Married At First Glance: I Am Not Ugly

As she drove to the coffee shop, her mind raced with thoughts. She kept thinking about what Alex had said.

She knew that he was right. This whole situation was a mess, and it was better for everyone if they ended the marriage now. But she couldn’t help but feel sad. She had grown to care about Alex, and it would be hard to say goodbye to him.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

She arrived at the coffee shop and saw Jessie sitting at a table near the window. She took a deep breath and walked over to her.

“Hey,” she said, trying to sound cheerful.

Jessie looked up from her coffee, and Marissa could see the hurt and anger in her eyes. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the conversation.

“Hi, Marissa,” she said coolly. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about what’s been going on,” Marissa said, trying to sound calm and reasonable. “I know you’re upset, and I understand why. But I want to make things right, if I can.”

Jessie just stared at her without saying anything for a moment. Then she said,

“What do you want to say, Marissa? That this was all a big misunderstanding? That you’re not in love with Alexander and that it was me just misunderstanding the whole thing?”

Marissa felt her heart sink. She knew that there was no easy way to fix this, but she had to try.

“I know that I can’t take back what happened, and I know that I’ve hurt you. And I’m sorry for that. But I didn’t mean to hurt you, it was not Alexander’s fault as well.

He wanted the contract badly and so when they told him that the only way for him to get the contract was for him to be married.

He wanted to propose to you, but you were not ready at that time and so he had to come up with something and so that was how he came up with the idea of a fake marriage to secure the contract and after three months we would end the contract.

But I promise you, that everything has been strictly professional and nothing else.” she explained.

Jessie looked at her trying to read her words, but realized that Marissa was speaking the truth.

“So you staying together under the same roof is all part of the contract marriage agreement and you guys kissing in Switzerland was all part of the contract marriage agreement huh?”

Marissa wanted to reply but paused as she wondered how Jessie knew that Alex and her kissed in Switzerland.

No one knew about that except her, Alexander, Anderson and…… she sighed and realized that it must have been Jaime Alexander’s rival who wanted the contract badly and was ready to do anything to make sure that Alexander doesn’t get it.

So he told Jessie about their relationship? Because she knew Anderson won’t tell her anything.

“Wait a minute, Jessie. Did Jaime tell you about what happened in Switzerland? And what’s your relationship with Jaime?” Marissa asked.

Jessie didn’t say anything and just took a sip of her coffee and dropped her cup and folded her arms together.

“What does that have to do with what we are discussing right now?” she asked.

“It has everything to do with what we’re discussing,” Marissa said, her voice rising. “If Jaime is the one who told you about what happened, then he’s trying to drive a wedge between you and Alex. He doesn’t want Alex to have the contract, and he’s using you to get what he wants. Don’t you see that?”

Jessie still didn’t say anything, and Marissa could see the conflict on her face. On one hand, she was angry at Marissa, but on the other hand she was starting to doubt whether she could really trust Jaime.

“Jessie, I know that I’ve messed up, and I’m trying to fix it. But please don’t let Jaime manipulate you like this. He’s not your friend, and he’s not looking out for your best interests. He’s just using you to get what he wants. Please, don’t let him do that to you.” Marissa pleaded.

Jessie sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.

You say that Jaime is using me, thinking I was a fool and he could manipulate me into getting what he wants, but the truth is that you and Alex have been the ones making me look like a fool.

And it hurts that Alexander made such a decision to do a contract marriage with you. He doesn’t know how to get what he wants without telling me about it.” she expressed pain in her voice.

“Jessie, Alex tried to tell you, but you were always so busy and didn’t give him a chance to tell you. So he decided that after everything, he was gonna come clean and explain everything to you.

But he didn’t mean for you to find out like this, believe me.” Marissa explained.

“But why didn’t he tell me in the first place? He could have told me what was going on instead of keeping it a secret. I’m his girlfriend, for crying out loud!

And then you come along and mess everything up, pretending to be this nice person when you’re not.” Jessie snapped.

Marissa’s heart was breaking. She knew that she had messed up badly, but she didn’t realize just how badly until now. She had never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all Jessie who meant the world to Alexander.

“I’m so sorry, Jessie. But please I ask that you don’t get involved with Jaime. He’s a really bad person and doesn’t want what’s good for Alexander, believe me.”

Jessie scoffed. “Oh please, you’re just saying that because you don’t want me to interfere with your contract marriage with my boyfriend. I know that you’re just trying to cover your own tracks and make me the bad guy here.”

Marissa could see that she was getting nowhere with Jessie. She felt defeated and hopeless.

“Look, I know that you’re angry with me, and I don’t blame you. But please just believe me when I say that Jaime is a really bad person.” she explained.

But Jessie wasn’t ready to listen.

“I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to manipulate me into not trusting Jaime. I’m going to do what I think is best for myself, and I don’t need you to tell me what to do.”

“Jessie, please just hear me out,” Marissa pleaded. “I know that you’re angry and hurt, and I understand why. But I need you to understand that I’m not trying to manipulate you. I’m just trying to tell you the truth about Jaime.

Just then, Jaime walked into the cafe and stood before Jessie and Marissa.

“Wow… if it isn’t Alexander’s wife and his girlfriend.”