Unexpectedly Married To You

thirty-four

Edlyn walked back and forth in the kitchen, frustrated over the day that was coming. Jay's birthday was coming in a few days which meant she had to meet all of her relatives. The entrance door opened, signalling that Jake had just got back from work.

She scurried towards him, "We have a problem."

He put his suitcase down and looked at her confusedly. She continued, "Jay's birthday is in a few days."

"So?"

"Which means, I have to meet my relatives," she frowned. He sighed, "What's so wrong about that?"

"I don't care about my dad's side of the family. I'm worried about my mom's side of the family. They're pretty judgemental. And they still blame me for my mom's death."

"Then don't go," he poured himself a cup of water. "If I could, I would. My dad wants me to be at the party. Because it's the only time our family would see them."

"What about your birthday party?" He asked. She avoided his gaze, "Nobody comes to my party. They don't want to attend a "murderer's" birthday party. The only people who came was Daera, Sunghoon and of course, Jay and my dad."

"When is the party?"

"This weekend." She leaned against the counter and closed her eyes tiredly, stressed after thinking of solutions to not go to the party.

"I guess we'll just have to go. Then, if things go wrong, we'll run away," he said before grabbing his suitcase and heading towards his bedroom.

•

The day that Edlyn dreaded the most arrived. The day she had to meet her relatives. She put on a white dress and waited for her husband to get ready. He went out of his bedroom and showed up in front of her in a black suit. He smiled, "Are you ready?"

They both arrived at her father's mansion, seeing cars parked in the driveway. "I can't do this," Edlyn tightened her grip around Jay's birthday gift. "We can always turn around and go back home," Jake tried to comfort her.

"But Jay wanted me to be here," she lowered her gaze before taking a deep breath, "Let's go in. They're waiting for us."

He smiled and went out of the car before opening the car door for her. She looked at him confusedly, "Since when do you open the car door for me?"

He just ignored her and smirked before linking his arm with hers. They both walked into the house and greeted her father. "Dad! I missed you!" She hugged him tightly.

Mr Park smiled before patting Jake's back, "Nice to see you again, Jake. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

They went to the dining room and saw her relatives already sitting there, talking to each other. Edlyn's aunt looked at her, glaring. She was her mother's sister, the aunt that she didn't want to bump into the most. All the words that came out of her mouth were like a bullet that would pierce her chest.

Edlyn quietly took a seat next to Jay, Jake following next to her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the daughter," her aunt started speaking.

"Hi, Aunt Haejin," Edlyn lowered her gaze in fear. Jake got up to shake her hand, "I'm Jake, her husband."

"It's a surprise to see you got yourself a handsome husband. I thought you'll end up with Hojun," she spoke again.

"We just don't have any chemistry with each other. So I broke off the relationship," Edlyn forced herself to smile, her hands trembling as she held a fork and a spoon.

"I just don't get it how you're still brave enough to show up to family parties after killing my sister," Aunt Haejin scoffed. Jay faked a smile, "It's not her fault, Aunt Haejin."

"Why? You didn't tell your husband? Because you don't want him to know that you're a murderer?"

"Jang Haejin!" Mr Park called her angrily. She fixed her posture and continued eating her food. Jake held Edlyn's hand to comfort her and felt her hand trembling under the table.

"Can you pour me some red wine?" She asked her husband. Jake obeyed and poured the alcohol into her glass. "Jake, rather than marrying a murderer, you should marry my daughter. She's smart, has her own company, graduated early and she doesn't kill anyone," the aunt continued speaking. Her daughter that was sitting next to her smirked.

"Sorry, but your daughter is not my type. I'm in love with Edlyn and I know she didn't kill her mother. If she did, she would've escaped from the car and left her alone in there. You're just blaming her because you don't have someone to vent out your anger to," Jake snapped as he smiled at the aunt, his blood boiling inside.

Jay tried to hide his laugh and Mr Park smiled proudly, nodding as he ate his food. The aunt scoffed and rolled her eyes. Edlyn gulped down her wine before leaving the dining room.