Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

438 Naughty Valen

He gently poked her cheek, thinking his finger would pass through, but instead, her cheek dipped and the smooth soft texture of her face made his heart race. 1

Is this real? Is my mum really back?!

He touched her nose and then played with her eyelashes. When he saw her eyes moving, Valen chuckled but didn't stop. He continued to play with her face before an idea struck him.

He got down from the bed and hurried to his wardrobe where his school bag was. He brought out a marker and hurried back to the bed.

Valen uncapped the marker and started drawing on his mother's face with soft laughter now and then.

Once he was done, he kept the marker on the top of the drawer beside the bed before he wrapped his hand around her and went to sleep again.

A few hours later, Jeslyn awakens to the delicious aroma of coffee.

"Mum, you're awake."

Jeslyn sat up and looked around, her son had brought her breakfast and was arranging them on the table with his uniform on.

"Son?" She's finally home, back to her comfort zone.

"I made you something to eat. This is one of the dishes I learnt in your absence. I hope you like it." The boy tried not to smile. He was quite nervous that his mother wouldn't find the food to her taste. When Jeslyn heard that, she was stunned. "You learned how to cook? And this is for me?"

"Hm, don't cry, your eyes are gathering mist." The drawings on his mother's face made him giggle.

"Hahaha...that's my son!"

The delicacy that was arranged on a white tray were two toasts with two cloud eggs arranged beside each other. A cup of black coffee sitting by the side. Strawberries, berries, and diced bananas arranged beautifully inside a small bowl.

"Wow! This is beautiful!!"

"Taste it." The boy urged, feeling quite restless.

Jeslyn started with the coffee and her eyes lit up after a sip. "This tastes delicious!" With the other hand, she picked the toast and took a bite. It was nothing special. She knew that she mustn't

exaggerate, else her son would be discouraged, so she exaggerate, else her son would be discouraged, so she gave him a thumbs up. "The toast is nothing special...However," she took a bite of the egg and smiled. "This tastes better than the last one I made."

Hearing that, Valen beamed. Without a doubt, his mom cooks better than the Chefs in the house. If she said his egg tasted better than her last one, does that not imply that he is doing good? "Come, join me." She pulled him to take a seat. Valen didn't eat the toast but focused on the fruits.

"Mummy, what happened to grandma?"

"Grandma encountered some misfortune and had to jump from an eight story building. Her landing was horrible, so she broke her knees." Jeslyn sighed.

"What's her chances of walking again?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have Doc Matt take a look at her and see if there's hope."

"Did you see Mr. Hwang?" When Jeslyn was still in Sin City, they used to talk on the phone and she'd tell him a little of what she was going through. She didn't address Mr. Hwang as her father, so the intelligent Valen immediately knew that their relationship was nothing to write home about.

"No, I didn't get to see him. Good thing I didn't because I wouldn't have known what to do with his face in sight." Jeslyn's hold on the coffee cup tightened as she gritted her teeth in pure rage.

Seeing this, Valen placed his hand on the back of his mother's hand and said, "Don't be aggrieved, mom, everything will be fine once daddy returns."

Jeslyn looked at her son and her anger died down. "You've grown taller. How is school? The last time I asked you, you refused to say anything."

"Nothing special. Just the regular boring lessons and annoying flies."

"Oh, tell me about the annoying 'flies", she winked.

Valen sneered at the gossipy look on her face. "Just don't give me a sister if she would act like that rotten Mia."

"Mia?...oh, your girlfriend?" Jeslyn beamed.

"I'd rather become a monk."

"Hahahahaha...! I can see enemies to lovers in the air!" Jeslyn laughed boisterously while clapping. She couldn't contain herself.

Seeing how excited she was, Valen didn't want to stop that happiness. His father told him to take care of her, so if making fun of him would make her this happy, he'd gladly let her continue, but truth be told, the sight of Mia or whatever her name is, disgust him. As little as she is, she's already so

scheming. Thinking about what she did in school yesterday, Valen didn't know when a snort escaped his nostril.

The mother and son continued to argue as best friends. Every one minute, one of them would laugh out loud. It continued until they finished eating.

"Eh, Valen child, I can see you're ready for school and time is no longer on your side. Here's the thing, I'll drop you off..."

"Ok, but go wash your face first!" The boy didn't know when he screamed. Drop him off with a mustache and other bizarre drawings on her face? People will laugh at her and he'd never allow that. Only he is allowed to bully and laugh at his mother!

"Ok... I didn't intend to go out without washing up." She beamed before standing up and heading to the bathroom.

Jeslyn entered the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, but to her utter shock, the reflection she saw on the mirror almost made her heart jump from her throat.

Staring right back at her, was an image of a tattooed- face man, spotting a handlebar mustache, small beard below her lower lips, thick eyebrows, tattooed eyes below her eyes. A nose beside her nose, and two lips at both sides of her lip. To crown it all, there were drawn ears on her cheeks.

"Valen!!!" She creamed and ran out but the kid had long gone with the dishes.

"Very good! I'll take proper care of you when we return." She went back into the bathroom to wash her face but the drawings won't leave. She used soap and a towel, yet it didn't work.

Jeslyn sighed and shook her head. When did her son become this naughty? Who is teaching him this? She narrowed her eyes as a thought crossed her mind. A cunning smile surfaced on her lips before

she left the bathroom.

In the car, Valen was looking at the pictures he took of his mother, looking like a clown. He couldn't stop laughing as he remembered the way she screamed his name in the bathroom earlier. "Little Master, is something the matter?"

Valen's smile slipped off his face as he raised his gaze to observe the young chauffeur. Very good, the perfect one to take the role in my plot, the child thought.

"Do I need to tell you when I find something funny?" he asked with a straight face.

"No, little Master!" The chauffeur immediately responded.