Wedding

A month passed and the wedding was really pushed through. Although I thought and prayed intensely for it to never happen, my reflection on the mirror was a huge slap on my face telling me I'm about to tie the knot and be scarred forever.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as a hairpin got stuck in my hair and the hairdresser tugged the life out of me.

"I'm sorry!" She stated as she continued with her work, leaving me wanting to die and drag someone named Lucas to the underworld.

"Hey, what will you do if your parents force you into marriage?" I asked the hairdresser and she eyed me strangely.

It's the same look everybody gives me when I try to open my mouth. The infamous Are-You-Crazy-look.

"Umm I don't know, it depends on the groom" I turned my gaze on her in the mirror and my face scrunched up badly.

Why would it depend on the groom? How about your decision?

"What if the groom is someone you don't know and you've just met him once in your entire awesome life?" She looked up at the ceiling, acting as if she was thinking. I intentionally included awesome life because not to brag or anything I am awesome. Fight me if you think I'm not.

"What if you don't know anything about that man and he might be a pervert or a psycho or a weird-ass human?!" I added as she continued to think deeply.

She nodded and brought her hands under her chin "Hmm, then run away"

"What if you can't run away because you will end up as a fugitive and your father might die?"

She nodded as if she came upon a conclusion "Is the groom rich?"

"Uuh... Yes?" I nodded at her reluctantly and she paused for a while then proceeded to design my hair.

"Then there's no problem"

What?! I looked at her with a dumbfounded face and my mouth formed into an O.

"But what if-" she interrupted me and continued talking.

"Girl in today's century, love or feelings aren't everything and what matters nowadays is money. Understand? Money! So consider yourself lucky for bagging a rich dude." She began to place hair accessories and my mood plummeted down talking to her.

"What can you do with your feelings if that can't bring food to your plate, if that can't make you live comfortably. Be practical and your parents should know better than send you off to some weird-ass stranger."

I slumped back in my seat and I started to feel itchiness all over my body. The wedding dress was uncomfortable both physically and mentally and all I want to do is rip them off, go home and assume today was all just a bad dream.

"Are you done?" The door opened to see my mother's head poking in.

The hairdresser sprayed some gel on me and turned to the door. "Yeah" she replied nonchalantly and she went out to leave us both in private.

"The wedding's going to start soon" she was smiling ear to ear as she went near to me.

Yeah, like that's not obvious Mom.

"Oh Beatrice, my daughter looks so lovely today" she was admiring me from head to toe and I rolled my eyes at her.

Although I would admit, I look like a decent human being for the first time in my life with all the makeup and the dress, it felt unnatural.

"Mom, stop, let's just get over it"

We booked a resort for the venue and the preparation was done in a nearby hotel so we just need to walk a bit of a distance.

Father offered me his arm just like we practiced and I took it apathetically. The bridesmaids, maids of honor, and other bunch of people already got their time walking down the aisle and it wouldn't be long until it's my turn.

"Beatrice, thank you" I heard my Father utter in a low voice and I felt a pang in my chest.

"What's there to thank me for?"

The music cued that it was now our time and my grip tightened as my heart banged into my chest like a drum being struck repeatedly.

Blankness overshadowed my mind as I glanced up and our eyes met with each other. His gray eyes were focused intently at me and I took up the challenge of staring back at him.

Every step I took felt like I was being dragged to an abyss and the swirling of emotions almost made the strength in my legs give out.

'This will all be over in an instant' I chanted in my head as I continued to gaze back at the Godly sight of the man in front of me.

Lucas Landcaster was beyond godly. His hair that was pushed back, made his gray alluring eyes more prominent and clear. His face was that of his usual poker face, and no emotions could be seen seeping out from him. He was wearing a tuxedo that greatly outlined his seemingly perfect body.

But there was no difference to the man standing right in front of her and the man who suddenly showed up in their house and claimed that she's his future wife.

In her eyes, Lucas Landcaster is a creepy and dreadful man who just offered marriage out of the blue to an unknown woman and that's enough to make her call him creepy.

Lucas reached out his hand and although she wanted to ignore it and make an embarrassment out of himself, she knew better than to bring humiliation on their wedding day.

The priest was talking for a long time and she was hella bored with all the fancy talk that her mouth suddenly slipped.

"Can't you go much faster? You can beat a snail for being slow with your talking" The church went silent and you could only hear the chirping of the birds.

"Oops, sorry" it was just a slip of her tongue but she wasn't in the least bit sorry and sarcasm was evident in her voice.

The priest cleared his throat and she could hear the warning tone of her mother in the background.

"Do you take Beatrice as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part"

"I do" Lucas's voice was deep and she glanced up at him out of reflex only to see him staring back at her.

He held his usual emotionless face but something was not right, his eyes showed softness and emotions were whirling inside them. She couldn't decipher what emotions they were, but it made something inside her stir.

"Beatrice, Do you take Lucas as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part"

"I…" The words wouldn't leave her mouth and she felt like her lips were barred. She couldn't bring herself to say it, no she doesn't want to say it….but she knows deep inside that she needs to utter those words.

She may regret it later, heck she's regretting it already but there are decisions she should make for the betterment just not for herself but for her family.

Their gazes on her back were making her uncomfortable, they were waiting for her to respond but she laid still, like someone waiting for a death sentence. She closed her eyes and gathered courage until she was able to stutter the words they long to hear.

"G...give me a moment" she turned to her side and chanted some words for more courage and she abruptly turned to the priest.

"Ok..I'm all done..I..I." Fuck why won't it come out?

Five minutes passed but she was unmoving and dazed, and then memories rushed to her.

Her father's health, the pleading of her mother and the possibility of her entire family including her coming to be a criminal.

"I do"

The priest held their hands together and she knew from that time, she was chained to this man and it would be hard to unbind herself from him.

"It is at this time that I now pronounce you husband and wife…..You may now kiss the bride"

She faced the man beside her and tightly closed her eyes, she expected a kiss but it was hard for her to take in.

Beatrice Chastain had never kissed somebody, and now it would be stolen to a man she never had feelings for.

She imagined a fairytale romantic-like kiss for her first time, but she knew it was far from her imagination. She knew reality hits hard and the situation she's in was a reminder for her that her fantasies are just mere fantasies.

She anticipated a bitter hard kiss but unexpectedly his soft lips pressed on her forehead. It was just for a few seconds that it only felt like a light brush and she stood there dumbfounded with a weird feeling emerging inside her.

"As I told you, you've got no other choice, future wife or should I say….wife, Beatrice Landcaster," Lucas whispered in her ear and she felt her blood boiling.

The weird feeling instantly turned into anger. She could imagine him as a punching bag and she was punching and jabbing him for a million times.

"Well let's just see if you could handle me, dear future ex-husband" she smiled sweetly but she couldn't hide the irritation and her hostility towards him.