"Okay," Jerlina shrugged and decided to leave it.

She thought she might have missed something important, but what he said registered in her brain only sometime later. He was talking about kissing and she didn't want to delve into it further.

"How about pancakes for breakfast?" she turned to leave.

Jeremy saw her being a little flustered and he wanted to tease her.

"Jerlina," he held her wrist as she turned and pulled her closer.

"What?" Jerlina's heart skipped a beat by his sudden pull. She lost her balance and ended up smashing her nose on his sturdy chest.

"Oww!" she rubbed her nose. "Do you have metal plates for the chest? Are you a terminator?"

"I'm sorry," Jeremy felt bad. He didn't want to pull her harder and hurt her.

But looking at her watery eyes, she looked mesmerizing.

"Should we practice kissing?" he asked holding her chin. "For our wedding kiss, of course," he inched closer to her.

Jerlina thought he might be joking, but he looked serious. His warm breath was falling on her face and his pleading eyes made her feel flutters in her heart. Her eyes inadvertently rested on his lips. They were very attractive and slightly parted and she saw them inching closer to her.

She knew he is meaning it.

What's with him asking for a kiss all the time?

"Who practices kissing, dummy?" Jerlina pushed him and ran out like the grim reaper was chasing her.

Wedding kiss... We have to kiss in front of everyone...

Jerlina patted her chest. She touched her lips...

His lips on hers...

It'll be tough!

She thought Jeremy would bring up kissing once more while they were having breakfast, but she was surprised when he didn't.

He brought up Gerard and told her that he has three fractured ribs. She felt a little bad but she wasn't caring that much, to her surprise.

She knew he had it coming when he hit Jeremy. It was surprising he didn't meet with any "accidents" before that.

Jeremy probably let him go because he is Emma's husband.

"How did you handle his family? They'd have refused to back off," she asked.

She knew Gerard was the pride of his parents and they held him, dear, to their hearts.

Jeremy looked at her for a while. She went silent for a while and she got back to her usual expression.

"They know the State Attorney General and they thought they can jail me..." Jeremy smirked. "And so I reminded them that the Attorney General of our country doesn't like Feldstein because his niece was one of his victims. It was the AG who put Feldstein behind the bars."

"You know the Attorney General?" Jerlina was surprised. She knew he is influential. She didn't think he was THIS influential.

"Eh," he shrugged and Jerlina's eyes widened.

"Wow! Remind me not to cross you..." She said in a pitiful tone. "I don't want to have the government behind my back..."

Jeremy sighed. If it was someone else, like say, his "father", he'd be smiling joyfully now thinking that he can do anything now that he has this connection and would be listing the favors he can ask the AG.

But this one...is getting scared.

Isn't she, my wife? Doesn't that mean everything I own is hers?

"You're an idiot..." He mumbled and she looked at him pitifully.

"You can't jail me for being an idiot though."

"Pfft..." He ended up laughing and she joined him.

"You're fun to be with..."

He meant it. He couldn't imagine how he lived without her by his side all this time and how he could continue living without her by his side.

I cannot lose her.

His heart hurt as he thought that.

But... I promised to let her go.

-----

Scarlett picked up Dr. Kruger and Daisy on the way to the spa. Dr. Kruger was feeling bad to leave the clinic for half a day, but Daisy consoled her reminding her that other staff can look after  the clinic for half a day.

Jerlina thought they'd be going to a spa in the city, but Scarlett took them to a small spa in Peyton.

Scarlett had a reason to bring her here. Firstly, it is a great spa. And secondly, she wanted to show Jerlina that people here really love her.

The other day Jerlina was worried others will gossip about her if her past is revealed. And so, Scarlett wanted to introduce Jerlina to many people in the town. That way, they will form an opinion about Jerlina themselves and even if others try to stir the pot, they will think twice before judging Jerlina.

And Scarlett wanted Jerlina to see for herself how people associated with Jeremy is treated here.

Jerlina was surprised by the royal welcome they received and the reverence Dr. Kruger and others received. She was treated like a queen and was offered everything on a silver platter.

She was a little blindsided by that, but she could see it was because of the love they had in Jeremy.

After getting massage and skin treatments, they were doing her hair and Jerlina decided to change her hair color.

She dyed her hair to a dark shade once upon a time when she started dating Gerard. Everyone loved that look on her and she looked very attractive.

Although Gerard didn't say anything, she could sense he was not pleased with her look. She too was feeling a little lazy to take care of the color and she didn't dye her hair again.

Since dark color suited her, she decided to go light this time. She was already a natural blonde and she wanted to go platinum blonde. She knew with her cold skin tone, platinum blonde won't look good on her.

And so she purposefully told the stylist to go for that color.

She thought about other bright colors like green, blue or purple... But she wasn't feeling that adventurous.

She wanted to not look her best so that Jeremy might get bored with her. The first thing anyone would get attracted to is their appearance and if she looked washed out, he'd get tired and would look for other good looking women.

And he has Tara near him with her abundant love.

She planned... But nothing went as she pleased...

Her hair turned out...

Ugh! Why can't I get what I want ever!