Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

Jeremy listened to see if the dogs are quietening. Sometimes they start barking at little animals that come from the woods. But the dogs only started to bark more and they could hear some shouts of men. 

"Stay down," Jeremy's protective instincts got awakened and he pressed Jerlina's head to the pillow and covered her with the duvet. "Don't poke your head up," his hands reached for the handgun he keeps in the drawer in the nightstand. 

"You stay here, Joel!" Jerlina pulled his hand. 

Gordon has arranged enough security in the perimeter of their house and not to mention a bunch of Jeremy's men offered to stay guard in the night. There is no need for Jeremy to check the noise himself. Plus the whole place is lit up like a Christmas tree. There is no way they would be in any danger unless there is a nuclear explosion.

She tried to stop him out of instinct, but Jeremy, the man he is, didn't listen to her and turning off the safety of the gun walked to the balcony. Jerlina rolled her eyes and she still listened to him. Because she knows that him knowing where she is would be for the best if there is some trouble brewing out there. 

"Who's there?" he asked walking out, pointing his gun. 

"F*cking reporters!" 

She heard Jimmy's answer.

"Get the f*ck out of my property, f*cking weasels!" Jeremy shouted and she heard other voices and it seemed like the reporters ran away.

Jeremy then locked the balcony door and walked in. "The f*ck!" he angrily turned on the safety of the gun. "They tried to enter from the South, through the woods. I should send my men to sneak in their backyards when their wives are alone with their children!" he mumbled and placed the gun under his pillow out of habit. 

"Come on!" Jerlina pushed his pillow. She does not like sleeping with a gun near her head. So she has convinced him to keep it inside the nightstand. If it is left to her, she would prefer not to have a weapon in their bedroom, but she knew having a weapon is necessary considering who she married.

"Sorry," he picked the gun and placed it inside the nightstand drawer with the muzzle pointing away from her.

"Here…" Jerlina pointed at her arm and he rested his head on her arm. She started to caress his hair while rubbing his back with her other hand. He calmed down pretty soon.

"Do you want me to sing for you?" she asked and placed a kiss on his forehead unable to bear his stare.

"I am sorry, Jeryl…They're everywhere…like termites," he wrapped his hand around her waist. "I haven't even taken you for checkups yet… We should do a checkup, right? To confirm your pregnancy and to see if everything is alright?" 

"Yes, we should…" Jerlina nestled in his chest. "but we can wait until everything settles. I bet your office is now a crime scene and they would try to… You haven't left anything incriminating in your office, right?" she asked.

She makes sure his secret ledgers are stored elsewhere but he might have accidentally left something in his Corporate Office. It's been a while since she's been there. And with a campaign against Jeremy to pin some crime against him, they have to be very careful.

"What a woman…" Jeremy chuckled and kissed her head. It seems like she is entirely focusing on this issue. She is right to worry more about this. Although he is always surprised by how rational she is.

"Did you double-check?" she looked up at him. 

"I did," he kissed her. He couldn't help it. "I'll bring mother here and then we can take the necessary blood tests and we can get an ultrasound machine -"

"Whoa, calm down there, Mr. Billionaire," Jerlina playfully hit his chest. "An ultrasound machine?" 

"Yes, I want to watch my daughter growing healthily inside you… I want to watch her every day and tell her that I can't wait to see her…" Jeremy spoke with a twinkle in his eyes.

"It is not safe to take ultrasounds often," Jerlina giggled. Her husband is getting a little too excited. "And you think it is going to be a daughter? It could very well be a boy!"

"It's not safe? I always thought it was because it is expensive they don't take many ultrasounds…Then were are not taking ultrasounds daily... On the other hand," he softly made her lie on her back and placed his hand on her abdomen. "We are having a daughter. I am going to leave you and the baby in the hospital if it is a boy," he kissed her temple and Jerlina rolled her eyes.

"What a bigot!" she turned her back to him.

Jeremy chuckled seeing her back. He called her a couple of times but she didn't respond. "Why don't you change into something else? Don't sleep in the bathrobe," he tickled her waist.

"Stop it!" she hit his hand.

"Ouch!" he hugged her from behind. "I just hope you and our baby are fine, Jeryl," he kissed her earlobe. "That's all I would ever want."

"We will be," Jerlina patted her hand. "You're with us, aren't you?" 

She wasn't feeling very nervous. She would feel scared at times when she is alone as memories of her past pregnancy flashes in… She was alone and scared, but this time that is not the case.

"Yes, I am," Jeremy rested his forehead on her head. 

She just knows what to tell him to make him feel loved and trusted. There is nothing that would make him happier than her love and trust.

-----

The next few days passed with the police investigating everywhere, asking people around them for interrogation. Anyone could say that the cops were already convinced of charging Jeremy and they just wanted to find anything against him to hold the case. 

The media was doing their thing and ensured that no one forgets that the CEO of Fitzgerald Lumber Corp might be responsible for his sister's death. Jeremiah Harrison was pouring oil to the fire with his interviews. Surely, the stock prices started to fall, but as far as she knew, they didn't lose any major customers. Everyone could see that it is some targeted harassment by the cops.

The police didn't release the autopsy report entirely but they said that there are some things they are looking into this case further although it is ruled as suicide. They said that the townsfolk are not cooperating for their investigations implying that Jeremy had threatened them to not speak the truth.

It all infuriated Jerlina. She urged Jeremy to release a statement using their lawyers. 

Gordon went silent after promising her that her husband will not see the inside of a prison cell, but he warned that it would  get tough. He even said some proverb about the fruit of patience or something of that sort. She was not in the mood to listen to anything as she was very concerned for Jeremy. Alexander Volkonsky and Mikhail were in contact too and they asked her to leave it to the lawyers and stay silent. Jerlina had to calm down.

Dr. Kruger and she had a hearty talk and she was able to force her to live with them. When she talked with the doctor, she felt like she was not at all angry with her although she should be. She didn't know why, but she just felt happy speaking with Jeremy's mom. And she was exhilarated when she learned that she is pregnant. They did the blood tests and everything came out normal. They chose to do the ultrasound later at twelve weeks.

That day, Jeremy's lawyers released a strong statement condemning the cops for harassing Jeremy and those around him for no reason. Jeremy was in his office in Peyton. Bobby came to him in a distressed state. Jeremy stood up and talked to Bobby.

"She is gone, Jerry," Bobby said with his eyes red. "She took Cia and left. I…"

As Bobby was talking, they heard a commotion outside. Before they did anything, a bunch of cops barged in, screaming to have their hands above their heads.

"Mr. Fitzgerald, you are under arrest for causing the suicide of Mrs. Emma Cooper," the cop said and asked him to face the wall and cuffed him.

"What is the charge?" Jeremy asked.

"Second-degree manslaughter," the cop said and Jeremy let out a scoff.

Bobby was stunned. 

The cops were reading Jeremy his rights and with the pushing and shoving of the cops, an unrest was forming. 

The cops weren't minding all that and they focused on taking Jeremy to the patrol car to take the next steps. 

Bobby called Jeremy's lawyer after composing himself and they lawyer said that he is on the way. 

As they took Jeremy out, Charlie came to the office. 

"Second degree," Bobby said and Charlie raised his brows. 

"So they couldn't find anything else?" his lips curved to a smirk. "So you sent Scarlett somewhere safe?" he asked and Bobby looked at him surprised.

"What are you saying? Where did you see Kitty?" 

"I saw her going towards the city and she was not packing light... I thought she-" he paused seeing Bobby's weird expression. "Is everything okay?"

Bobby let out a sigh and walked to his car.