Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

Jerlina knew that everything would be different had she knew.

"But I am glad I got to know them all now. If not, we would still be distant," she pressed her lips. "I wouldn't have gathered my courage to talk to you openly and you never would have known why I was scared of you in the first place."

"Yeah," he held the back of her head and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She is right. That day, she got drunk and spoke a lot to him. After that night, she was a bit open with him and communicated her thoughts making him investigate and find out a lot of truths.

And now, they are closer than ever. It made his heart warm.

"Your legs hurt, right?" Jerlina got down from his lap. She's been sitting on his leg for a long time.

"No, wait-" he tried to stop her but Jerlina saw his face twisting in pain as he tried to move. 

"Come on, stretch yourself," she held his hand and helped him up. She didn't fail to notice the disappointment in his face.

"We can come here again, okay?" she said and cleaned up the place.

"Sure," his voice couldn't hide his delight. "I have a lot of other places I have in mind. Let's go there together."

"Okay," Jerlina nodded with a smile. She wouldn't mind visiting places with him.

As they walked back to the car, Jerlina suddenly remembered something. 

"What language does the horse-keeper speak? The other day when I went to the stables, he said something about my eyes and I couldn't understand him," she asked.

She thought when Jeremy said that the horses and the carriage were gifted to them by Alexander Volkonsky, it was just for the wedding procession. But it seems like the horses were the gift and Alexander Volkonsky even sent a horse-keeper to take care of the horses. 

The horses were kept in their backyard and she decided to gather her courage a couple of days before and visit the horses. The horse-keeper spoke a lot and she didn't understand a lot except that he was talking about her eyes.

"Your eyes?" Jeremy looked at her. "Golden eyes are pretty rare and maybe he was talking about that..." he held her hand. "You have eyes that hold the sun in them."

Jerlina was stunned for a moment. 

She has heard compliments about her eyes a lot. It is a rare color and people always have a second glance at her eyes whenever she makes her eyes pop with makeup. 

But this guy...

I thought we were talking about the horse-keeper. Why is he casually throwing a compliment out of nowhere? And why did my heart skip a beat?

"Sun in my eyes? I thought I was like the moon," she mumbled as they continued walking. She thought he didn't hear her, but when she got in the car, he turned to look at her.

"You're the moon who imprisoned the sun in your eyes, Honeybuns," he patted her hand.

"Look at you!" Jerlina patted her cheeks that went red like a tomato. "I didn't know you were such a smooth guy, Joel... You're making me blush." 

Jeremy chuckled. "But it is true though. You have great inner strength and it shines through your eyes like the sun. You have the intelligence to burn those around you. But you're imprisoning the burning strength you have with your gentleness and compassion. The light that you let out is gentle like the moonlight. You are the moon and you can unleash the sun in you if needed."

He meant it. The more he talks to her the more he can see how smart she is. Anyone can memorize and score good grades, but she is intelligent. Considering the situation she grew up in, she had every reason to burn everything around her. But she chose to be gentle and inclusive. 

Sadly, those she loved couldn't see that. They thought that she is weak and treated her unfairly. They misunderstood her gentleness as weakness. 

Well, their loss is his gain!

Jerlina leaned on the seat. She couldn't say a word as her throat went heavy. This man always says things about her even she doesn't know.

Am I that special? Or is he blind with love?

"And I want to add this," he held her hand. His eyes were on the road and she saw the gentle smile in the corner of his lips.

"You never were just a girl I f*cked. That night, under the moon and the stars, I could see the sun in you. You were drunk and you spoke from your heart. You looked very young, but I never doubted your age, you know why? Because your words held the wisdom of an elder. I learned a lot from you that day. Even after knowing your age, I could only consider you as my equal," he turned and smiled at her.

"I forgot Emma is the same age as you for the same reason. I always considered you as my equal. Even when I get angry at you, it is because I forget you're younger... I have to change that thought but I can't help it. Even now, when I don't know what to do, I often wonder sitting on that rock - what would you do in my place? What would that drunk sage advise me in this situation?" he chuckled.

"Joel, you're... Only you... Only you just," Jerlina stuttered as she was moved to tears.

All her life, people called her "strong" and "resilient". They never made her happy. But Jeremy's words made her happy. She didn't think that she touched his life to this extent in mere hours. 

And as she guessed, he did not fall for her body, but for her mind. And that is the best compliment one can receive.

"Only me?" he slowed the car and turned to look at her. Her eyes met with his and she gulped.

"Be mine then, Jerlina...Only mine, forever."

He wanted to say those words to her but he stopped himself. He could feel the distance between them reducing slowly. And a heavy question like this will make her startled. 

I can wait a little more... One day, soon, she will say those words to me, herself.

"Want to kiss?" he smirked.

"What?" Jerlina smiled seeing him puckering his lips and leaning towards her.

"You silly," she placed her hand over his lips with a chuckle. "Watch the road!"

"Aww, shucks," he turned to the front with a chuckle. 

Jerlina watched his side profile and took in a deep breath. It seemed like he was about to say something serious, but he acted goofy for some reason.

A man like him is hard to come by. I'd be a fool to let him go.

"What did we even talk about that day?" Jerlina asked wiping the corner of her eyes.

"Right," Jeremy was excited she asked this.

Throughout the way, Jeremy told her every conversation they had that night. Some were silly, some were a bit flirty and a lot of it was preachy.