Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

"Jerry!" Emma screamed. "Help!"

Jeremy couldn't stand still as he saw Emma struggling to keep her balance near the ledge of the balcony and he rushed forward.

"Haha!" Emma laughed as she steadied herself by grabbing the ledge. "You're adorable, Jerry," she giggled.

"Leave," Jeremy said gritting his teeth, and turned away to get inside the office.

He heard shouts from down below. And one distinct shout was very familiar.

"Don't kill yourself, Emma! I only have you left!"

It was his father-  Jeremiah Harrison's voice filled with desperation and love for his only daughter.

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

As if Emma would kill herself. She loves herself too much for that! Carry on with your act, Jeremiah! Whatever!

"Get out of my property, Emma," Jeremy spoke in a dismissive tone and slammed the door open. "You are not welcome here anymore."

He walked to his chair and drank a sip of whiskey to calm his nerves.

"Ahhh! Nooo! Jerry!"

He ran to the balcony hearing what seemed to be a genuinely distressed shout of his sister. But when he reached there, Emma was not there. He was stunned, to say the least. He waved a couple of bumblebees buzzing near him and walked to the ledge where Emma was standing.

His heart started to beat in his throat seeing the scene in front of, more precisely, under him.

Emma jumped?

Emma was on the floor and there was a crowd around her. Her blank eyes were looking above and he felt like she was staring at her. He saw blood pooling around her head. The people around were frantically shouting for help and to call for an ambulance. His father looked above and pointed at him.

"He pushed her!" he accused him.

Then he started crying and people around hugged him to console him. Jeremy's eyes ended up back at Emma. He thought that there was some twitch in her hands.

She's still alive!

Before he could shout it out, he saw the onlookers seeing that, and someone among them started to give some first aid. And he might be wrong, but he thought he saw Emma talking to one of the ones helping her, grabbing their arm.

He stood straight and he looked at his hands that were shaking. Something wet trickled down his cheeks and he covered his face with his hands that were shaking. He still heard the low buzzing sound and he looked in that direction. That drone seemed to have a camera as he saw a red light. He didn't know what to do with it.

He closed his eyes as he could hear the commotion downstairs. People shouted at him and wanted him arrested for the murder of Emma. Among the commotion was the sound of sirens. The cops were the first to arrive as they should and they cleared a path for the ambulance. He heard the siren of the ambulance and he let out a sigh.

"TJ!" Charlie came in running. Jeremy walked back to his office. On his way there he saw a bumblebee on the floor near one of the planters. Something looked odd and he took another glance at the bumblebee.

It was a robot bumblebee!

Pretending to not see it, he walked to the office. "I am going to the police station. Call for the lawyer and ask him to come there with the security footage of my office and my balcony after Emma arrived," he said.

"It'll be fine, TJ," Charlie patted Jeremy's shoulder and Jeremy nodded.

"I know so. Inform Jerlina."

Charlie watched Jeremy leaving and sucked in a deep breath. It is going to be hectic for a couple of days. He called Jerlina a couple of times but she was not answering. So he decided to call her later and informed Bobby that Emma fell. He had a feeling that Bobby might want to see Emma dying. And with the crowd outside, there is bound to be one or two videos of Emma's fall. And people with no consideration would post the video on the internet. He decided to save the video to have a look at it whenever he feels down and to remind himself that karma is a thing.

-----

Jeremy took in a deep breath.

She is dead'¦ She is dead, for real'¦ And even when she was dying, she tried to implicate me'¦ What an adorable person she is'¦ Heh, she was'¦ She is past tense now'¦ She is dead.

Good!

Jeremy let out a sigh closing his eyes.

The moment he confirmed that his wife is pregnant, he knew that Emma would be a danger again. She had to go. And it was then he decided to keep her away from his wife, permanently.

Was he sad about his decision? Yes!

And will he choose the security of his wife over the sister who has murdered at least two people to his knowledge? Yes, without any doubt!

A kind old woman and an unborn baby died in her hands. And she was responsible for the death of Hank as he knew, and there might or might not be more who were victims of Emma's conspiracies. She tried to kill his mom too.

Too much!

Not to mention, she recently suffered a miscarriage. Although she induced the miscarriage herself, he knew she would have found a way to blame Jerlina for her miscarriage.

He just knew!

They cannot hide Jerlina's pregnancy forever. It will get out in just weeks. He's not going to leave Emma around to find out if she would be accepting of his baby or expect that Emma would miraculously turn over a new leaf.

And he saw how meticulous Gordon is in checking every single grocery bag and stuff getting near her. He wanted to tell him that he's being paranoid. But he couldn't touch his heart and say with utmost sincerity that his sister would never sneak something in the groceries that might be harmful to Jerlina's pregnancy.

She's already killed Jerlina's baby by adding pills to the salad he cooked.  With utmost love, he cooked the salad she loved to eat. But his sister added poison to his food, and hurt the person he loves the most in the most terrible way possible.

What assurance is there that Emma wouldn't do that again?

None! And so, she must go.

But did he plan anything? No!

He knew Gordon did! He just pretended he didn't know. He knew Gordon has hired The Phantom to have a hit on Emma. Now, Phantom operates in ways only he knows. Some say that he doesn't even do anything and just pockets the money. He has a 100% success rate and all his victims died of natural causes or accidents without a reasonable doubt. And that is his reputation.

Well, Emma might die quickly. But he had no objections to that. She needs to get removed for his wife's and his unborn daughter's safety. He is not doing it out of spite or for revenge. It's a form of self-defence; something that the law wouldn't accept.

Just like he had to kill for the first time when he wasn't even a decade old, when he was in that stinky ship, to protect himself and his friends, he knew he has to kill Emma to protect his family. He bloodied his hands with a blade and watched a man drown in the cold waters as they tried to escape when he was nine. This time, he is letting another person do the job. But he still has his sister's blood on his hands. He wanted the sister he loved as he loved himself, dead.

It is sad and I might not get over the guilt. But I can live with that guilt than the guilt of letting my family get hurt in her hands again!

And even if he did nothing, Jonathan Erling wouldn't leave Emma alone. Emma messed with the wrong person this time.

Well, Emma was dead when she decided to buy the pills to terminate Jerlina's pregnancy. Maybe she was dead when she didn't care for the death of the pregnant woman who died in front of her.

And he decided not to spare any pity for her.

He looked to his side hearing the knock by the door. It was his lawyer. He stood by as he watched the lawyer do the talking. He told that the security footage is handed and that there is proof that Jeremy was nowhere near Emma when she jumped. And so Jeremy is not responsible for what Emma did.

Whether she jumped or'¦ if she slipped and fell seeing the bumblebees'¦ he didn't know. Emma was scared of bugs. And those robotic bumblebees'¦ Hmm'¦

Could it be Phantom's work?

Eh'¦Whatever!

He fisted and released his hands seeing his father still pointing at him and cursing.

Isn't he a lovely father? Why wasn't he in the ambulance that took his daughter's broken body? Why did he follow me to the police station, still giving fodder to the media people?

Scum!

"My wife?" he asked and the lawyer nodded. The first thing he did was to send people to get the Mrs before he talked for Jeremy. He knew his boss wouldn't like it if his wife was left alone for long.

"Joel!" Jerlina walked to him and hugged him.  "Joel'¦" she didn't know what else to say.

"Shhh'¦" Jeremy rubbed her back.. He didn't say anything more as he knew his wife could understand him very well without saying much.