Her Substitute Groom

Connor Hughes

Khan arrived just when we were having breakfast, and we all started eating together. I couldn’t help but notice the way he was stealing glances at Claire while we were eating, and I scoffed silently. He better not think of anything stupid, because I will break his limb before he thought of it. I wouldn’t someone as bad as myself to lust over my sister like that. She can’t be one of his victims like other girls too.

“How have you been, Mrs. Connor? We couldn’t say hi to each other the last time you came over to the company. It’s nice to meet you again,” He smiled at Janice, and I rolled my eyes.

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too,” she replied to him, and he nodded his head.

Silence assumed the atmosphere afterward, and trust me, he was still stealing glances at my sister, and it was already getting me pissed that I felt like screaming at him, but had to fight it back.

“I’ll be going to the hospital after breakfast. Carl is alone over there,” Janice broke the silence, and I stopped eating. Did she have to ruin my breakfast?

“I’m sick too. You should stay with your husband,” I replied to her, not sparing her a glance, and I bet she scoffed.

“You are not alone here, man. You have your siblings, and your friend is even here with you. Carl is all by himself there. It’s not…”

“My friend is here, and that is the damn reason we shouldn’t be talking about this!” I slammed my hands on the table as I rose to my sleep. I wasn’t pissed because of Khan being here but because she told me she was going to the hospital. Is she so clueless? I don’t fucking want her around that bastard, what’s so hard to understand?

“Whoa! That’s crazy,” I was expecting her to frown and feel hurt, but staring at me as if I was going crazy really made me lose it and I felt like smacking her head. She’s so annoyed.

“What’s that? Why are you yelling at me?” She scoffed and shrugged.

“Meet me in the room,” I said to her, leaving the dining room to my room, and once I stepped inside, I slammed the door hard behind me, running my fingers through my hair. I grunted frustratingly, the urge to kill that bastard spurred through me. Maybe if he dies, then she won’t think of going to the hospital again.

I was still pacing in the room when the door opened and I stopped to see her inside the room.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“You asked to come see you,” she stared at me cluelessly and innocently and I doubt if she was the same girl out there that made me look stupid.

“I don’t want you to go to the hospital,” I said to her bluntly.

“Why?” She shrugged, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

“Are you so clueless or do you just want to drive me crazy? I don’t fucking want to see you around him. Is that too hard to understand?” I yelled at her, and she sighed, sinking into the bed, obviously frustrated.

“Why?” She asked me the dumb question that made me almost strangle her because what the fuck was this frustration about?

“You are worried he would be alone, yeah? Don’t worry, I’m going to send Claire there. He won’t be alone,” I had no idea why I was suddenly being like this, even though I knew this was crazy of me, I still couldn’t help it. I don’t even have feelings for her, so why the fuck was I getting worked up about whatever she chose to do and whoever she chose to spend time with? I’m seriously going crazy.

“Are you kidding me?” She scoffed.

“No, I’m not. You are staying…” I paused and held my head, staggering back as I suddenly felt dizzy.

“Are you ok?” She quickly stood up to hold me, but I already crash hard on the floor with a loud thud before she could get to me, and that was all I remembered happening.

I had no idea how long I’d been out, but the blurred figure hovering over me welcomed me as soon as I opened my eyes slightly, so I closed them back, preparing myself to get used to the brightness of wherever the hell I was, and when my vision finally became clear, I realized that I was in my room, and on my bed.

“Are you ok?” I quickly recognized the voice to be Janice’s, so I forced myself to look in her direction.

“What happened to me?” I asked, touching my forehead. I still felt a bit dizzy, but not as bad as it was earlier. My eyes felt heavy, my head bangs hard, and my breath was slow. I haven’t still recovered fully from the alcohol effect from yesterday, and I was already acting strong. I think I may be down for some time later.

“The doctor said she told you to rest, man. Why are you stressing yourself?” Hearing Khan’s voice made me realize that he was in the room too, and I forced myself to look in his direction. He was sitting with Claire who was glaring hard at me. What the hell is he doing with my sister?

“Claire… Come over here,” I ignored him and called my sister instead.

“When are you going to learn, huh? You are going to hurt yourself. The doctor clearly told you to rest yesterday, but you kept forcing yourself to think you are strong. Mom and Dad would be sad if something happens to you too,” She nagged me as she came to sit beside me on the bed, but I rolled my eyes.

“You should go to the hospital and stay with Carl…”

“Huh? Who said I want to go there?” She scoffed, and I sighed briefly.

“Come on, that’s a request. Please, go stay with him. I will send someone to stay with him later, I promise,” I stroked her hair, and she rolled her eyes at me, angry.

“You know I can’t drive. How do you expect me to get there?” She asked me.

“I should go with Chase. I can’t stand being there alone. It’ll be boring,” she pouted her lips, and I glanced at Khan to find him drooling over her as if his life depended on it, and that alone made me want to desperately send her away because why the freaking hell would he stare at my sister like that?

“Just take a cab there. Chase needs to stay with me and help me out with some things here,” I said to her, and she hesitated before she finally left, and trust me, Khan stared at her until she was out of the room, and when he returned his gaze and our eyes met, I frowned at him. I guess he knew what that deadly glare meant because he shrugged and rolled his eyes at me.

“Janice, can you step out for some minutes? I need to speak with my friend,” I said to Janice, and she nodded her head before she left the room.

“What the hell was that, man?” I asked him once it was only us in the room. I managed to sit up on the bed.

“What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?” He asked cluelessly, or maybe he was just acting clueless when he knew deep inside him what the hell I was talking about.

“Don’t freaking ask me that question, man. What the hell was that? Why were you staring at my sister like that?” I asked him again, raising my voice a bit high this time because I really meant business. Although he was my best friend, and the closest to me, that doesn’t mean that I want him for my sister.

“Hey, man. Why are you being like that? I didn’t do anything to your sister, I was just…”

“Admiring her, I guess?” I scoffed, and he dared to nod his head. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, so I grabbed my pillow and threw it at him, but he dodged it.

“Hey, man. What is wrong with you? I didn’t do anything wrong,” he tried to defend himself, so I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and threw it at him. I was expecting the bastard to catch the phone, but he fucking let my phone crash on the wall.

“Hey! Why didn’t you catch it?” I snapped at him, and he scoffed.

“You threw that yourself, so why should I?” He smirked at me, and I grunted angrily at him.

“You are really crazy. Do you want to die?” I yelled at him, and he scoffed.

“Nah, I don’t want to. You are the crazy one here. Why would you tell me not to admire your sister? And why would you throw that in the first place?” He rolled his eyes at me, and if not for that he is my best friend, I would’ve killed him by strangling life out of him, but I couldn’t.

“Your salary this month would be used to fix the phone, and I’m not blabbing now. I really mean it,” I said to him sternly, pointing my finger at him.

“You wouldn’t dare, Connor. I’m sure you don’t want to die,” he smirked at me.

“Whatever! Just fucking stay away from my sister. The next time I see you do that, I promise, I’m going to fucking pluck out your eyes and feed it to you. That is not an empty threat. I’m sure you know wh

at I’m capable of doing, yeah?” I warned him…