The Marriage Deal [Jenlisa FF]

Part 4

"Had Jacob ever been abusive towards you before that night?" the lawyer questioned.

Jisoo narrowed her brown eyes. "What do you mean by abusive?"

"Did he ever hit you? Push you? Hurt you in any way?"

"A few times, yeah. Look, I did what I had to do. He was going to kill me."

"I know that, Jisoo. Was Jacob the jealous type? Did he get upset if he saw you talking to another guy?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, kinda. But I got used to it after a while. We were together for three years; I learned the hard way not to piss him off."

****

"What was Jisoo like when she first came to live with your family?" Lisa asked.

Jennie and Lisa sat across from each other in a quiet corner table inside the café nearly two hours later. Following her meeting with Jisoo, they decided to get a cup of coffee together. Both agreed they needed to get to know each other, given the circumstances.

"I really wish I could remember it, but it was so long ago. It was eleven years ago, and I was only nine at that time. But I do recall her being very quiet, at least at first. Looking back, I can understand why she was so withdrawn. She'd been taken away from her family and was forced to live with complete strangers," Jennie told her. "I would have behaved the same way if I were in her shoes."

"Do you know what her childhood was like with her biological parents?"

Jennie shook her head. "Jisoo never liked to talk about them. I only know what I overheard my parents saying. Her mother died when she was seven and her father liked to drink. A lot."

"Did he abuse her? Physically? Sexually? Mentally?"

"I don't know, Lisa. I'm sorry." She felt so useless when she asked questions about Jisoo's childhood before she moved in with the Kim family.

"It's okay. Did Jacob abuse her?"

Jennie took a sip of her coffee before answering. "Yes, she did. Jacob was a possessive asshole who liked to release his aggressions by punching my sister."

"I see. Jennie, I may need you to testify to that in court. Will you do it if it comes to that?"

"I'll do anything to keep Jisoo from spending her life in prison."

"Good. What do you say we change the subject?" Lisa suggested. "Why don't you tell me about yourself. Obviously, I'm going to need to know something about my soon-to-be wife."

"There's not a lot to tell. I was born on 16th January. I have an older adopted sister named Jisoo, who is twenty-two, and a fifteen-year-old sister named Ella. My parents died in a car accident a few months ago, so I had to drop out of college, where I was studying law. My life isn't all that exciting."

Lisa smirked. "It doesn't sound too bad. Don't take it the wrong way, I do sympathize considering what happened to your parents. Any boyfriends I should know about?"

She shook her head. "Hardly. Dated a few guys back in high school, but nothing really serious. The last time I went out on a date, it was the night Jisoo was arrested. And needless to say, I won't be going out with him again. What about you?" Jennie wanted to know.

"Thirty years old, my birthday is 27th March. I'm an only child, my parents divorced when I was seven years old, and I was really devastated by it. They sent me off to school in England and I went on to Harvard. After I graduated from law school, my uncle John hired me to work as an associate in his law firm. He died a couple weeks ago and left the place to me, as well as that stipulation in his will. As for girlfriends, I'm not seeing anyone, at least not seriously."

"Can I ask, why me?" posed Jennie. "Why a complete stranger you had known ten minutes rather than an ex-girlfriend?"

"I would never trust any of them, and I wanted to be able to trust my partner. Also, I didn't want someone who would cling to me, and all of my exes would have done just that. Jennie, I don't want to come across as a chauvinist pig, but I have slept with a lot of women in my life and I can't imagine spending three years with any of them.

"It's not that you're not attractive, you are," Lisa continued. "I want to make this very clear. I do *not* want to sleep with you. I just want you to act like my wife in public, but not in private. And I don't expect you to perform the usual wifely duties."

Jennie folded her hands. "Good, we're in agreement in that respect. Because I have no intention of sleeping with you. Although we do have one minor problem."

"What's that?"

"We'll have to explain this whirlwind courtship and make it sound plausible," she said. "Any ideas?"

"Old family friends?" Lisa suggested.

Jennie shook her head. "It won't fly with Ella and Jisoo. They know all of Mom and Dad's friends, and their children. We need something more convincing than that."

"High school friends? College friends?"

"Try explaining the ten year age difference if we're high school friends," she pointed out.

"Fine, how about this?" Lisa began after a lengthy pause. "We met the day you came into my office, and since we started working closely on Jisoo's case, sparks flew. We're together all the time and we ended up falling in love. At first sight, of course. And we're getting married."

She loved the idea; it could work. "You're a genius. We might be able to pull that one off."

"Might? No, we'll definitely pull it off. So, when do I get to meet Ella? Since she is going to be my sister-in-law shortly."

"Are you busy for dinner tomorrow night?"

"I can clear my schedule."

"You do that. Come by the house at six o'clock for a home cooked meal prepared by yours truly," Jennie invited. "It'll be the perfect time to spring the news on Ella."

Lisa grinned at the thought of a home cooked dinner. "I'll be there."