Her Substitute Groom

Janice POV

Seeing Carl in such a condition made me feel guilty. It was all my fault. Although the brothers have had their differences for some time now, but they wouldn’t have had any reason to fight if I didn’t come into the picture.

“The doctor said I won’t be able to see with my eyes again,” Carl’s voice was laced with pain as he stared into space with his other eye, while the other one was wrapped up with a bandage.

“Carl…”

“Isn’t life unfair?” He scoffed and threw his head back as more tears streamed down his cheek.

“The doctor said you shouldn’t use the eyes to cry as it’ll affect your sight. Can you stop crying, please?” I tried to comfort him, but it was in vain as he only cried more. He looked pained, and I understood him. I mean, I would be broken too if I found out that I won’t be able to ever use my eyes again. It’s crazy, annoying, and unbearable at the same time.

“What’s the point? One is already gone, so isn’t it better the two are gone?” He scoffed and bit his bottom lip, and I swallowed nothing. What transpired between these crazy brothers that they would go to any length to kill each other? What the heck happened in the past that Connor couldn’t forgive him? Those are the questions I’ve been asking myself for the past few days and nothing has since come true for me. I couldn’t place the exact reason why this would happen between the two brothers.

An awkward silence assumed the atmosphere and Carl was just staring into space. He had a look on his face that I could describe as a look of pain and a thirst for vengeance.

I leaned forward and slowly wiped the tears from his eyes, but he held my hand and stared into my eyes with his one eye.

“Will you stay with me forever, Janice?” My heart froze in my chest when he asked me the question, and I was still trying to pull out of the shock when he spoke up again, “Divorce Connor, and let’s get married. We can go to a faraway place where he will never find us. You love me, right? Then let’s elope,” He held my cheek in his trembling palm, and I sighed briefly. How the heck was I going to explain to him that I had no feelings for either of him and his brother? How do I tell him that I came here for a purpose and now stuck in this family?

“Carl…”

“You won’t say no, right? Please don’t,” he shook his head pleadingly, but eloping with him was the last thing I would think of. If I ever had the chance to leave this place, then I would go far away from the crazy family and never show my face. Who said that I would agree to get stuck with them again?

I was still trying to think of what to say to him when my phone’s ringtone disrupted us, and I couldn’t be any happier.

“Uhm… Excuse me… I will take this outside,” I smiled at him, reaching for my phone that was in my pocket while standing up.

“Hmm,” He nodded before I stepped out of the ward and released the breath I’d been holding unknowingly. I rolled my eyes and scoffed when I checked the caller and saw that it was Connor. Here I was, thinking he was scheming something earlier. I thought I would find him here by the time I arrived at the hospital, but I guess I was mistaken. He wasn’t so petty to have come here to cause trouble.

“What do you want now?” I asked as soon as I answered the call, but the voice I heard from the other end made me raise my eyebrows.

“Am I speaking with Mrs. Connor Hughes?” That surname added to my name was really annoying, but that didn’t matter right now.

“Yes, I am. How may I help you?” I asked whoever was on the phone.

“This is Lucas, Mr. Connor’s personal assistant. Can you come over to the penthouse? Your husband collapsed and is currently being attended to. You should come to stay with him,” I scoffed unbelievably. Is that his way of getting me to go over to the penthouse? It’s not going to work. At least not on me.

“I’m sorry, but I’m busy and can’t come to the…”

“His pulse and heartbeat are dropping. We need to perform CPR on him,” I paused when I heard a feminine voice in the background, and I knew that he was serious. Did something bad happen to him?

“Is it that bad? Will he be fine?” I heard Lucas talking to someone in the background, and my heart dropped for some seconds.

“Hello… Hello… Lucas…” I called him but got no answer and the call finally dropped.

“Fuck!” I cursed under my breath and quickly dialed the number again but got no reply, and I got worried. What happened to him? Is it that serious? I asked myself even if I couldn’t provide answers to the questions.

I headed back into the ward and picked up my handbag from where I left it earlier.

“I’m sorry, Carl. I need to step out for a few minutes. I will be back,” I said to him hurriedly.

“Is everything alright? Did something happen?” He asked me worriedly, but I shook my head and stormed out of the ward.

“Ugh! This is crazy. Where the hell did he go to? Did he get into an accident?” I mumbled as I walked briskly down the hallway, and as soon as I exited the hospital, I saw Chase and Claire hurrying to the parking lot.

“Did you hear already? We just got a call that Connor collapsed. You should come with us,” Claire uttered hurriedly as she pulled the car door open, ready to hop in.

“Are you two leaving?” I asked them, and they glanced at each other before they nodded.

“Yes, why?” Claire asked while raising her eyebrows questioningly.

“What about Carl? He is going to be left in the hospital all by himself. Are you going to leave him here?” I asked them, and Claire scoffed.

“I don’t know how to drive yet, so Chase has to drive me there. And besides, he is not a baby, and will be fine by himself,” Claire replied to me sarcastically then pulled the car door open and hopped inside.

“Are you not coming in? Chase asked me, holding out the door to the driver’s seat.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“You guys go ahead. I will stay with Carl and go check on him later when someone is here to look after Carl,” I replied to him, and he hopped inside the car and drove off.

I thought it was crazy and weird how Connor and Carl hate each other so much, but the craziest shit was the fact that his other siblings didn’t even give a damn about him. Carl was literally casted away from the family, and the only people that seemed to care about him were his parents. His siblings seemed to hate him so much, and the more I thought about it, the crazier it always get.

I went back to the ward and found Carl crying again, but he stopped when he noticed my presence.

“I was scared… I thought everyone abandoned me,” He hugged me when I went to stand beside the bed, his arms tightly wrapped around my waist, and his head resting on my lower abdomen as he cried like a baby.

“Why does everyone hate me? I said I was sorry… I asked for forgiveness, why couldn’t they forgive me?” Even if he committed murder, he didn’t deserve the treatment he was being given by his own family, and I doubted it was murder. Being treated as a piece of trash by other people hurts so bad, but getting that treatment from one’s family always hits differently and hurts differently too.

“Shhhh! Don’t cry. Everything is going to be fine,” I assured him, patting his back slowly even though I knew that things may never get better. I mean, he already lost his sight, and as far as I know, this war would never end between the brothers. I just didn’t want to get involved in that shit…