“No, keep this for my niece. I will buy something else. We still have time until tomorrow evening.” Jason pushed the box towards Layla.

“Jason, if I don’t give it to your wife, then grandma who is in heaven now would be upset with me. So, please take it. This comes as a set, so it would be very nice to wear the whole set at the wedding. What about the dress? I don't think there is enough time to custom make a dress for the wedding.” Layla moved the box once again towards Jason.

“I don’t know…I totally forgot to ask. I was happy when Amy's mom said she agreed to the marriage and we will get married tomorrow.” Jason shook his head.

“Jason, even if it is an urgent marriage you cannot just go there with just a ring and get married. Give me the phone number of Amy’s mom, I will talk to her and handle everything.” Layla urged and got the phone number successfully from Jason.

Once Layla got Julie's phone number from Jason, she immediately dialed the number.

“Hello Aunty, I am Layla. Jason’s cousin. How are you doing?”

Julie was shocked at first. She was not expecting to get a call from Jason’s cousin. Her husband, Victor told her that Jason's parents had passed away when he was young and he grew up with his grandma. His grandma too passed away a couple of years ago.

Suddenly hearing that Jason has a cousin, she felt like she did not know much about Jason’s family. As Layla did not get any response for quite some time, she thought there was some network problem. She walked outside the house while holding the phone in front of her face.

She put the call on speaker mode. She sat on the bench that was placed in the front garden. Matt followed her as usual while Jason tried to do some research about the preparations required for a wedding.

“Hello, Hello Aunty! Are you still there on the line?” Layla shouted while holding her phone high in the air.

“Yes, Hello! I am sorry, dear… I was a bit absent-minded today. I am doing very well. How about you, dear?” Julie asked.

“Everything is going very well so far, Aunty. I called to talk to you about Jason's marriage with Amy. I know you must be busy right now. But is it ok if I can discuss the wedding with you?”

Layla came to the subject directly as there was not much time left before the marriage. And each passing minute counts as precious time. They hardly had this one night and a few more hours the next day.

“Is there a problem with the marriage happening so soon? I know we should have talked to everyone regarding the wedding earlier. But the time is too little for us as Amy’s father is seriously ill. So we couldn’t follow the formalities… If you are angry about this, then I am…”

“Aunty, no... no… I did not call to complain… In fact, we are really so happy about this wedding. We want to participate in the wedding preparations. I know the time is very little and we have lots of work to do. We are all happy that my brother is marrying a girl… I mean, he is finally marrying someone …”

Layla realized that whatever she said in the later part, her wordings were all messy with some hidden meaning behind. So she immediately changed the subject.

“My parents are overseas, so they could not attend the wedding tomorrow. As Uncle is ill, I know you must be planning to do a simple wedding at your home or someplace nearby…” Layla stopped talking and waited for Julie’s response.

“Yes, we do plan to do it in our house. Also, we want to keep it as simple as possible. We are not inviting anyone for the wedding other than some close relatives and friends.” Julie replied.

“Aunty, if you don’t mind, I want to help you with the marriage preparation. I know with such a limited time we cannot do a grand wedding but I want to give them both a memorable wedding. Is it ok with you, if I come to your home and help you out?”

Layla was afraid that she would be rejected. But Julie's response gave her a sense of relief.

“Sure, dear. Also, thank you! I have been taking care of my husband and at the same time, I am trying my best to do as much as possible for their marriage tomorrow. I feel like I can breathe easy now, knowing that someone is willing to help me with the preparations for the wedding.”

Julie really felt relieved. She was worried for nothing. Layla looked like a good kid and she felt like Amy would be in good hands after her marriage.

“I will be coming to your home soon and will also bring my friends along with me who can help us both. Is that fine, Aunty?” Layla asked.

“Please come! Just treat this as your own home and there was no need to ask for my permission.” Julie affirmed her.

“Thank you, aunty! Thank you! You are my savior!”

After blurting it out, she realized that she had said what was in her mind out loud. She looked at Matt with innocent eyes and blinked.

“I didn't mean to say that. I wanted to tell her that she is the savior of Jason. You do know that we all had doubts that he was gay…” she said to Matt.

After saying that she realized that the call was not disconnected yet.

‘Oh! NO! After getting pregnant, I think I have become a muddy brained person.’

“Aunty, are you still there on the call?” Layla asked while looking like a kitten who just got caught stealing the fish from the owner’s bowl.

“What you said, is it true? Is he really gay?” Julie asked while holding the head in her hands.

“No, no, Aunty… he is not… We all thought that, as he always roamed with his personal assistant all the time. It was just a joke that we used, to make fun of him all the time. He is a straight guy even though he never looked or talked to any woman till now other than family members." Again she noticed that she is talking nonsense once again.

Matt looked at his wife with sparkling eyes. He saw how she was struggling while speaking to Amy's mom. He even had to try hard to control his laugh. Most of the things she said to Julie was making Jason look bad, very bad! Layla asked for help while scratching his shoulders. But Matt ignored her and walked away.

Left with no other option, she decided to reveal Jason's past without his permission to escape from this horrible situation.

"Aunty, Amy is his first crush and love. He met her when he had lost his parents. She gave him hope and the person he became now is all because of her. After losing contact with her, he had been searching for her for a long time now. I am so happy that he finally found her. Now they are getting married to each other tomorrow. I am really excited about both of them. We are really grateful to Amy. If not for her, no one could have saved my brother during those days. My brother loves her a lot and he will take good care of her. Please trust me,” Layla continuously spoke without a break.

By the time she finished saying, she was already breathing hard. Matt had already ordered one of the servants to bring freshly squeezed orange juice. He handed it over to her.

Julie was a little confused at first but later after hearing Jason's love for Amy, she felt reassured. She wants nothing more than her daughter to be happy. She was feeling guilty that she had forced her daughter to marry someone as per her husband’s wish. She knows Vic would not choose a wrong guy for Amy. After Layla’s confirmation, she felt comfortable.

“Ok. Since you say so, I am going to believe you. I will wait for you to arrive…” Julie said.

“I will be there in twenty minutes, Aunty. Or maybe max thirty depending upon the traffic.” Layla said.

“Ok. come soon.”

“Bye-bye, Aunty. I will be there before in a jiff.” This time she made sure to hang up the call.

She then messaged all her close friends in the group chat while sipping the orange juice. She first informed them about the good news.

‘Hey girls, my cousin is getting married tomorrow. I need all your help. We have a lot of work pending. If you all do a good job then, I would ask my husband to design a custom jewelry piece for all of you! How does it sound? Exciting right? I am going to my sister-in-law's house right now. Let me know who are all interested in joining me!’

The minute the message was delivered, she had already received like six responses. Two of them said they would have loved to come and help. But as they were out of the station they cannot come before tomorrow morning.

Once she had received the count of people who can come and help, she informed them that she will message the address soon. After that, she looked at Matt. Suddenly, fear engulfed her. She thought he may stop her from going to Amy's house.

“I.. I … Can I go?” She asked for permission after she had arranged everything.