Her Substitute Groom

“What are you saying, Chase?” Mrs. Hughes’ eyes narrowed in shock after Chase told her about what happened back at Carl’s house.

“Mom… I… I… I saw Carl… I saw Carl… I really saw him,” Chase stuttered, his heart pounding hard against his chest, his lips quivered fearfully.

“Stop joking around with me, son… How is that possible? Your brother is dead… Carl is fucking dead!” Mrs. Hughes felt like she was losing her mind, this was hard to believe because the last time she checked, her son was dead. He had died months ago and it couldn’t be possible that he was the one Chase saw, but Chase was sure of what he saw. He was sure that person was his brother whom they thought was dead.

“Mom, why are you not believing me?” Chase ran his fingers through his hair crazily like he was about to lose his mind. Apparently, he had already lost his mind and thought he was going crazy that moment that he saw Carl.

“How am I supposed to believe you, Chase? How am I supposed to believe you that you came out of nowhere and told me that Carl is alive…”

“Mom…” Chase called and held her shoulders.

“We should go there… You should go see for yourself, Mom. You should go see Carl for yourself,” Chase uttered, and Mrs. Hughes’s heart sank into her stomach as tears streamed down her cheeks. She had managed to put the past behind her, she had managed to be fine even though it was hard to get rid of the thought of losing his loving son months ago, and this was happening?

“Are you sure about this, Chase? I would be so mad at you if it turns out that you’ve been lying to me,” She stated, and he assured her that he wasn’t lying.

“What about Connor? Where is he?” Chase asked.

“I gave him sleeping pills. He is sleeping,” She replied to him, and he nodded.

“Let’s go,” He said and they both left the house to the parking lot where they hopped inside the car, and the ride to Carl’s house began.

Mrs. Hughes’ heart kept hammering against her chest on their way as many thoughts lingered on her mind. What if Carl was really alive? That was one of the questions she kept asking herself.

“It can’t be. Maybe he saw someone else,” She quickly dismissed the thoughts. If he was alive, he could’ve come home to her a long time ago, right?

“We are not there yet?” She asked Chase impatiently.

“We’ll soon be there. Calm down, Mom,” Chase replied to her, and she managed to calm down.

They finally arrived at the front of the mansion, and Mrs. Hughes quickly alighted from the car.

“Is this the house?” She asked Chase, and when he nodded, she scurried to the gate and started to shake it to get the attention of the people inside.

“Calm down, Mom. I will find a way to get them to open it,” Chase held her and pulled her away from the gate, but she yanked his hand off.

“I need to see my son if he is really alive. Let me bang the gate until they open it for me,” She said and continued to shake the gate, making a loud noise until one of Carl’s bouncers came outside.

“Who are you?” The bouncer asked when he finally got to where they were standing. The gate was demarcating them.

“Where is Carl? Call him out here… Tell him his mother is here to see him,” She said to the bouncer restlessly, and the bouncer pulled a surprised expression like this young woman was losing her mind or something.

“Sorry, who is Carl?”

“Uhm… Can we see Mr. Jason, please?” Mrs. Hughes turned to face Chase with a surprised expression when she heard him say that.

“Who is…” She was going to ask Chase when she heard someone’s voice from inside the gate. It was a familiar voice she could never forget even though she was in a deep sleep. It was his beloved son’s voice.

She didn’t hesitate before she snapped her head in the direction of the voice, and there he was, standing frozen on the spot.

Her jaw dropped to the ground as she stared at Carl who was shocked to see her too.

“Mo… m…” Carl’s voice came out weakly and low that he could barely hear himself. His heart wrenched painfully and slowly, he clenched his fingers tightly beside him as he stared at her.

“Carl…” Her jaw dropped to the ground as she stared at him, the realization dawned on her that it was really her Carl.

“Carl!” Her voice was loud this time as she tightened her fingers around one of the rods of the bar gate as if intending to force her way in.

“Boss, these people are here to see you. Do you want me to let them in?” The bouncer turned to Carl and asked, and as much as he wanted to turn his back on this woman, he felt weak. He couldn’t hurt her even though he hated her so much.

“Hmm… Let them in,” He nodded as he tucked his hands inside his pockets. He tried to hide his emotions with a straight face, but deep inside him, he was bleeding inside. He had missed her so much that he wanted to run into her arms and embrace her, but it was taking him all his self-restraint to do that.

The gate was finally opened, and Mrs. Hughes ran as fast as her legs could carry her, and when she finally got to where Carl was standing, she pulled him into her arms and embraced him. She tightened her arms around him as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’ve missed you so much, son… I’ve missed you so much,” she whimpered, but Carl just stood there like a log of wood as he stared into space wordlessly.

“I’ve missed you too, Mom,” He desperately wanted to hug her back and tell her how much he had missed her, but he tried to hold himself back, reminding himself that he wasn’t the old Carl they used to know.

She finally pulled away from him and cupped his cheeks in her palms. She noticed his eyes were fine, and although she wanted to question him about that, she changed her mind. It wasn’t yet time to do that.

“Excuse me… Who are you?” Carl asked, his voice void of emotions as he held her hand and pushed her away slightly but carefully in a way she wouldn’t hurt herself.

“Do I know you?” He looked her in the eyes and asked, his eyebrows raised, demanding an answer.

“Wh… What do you mean?” Mrs. Hughes stuttered and swallowed nothing.

“I don’t remember I’ve seen this face anywhere before. Who are you?” Mrs. Hughes’ heart sank into her stomach, and her jaw dropped to the ground.

“Carl… It’s me… Your Mom,” She reminded him as she held his hand, but he yanked her hand off and stepped away from her.

“My Mom is dead… She died years ago. Who are you?” Carl asked with an even more serious expression on his face.

“Carl… Did you have amnesia? It’s me, your Mom… That’s Chase, your little brother… You have an elder brother, Connor, and your little sister, Claire… You have a Dad too. We are your family,” Mrs. Hughes’s lips quivered as she explained to him, but he stared back at her blankly like she was speaking in a foreign language he couldn’t understand.

“Talk to me, Carl…”

“My name is not Carl… My name is Jason. Maybe you mistook me for someone else, ma’am,” He did his best to hold himself together as he said those hurtful words to her. Waves of guilt spurred through him because even though he could hurt anyone else, this woman was one person he could never hurt. Yes, he hated them. He hated all his family and could kill them all, but seeing the tears in her eyes had made him weak. Maybe he had just been deceiving himself that he could harm her.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What are you saying, son? That’s not possible… You are…”

“I’m sorry, but my bouncer would have to escort you out. I was going somewhere before you interrupted me,” He said to her, then bowed slightly and turned to leave when Chase finally spoke up for the first time.

“Are you going to be like this even to your own Mom, Carl? Don’t you think you are being heartless?” Carl stopped on his track and slowly clenched his fingers.

“Even when you were wrong, she was always supporting you and never left your side… She always protected you. Are you going to pretend not to know her?” Chase stepped forward and snarled at him, and he sighed.

“Escort them out,” He said to the bouncer and finally went to hop inside his car. Right before Mrs. Hughes’ eyes, he drove out of the house without sparing them a glance…