I Said I'll Marry You! 2

After explaining everything in a gentle yet strict voice, the manager's phone vibrated from several notifications. When they left earlier, Alfred took the manager's cellphone with him. Taking it out of his pocket, he clicked on the notifications and read the text messages.

"Read this. This is the evidence you need to convince yourself what reality really is." Alfred handed the cellphone over to her.

As Jessica's eyes skimmed through the texts, her eyes teared up. She closed her eyes and smiled bitterly. "Hah..Haha...My own mother and father actually set me up to go sleep with my own cousin? Why? So I would listen to them and marry that bastard? Or did they want to benefit through my relationship with Selina?"

"Was it fun to treat me like a fucking idiot? Was it fun to drag me around like a dog on a leash and push me away when I'm not needed? What? Wanting to take away my last piece of freedom by trapping me? Media? You guys contacted the fucking reporters to that room?!! When the hell will you two ever respect me?!"

She stood up from the bed, trembled with the cellphone in her hand and fought the raging anger inside of herself. Taking deep breaths, tears swarmed down her cheeks. She sniffled, whimpering cries out of her mouth.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms pulling her in a familiar embrace. With no strength left to fight his hug, she accepted his comfort. His gentle back strokes and light cologne scent slowly relaxed the tension in her body. Once she learned to relax, tears rushed out like a thunderous storm.

Alfred stayed silently by her side and allowed her to scream out everything she wanted to say. The rooms were soundproof, so nobody would hear the things she was saying. Her fists punched Alfred's back as she muttered words.

"Marriage! Marriage! All about marriage! Have you ever thought about what I wanted? Have you ever considered whether I loved the man or not? How many times do I have to fight about this? I want to choose my own husband! Why? Why are you setting your daughter up like this? Ruining her reputation and forcing her to a dead end! When will you stop pestering me?!"

She screamed, hitting his back countless times. However, she seemed to regret her actions after hitting him every time. Her palms flattened against the spot she struck and massaged the area after each hit.

"I have a solution to your question." Hearing his voice for the first time in a while, she looked up with her swollen eyes. He wiped the tear stains off her face and smiled. "Marry me."

"S..Stop joking." She sucked in a deep breath, but she continued reading the man's expression.

"I've promised to answer your inquiries honestly when we left the restaurant. I haven't and will not lie about these things. If you want your parents to stop bothering you about marriage, then the best method is to get married. If you have to choose anyone anyway, why can't you marry me instead? At the very least, I can protect and respect you."

Another drip of tears fell from the corner of her eyes. The gentle smile on his face matched his eyes. She could tell he wasn't lying to her nor speaking sweet words to make her feel better. "I..."

"If you want to get a divorce later on, you can just tell me. If you end up finding someone you like, then just let me know. I wanted to tell you this a while ago, but never found the suitable chance. Now that I've given the opportunity, this is also kind of sudden. Jessica Wang, I love you."

"Whenever I am with you, everything else could be pushed aside. While my worries for work become nonexistent, new concerns fill up my mind. I think about whether you eat your meals properly, whether you were dressed warm enough and whether you rested enough. There were many times where I wanted to hug you to myself, but I couldn't. I couldn't because I didn't have the status nor the right to claim you as my girlfriend."

"So, Jessica Wang, will you marry me? I know this is fast, but please give me the chance to spoil and protect you. If you like, we can start off with dating. Until you are sure of me, I will not do anything to you. Even if you want to reject dating me, I'm willing to act as your husband in public. Under my protection, I can ensure your safety from your family and outsiders. I won't let anyone harm you."

At this point, he was kneeling on one knee while holding her hands.

Taken aback by the sudden proposal, she failed to give him a proper answer. Her heart was thumping against her ribcage as if it wanted to crawl out of her body and sky dive down a cliff. She shook her head and looked at the man whose eyes were clear and full of determination.

"Okay. I'll marry you." She was crying for too long that her rasped voice softened.

"Huh? What did you just say?" He thought he had heard wrong because her voice was much lower than before.

She pulled him up from the floor and lifted her head to face him. "I said I will marry you. I'll be your girlfriend, but you'll have to work hard during this period. Remember your words well!" She smiled, holding his face in her palms.

"Yes!!!! You said yes!!!" Hugging her in his arms tightly, he rested his forehead on her shoulder. He laughed sillily like a child. "Damn it! This feels too surreal. What if this is a wonderful dream? What If I wake up and I don't really have a wife? What should I do? Ahhh, I can die from happiness right now!!!"

Hearing his wild exclaims, she giggled in response. "Then, let's go to the marriage bureau tomorrow morning and officially settle your status as my husband. Do you feel more secured now?"

"Oh, right! The marriage bureau! Let's hurry home after your examinations! We need to get our red books, identification documents and line up early! Oh! We also need..." He mumbled to himself and dialed a few numbers. During his calls, loud cheers could be heard from the other side. Though made some calls just to ask about necessary documents required for registering marriage, she had a feeling he only wanted to show off to his single friends.