Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

[He is in the Corporate Office. You can get him if you hurry]

Emma smirked and threw the phone on the seat and sat up fixing her hair. Staying with her knees to her chest is making her bleeding worse. The doctors refused to discharge her and urged her to take a rest but she has a lot of plots to orchestrate. 

She's gotten the help of Amanda Prescott, well, she refused to help once she learned that she is going against Jerlina, but that didn't stop her. She used Amanda's connection and scoured a media crew.

She intends to hurt Jerlina but if Jerlina is hiding, she can still hurt her indirectly. She has a lot to give back to that lumberjack who ignored her and decided to support her enemy.

"Dad!" Emma called Jeremiah who was giving a tear-filled monologue in front of the camera.

He was saying how he tried to be a good father to his delinquent son, but he didn't accept his love and got involved in gangs and ruined a lot of lives. He made sure everyone knows that Jeremy is the reason for the disappearance of his good son who graduated from an ivy-league school and is an upstanding citizen of the society. 

Jeremiah who was going through his plan perfectly turned to look into the car.

He did send Harold to his friend for laying low for a year or two but these days no one has heard from him. He was reliably informed that the Erling family is involved in Harold's disappearance. He wanted to find his son and at the same time, he is very angry at Jerlina for hiding the influence she has.

He wouldn't have gone against her directly had he known that she is from the Erling family! He is not stupid. But that b*tch played everyone with that innocent face of hers and pretended to not know why she is having a high bounty on her head.

And now his son had fallen prey to her schemes!

He wanted to get back at her and so when his daughter who has failed in every target he set for her, talked to him of a plan she has to bring down Jerlina and that b@stard son of his, he decided to take a chance. 

After all social media is a powerful weapon; more powerful than the news media. Even Erling cannot stop every keyboard warrior there is. Otherwise, he would have stopped all the conspiracy theorists calling him names. By the time Erling's people realize what has happened, the entire world would have known of Jeremy Fitzgerald as a gang lord. 

He has bought a bot army for $200, and the next thing that is going to trend on all social media platforms is a pitiful old man pleading for the sake of his saint of a son to his thug of a son who has a powerful backing and is worth billions in net worth. And it is going to go well.

People always love a little guy winning against the big guy, after all!

"Dad, he is at the Corporate office," Emma whispered to Jeremiah and he nodded. 

"Maybe I should take my chance with Jerry..." He talked to the guy holding the microphone. His eyes then ended up at the house.

"She could have at least given a promise that she would talk to her husband about her brother-in-law..." Jeremiah sighed. "I heard the Hamilton family was known for its nobility and grace."

He purposefully brought in the Hamilton family name. Her company is getting big and he could see that it won't be far for her to issue IPO for her glassware company that used to be a cottage industry just some months ago. She cannot be allowed to succeed. 

Whether his plans succeed or not, his truth would be out there. And no matter how much they try to hide it, his truth will always surface for nothing gets deleted on the internet. It would not let them rest in peace for ages. People who believe him will believe him forever and they will be against Jeremy forever. 

That's all he needed. If he cannot enjoy the fruits of the labor of Jeremy, he can't either.

He tried to use the legislators against Jeremy, but Jeremy thwarted all of his plans.

And this would be his last fight to bring Jeremy down; his last fight to bring down the son he never wanted.

With a smile, Jeremiah got inside the car and the media crew followed their car. Their car rushed through the roads towards Port City. 

Jerlina watched the cars by their gates leaving. She is not someone who uses social media platforms religiously, and so she was not aware of the trouble brewing in the online world for their companies.

But she got a notification from their PR form and they said thst some posts are mentioning their connections to the Erling family and they made it seem like the Erling family is the reason for Jeremy's role as a gang lord and the terror he causes.

Jerlina rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh. She felt constricted and decided to rest a bit. Lying on the bed, she still couldn't sleep as her thoughts went all over the place.

The PR firm affirmed that they can handle this situation as they are very prepared for situations like this. But she couldn't shake off the fear brewing in her heart. 

She was told that Jeremiah and Emma left but she wasn't informed if they returned to their home. She wasn't very sure of leaving everything with Gordon. She knew Jeremy is on it and he won't let Gordon go rogue, but she wasn't sure what Jeremy is planning. 

She got more and more worried.

She decided to talk to Jeremy to inform them that Emma and his father has already left the house and asked him to be careful.

But before she could reach for her phone, her phone rang and it was Jeremy.

Jerlina's lips curved to a smile and she answered the call.

"Joel," she smiled but hearing no reply from the other end, her smile vanished.

"Joel!" She screamed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, love..." His gene voice from the other end made her relax. 

"You're not fine, are you?"

"I am fine..." Jerlina said with a pout. "Were you scaring me purposefully?"

"What are you doing, wifey?" He asked in a sing-song manner.

"I was lying down a bit..." She said. "I don't feel very great. I feel restless..." She opened up.

"You did not get on the internet, did you?" His tone was filled with concern.

"No, but the PR firm called," she said and let out a sigh. "How bad is it, Joel?" She asked.

For him to specifically mention it, she knew everything must have been very serious.

"It's bad, but we can get through this... You on the other hand... Are you feeling very bad?" His tone went sad. "I feel terrible for not bringing you to a check-up after all this... Tomorrow... Let's get a thorough check-up tomorrow," he said. "I promise."

Jerlina felt the sadness in his tone and she held her heart.

"Don't feel bad about this, Joel. I understand everything is hectic a lot these days. I feel fine. I will be fine. You just stay careful," she spoke her heart.

She worried for the baby in her belly but she worried for Jeremy more. And she is stressed a lot and that might be affecting her baby. Dhe should find a way to relax.

"Jeryl..." Jeremy said with a smile on his face. He was touched to hear the worry in her tone. She is caring for him this much and it made his heart move. 

His hands caressed the monitor in front of him and the smile on his face reduced. In the security footage, he saw Emma arguing with the security at the gate to let her in while she was getting stopped. 

"I love you, Jeryl..." He sent a kiss through the phone. "I'll see you soon."

"Love you too, Joel," His lips curved up again hearing the giggle in her voice. "Byee~" 

Jeremy pressed his phone on his forehead and his eyes clouded. 

Forgive me, love, for what I am about to do...

Placing his phone on the table, he called security through the intercom to let Emma in. 

"Just Emma," he insisted and he saw that his father was unimpressed. 

But they had to relent and Emma entered the lobby and got up through the executive elevator.

-----

After talking to Jeremy, Jerlina felt relieved and before she knew it, she fell asleep. She had a pretty dreamless sleep and she ended up sleeping without even having lunch.

She was woken up by the incessant vibrating of her phone. She sat up and got the phone to see countless missed calls. Just as she got the phone in her hand, she got a call from her PR firm and she answered it. 

Their advice was to not answer any calls and not to give any statements to reporters and direct them to their lawyers.

What happened?

She wondered and she tried to get down from the bed but her legs were cramped up. Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to figure out what happened. 

She scrolled through the various news articles and her heart almost stopped.

Joel might get arrested for killing Emma?