"Erm. I might not be able to go back to the Capital for the meantime."
Edric raised an eyebrow after he saw her fidgeting her fingers.
"What's wrong?"
"My Mama was arrested by the police earlier with false charges." She answered while bowing down.
"Is that the reason why your house became like this?"
"Yes."
"Oh my Jane. Chin up. Where's my confident Jane that won't bow down to anyone?"
Jane smiled sadly after hearing that.
"Well, I just realized that biting without teeth is useless in this world."
Edric chuckled when he heard how weird the metaphor Jane had used.
"You have me. Let me be that 'teeth'."
"Eh?"
"I mean. I don't want to lose a very important employee. So, let me help you solve your worries so we can go back to the Capital tomorrow."
'What's wrong with you? You sound weird.' Jane asked him through their mind link.
"Is it wrong to help a person in need?"
No. Not at all.
Jane went silent after that.
"What's the catch?"
"Since you mentioned it first, I need your help, too." He said.
"Oh. May I know what is it?"
"If I'll say be my wife for three hundred sixty-five and one fourth days, will you take it?" He asked unapologetically through telepathy.
"What?! Are you nutts?" She mumbled to him.
"I only need a wife. It's going to be a nominal marriage. Don't worry. We will annul the marriage after that time frame since there's no divorce in this country. I just have to stop them from pestering me." He explained through telepathy.
Jane became silent after listening to Edric's proposal. But then she asked after quite some time.
"Why me?"
"Because...."
He could not explain to her why because he was afraid that she would not agree to it. And besides, he was still unsure if she was that woman he actually needed.
"Because you're the only person I know who can do it. And besides, you need my protection Jane. Trust me."
He then sipped his drink and looked at Jane's body language so he would know what were the right words to say for Jane to agree this proposal.
"Are you taking advantage over my current situation?"
"Isn't this all about that? You need my help. I'm offering it to you in exchange of a small favor."
"Small?! Asking me to marry you? For an entire year?!" She whisper yelled at him.
"We can talk through telepathy, you know." Edric reminded her inside her head earning a scoff from Jane.
"There's nothing that you will lose in this marriage. You'll gain even more. I'll help you reach everything that you dreamed of for your family and for yourself as long as you're my wife." He continued inside her mind.
"Why do I feel like you have been planning this from the very beginning?" She was really hesitant to accept this.
"No. I didn't. It just happened. And the first person that came into my mind is you."
"Why don't you look someone else instead? I'm just a nobody, Mr. McWilliams."
"Yes, a nobody whom I am sure that won't fall in love with me given your attitude towards me. It seems like you hated my entire existence when I'm just barely breathing the same air around you."
Though what he needed was the exact opposite of what he said, that's the only reason that he could think of for Jane to believe that everything would only be superficial.
"And besides, think about your mom in prison. We're both uncertain on what is happening to her while she's inside."
When she thought of her mother being mistreated by the police or being bullied by her fellow detainee in the district police station, Jane's heart sunk.
"What should I do?" She mumbled to herself.
She didn't want to establish another relationship with Edric. However, he's the best person who could help her with her problems.
"You just have to nod Jane and everything will be okay." Edric said his final push.
Jane could only close her eyes and nodded. She could not dare to accept this with her eyes wide open.
Edric chose not to comment on her reaction because he didn't want to agitate her even more.
"Good, I'll ask Phil to prepare the contract so we will sign it the moment we arrived in the Capital City."
"Is this really happening?"
"Why? Do you still want to back down? Fine, I'll give you until tomorrow morning to decide."
Jane heaved a sigh of relief given that he was giving her the time to think about it.
At the same time, she obviously had no choice but to agree to him.
Edric then got up and excused himself.
"Where are you going?"
"Have to make a call. Will be quick."
"Oh, okay."
Edric then went out of the house to call Phil.
After a few rings,
"Young Master, where are you? The car is already fixed."
"Good. Buy me a property in this area. I want the biggest house. If they won't sell it to you, let Edward handle the rest. And also, I need the best lawyer in this country and let him see me as soon as possible."
"Okay Young Master. I will arrange it right away."
Though Phil looked weak compared to Edric's other subordinates, he could be reliable when it came to tasks like this.
He had a few tricks hidden under his sleeves.
Edric didn't wait for Phil's response and he ended the call.
When he got inside the house, Jane was no longer in the living room.
He saw her popping out from the dining/kitchen with a pair of unused slippers.
"Please wear this inside." Jane then place the slippers on the floor and then asked, "Do you need me to remove your shoes?"
"There's no need. Sorry for making your floor dirty."
"No. It's my fault for not giving you the sleepers earlier."
"Dinner's ready. Come join us in the kitchen when you're done."
"Sure. Go ahead."
Jane went back to the kitchen to prepare Edric's utensils.
There's no way she would let him use their usual utensils, right?
She ran towards the cabinet which stored their unused spoons and forks.
Jane washed them and then poured a hot water on them to sanitize it.
Then, she wiped the plates, spoon, fork and the knife with a clean cloth before she placed it on the table where Edric would be seated.
"You really don't have to do that Jane." Edric told her through telepathy.
"I can't help it. I know you're not used to this." She responded back on the same way.
Naomi also came inside the dinning room with a puffy eyes. She then sat down on her usual seat.
Anton also came in after taking a short bath.
He frowned when he saw her sister was serving Edric.
Anton decided to keep to himself whatever thoughts he had for Edric.
He didn't want to upset Jane. After all the man was his sister's visitor.
"Thank you." Edric said after Jane was done serving him with food.
When her siblings gathered around, Jane was about to do the same thing to Naomi and Anton.
"Ate thank you but, we ain't kids anymore." Anton told her and took over the serving spoon from her hand.
"Are you sure? It's very rare that I can do this to you guys." She asked them and they both nodded their heads.
With that, Jane had no other choice but to let them be.
But she didn't expect for Anton to put rice on her plate and even chose the second biggest meat slice and put it on her plate.
"Thank you." Jane thanked her brother but then she accidentally touched his arm and so she knew what was running on Anton's mind.
"Anyways, he's Mr. Mc-" she stopped when she heard Edric inside her head. "I mean Edric."
"Thank you." Edric thanked her through telepathy.
"Oh. Is he a classmate of yours Ate? He looks like he's from a big city of another country."
"No. I am a teacher at her university."
"Oh, really?" Naomi's eyes sparkled in joy when she heard that together with an explanation, "I want to be a teacher when I grow up."
"Oh, I'm sure you will. Your sister's trying her best to help you make your dreams come true."
"Ate, it's not really necessary though. There are many ways to make it happen without making you to be burdened by our dreams." Anton suddenly told her.
"Yes, it might be true. However, as the eldest among us, I don't want you both to experience what I have gone through as well. And besides, you're my brother so I'll help you."
"Okay. Enough of this. Let's pray so we can start eating."
The entire dinner was silent because they were sad to eat without their mother.
"I miss Mama."
"Me, too."
"I'll take Mama out from prison, everyone. So don't be sad and continue eating, okay?"
"Okay."
After dinner, the younger ones decided to retreat to their respective rooms while Jane and Edric stayed in the living room.
"I already called a lawyer to take over your mom's case."
"Really? But--"
"I know. I just can't let you be sad this long. I want my old Jane back."
"And besides, I don't want her to suffer and at the same time I don't want to be a useless son-in-law to my mother-in-law."
Simply put, he didn't want to look bad in Mrs. Sanchez's eyes.
Jane inwardly rolled her eyes after seeing how calculative he was.
Still, she felt the need to say thank you because at least he didn't wait for her answer before he made a move.
This only told her that he was really serious with his proposal.
"Anyways, do you have a place to stay here?" Jane asked as she tried to change the conversation.
"Oh. It's fine. I will go and stay in this town's hotel."
"There's no hotel in this town though. Just resorts wherein you can book a room for a night or two. However, I doubt if one is still open at this hour."
It was already ten in the evening. They had a late dinner all thanks to her.
"Then, might just stay in the car with Phil."
"What?! Phil is here? Where is he? Why didn't I see him with you?"
"Look at you. All excited when I mentioned Phil's name yet very displeased to see me here."
"No, I didn't mean it that way. I should have at least invited him for dinner, too."
"Well, the car that Phil rented overheated when we reached the intersection. So I hopped out of the car and walked down here while he was left fixing it. Don't worry. There is a small dinner open when I left, I'm sure he has eaten dinner there already."
Phil who was driving the car that supposedly "overheated" sneezed all of a sudden.
"What? That is a kilometer away! Are you insane?" Jane was really surprised.
"Well. I can't just wait there until it was fixed." 'I had the urge to see you right away.' Edric continued in his thought and not let Jane knew that.
"Call Phil. Both of you can stay here if you don't mind."
Even though their house was not big. It was not that small either. It has a guest room at least.
"You stay in my room and Phil will stay in the guest room."
"How about you?"
"I will sleep in my parent's room."
Then Jane led him inside her room which was a little messy because the police barged in there, too.
Jane then hurriedly fixed the bed, changed the sheets, blanket and pillow cases with new ones.
Then after that, she disappeared leaving Edric alone. Edric decided to sit down on the bed while waiting for her.
When she returned, she was holding an unused pajama and new towel.
"I don't know if Father's unused pajama set will fit on you. We kept this in the drawer because Mama happened to buy a size bigger than him."
"Thank you Jane. You don't have to trouble yourself with all of these."
"Well, I just want you to have a comfortable sleep at least."
"There's no need for that."
"Why?"
"I don't sleep."