Chapter 16

“I can’t believe that I am getting married today,” Jenny told her friends. “What if he changed his mind and didn’t love me anymore?” She asked with apprehension.

“Jenny, Ronny loves you, and he won’t change his mind ever. If it was for him, he would have married you directly in court.” Marissa told Jenny.

“Marissa is right. You are having wedding jitters. John just told me that Ronny was worried if you changed your mind.” Linda tried to calm her sister down.

“I love him. I would never do that to him.” Jenny told them.

After thirty minutes, Jenny walked down the aisle and finally became the wife of Ronny.

“Those two make such a lovely couple,” Marissa told Alex, who was standing beside her.

“That they do.” Alex agreed with her. “By the way, you look beautiful.” He meant his words. When he saw Marissa, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Thank you.” Marissa was taken aback by his comment, but that didn’t stop her from blushing.

“May I have the pleasure of dancing with you?” Marissa turned around to find the owner of the voice, who turned out to be Leo.

“Yes, you may.” With that, she went with Leo to the dance floor.

“I am surprised you are still talking to my son, especially after how he treated you,” Leo stated while dancing with her.

“It’s in the past. We are good friends now.” She replied back to him.

“I am glad about it. And I am proud of you, Marissa. I may not be your father, but you are an amazing person and an amazing daughter, even if your

parents don’t feel that way.” Leo kissed her forehead.

“I didn’t know you people were in touch with Marissa,” Alex said to his mom.

“After Marissa left, we tried to reach her, but she changed her number. But somehow, after a year, we got hold of her and contacted her. We try to check

on her now and then. We might not be her parents, but that girl there was once our daughter-in-law. For us, she is no less than you or Jenny or Linda. She

shouldn’t be punished for her parents’ doings.” Brinda told her son.

“Her parents are fools for not loving her,” Alex stated.

“Like you are a fool to realize that you love your ex-wife.”

“Mom, did I miss my chance with her?” Alex asked anxiously, not taking his eyes off her.

“You are lucky that you didn’t. Now go to Marissa. I can see that you want to dance with her. She is a fine dancer; Leo won’t leave her unless someone

else asks her to dance.” With that, Alex went dancing with her.

“Can I cut it in?” Alex asked his dad and Marissa.

“And here I was hoping to dance with you all night.” Leo sighed.

“I am sure Mom can take you up on that offer.” Alex teased his dad, who kissed Marissa’s cheek, slapped Alex back, and went towards his wife.

“Hey.” Alex greeted her. He grabbed Marissa’s waist and pulled her closer.

“Hey.” Marissa had butterflies in her stomach.

Before Marissa could say anything, Alex pushed her back a little and twirled her around, and brought her back close to him, which made her a bit

surprised.

“You are in full form today.” She complimented him.

“I may not be as good as you, but I am certainly not bad.” He winked at her.

“I can see that.” At that moment, Alex pulled her closer. Marissa was forced to look into Alex’s eyes, and she couldn’t decipher what she was seeing in it.

“You really are very beautiful.” He whispered.

“You are not bad yourself.” She whispered back.

Alex touched his forehead with her. Just a few inches forward, and he would have kissed her. This realization hit Marissa before Alex, so she jerked back

and left the hall and went outside to take a fresh breath of air.

Alex followed her toward the garden near the hall. “Why did you leave?” He asked her, although he had a slight idea of the reason.

“It was getting a bit claustrophobic there,” Marissa told him. She was trying to avoid him.

“Stop hiding from me, Marissa.” Alex grabbed her shoulder and made him look at her. “You felt the same thing as I did back there.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She tried to look away from him.

“Marissa, look at me.” He told her gently. “Moments like this make me feel why I made you leave me. I won’t run around the bush. I love you, Marissa.”

This statement made her look straight into his eyes. “I do.”

“No,” she whispered to him.

“Yes, I do. I have been for a while now.” He told her.

“Alex, you think you do, but in reality, you don’t. You just feel guilty about the way you have treated me.” With that, Marissa went inside. During the

entire time, she maintained a distance from Alex and even while going home, she avoided Alex and discreetly left.

But Alex was not having it.

“Marissa, wait.” He ran towards her to catch her before she could go inside her apartment. He put his foot in the middle of the door to stop her from

closing it and pushed her inside.

“What are you doing, Alex?” She asked him furiously.

“Trying to stop you from shutting me out.” He told her, trying to maintain his calm demeanour.

“Alex, you are just confused” Before she could say anything further, the doorbell rang, and when she opened the door, she was shocked, but her thoughts

were spoken aloud by Alex.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Alex asked them furiously.

“It’s none of your business. This is my daughter’s house, and we should be asking you this question. As per my knowledge, you are both divorced.”

Marissa’s mom told him.

“Mom, Dad, how did you know my address?” Marissa asked them. She was not expecting her parents to show up. She hasn’t seen them for two-and-a-half years.

“This is not a way to greet your parents, Marissa. And we have contacts.” Her dad told her daughter in a stern voice.

“Honey, don’t shout at her. Marissa, we want to mend our relationship with you. We have realized our mistake.” Her mom tried to sugar talk to her.

“Please, mom. It’s too late for that. And we both know that you don’t even consider me as your daughter.” Marissa told her parents.

“Well, then okay. We wanted to talk to you alone.” Her mom told her, insinuating Alex to leave them alone.

“I am not going anywhere,” Alex told them firmly.

“You are not family.” Her dad glared at him.

“Neither are we.” This time it was Marissa. “If he wants to stay, then he can whether or not you like it.” Marissa felt good being in control. And she didn’t

trust herself with her parents alone. Whether she accepted it or not, it was Alex who was giving her strength, and he was glad that Marissa agreed to let

Alex stay, or else he would have to force her to let him stay.

“Okay then. Whatever you two are having, have to stop because Marissa, we want you to marry my friend’s son.” Her dad told her to go straight to the

point. “It’s good for our business.”

“What kind of parents are you? Before I do anything that I regret, leave this place and never show yourself again.” Alex fumed.

“Marissa, you can’t let him talk to us like that.” Her mother said angrily.

“Why not? I am not a property that you can transfer as and when you like.”

“You are choosing this guy against us. He divorced you.” Her mom fumed.

“This guy let me do the thing I love. He might have divorced me, but he and his parents were and always be more of a family than you will be.” Marissa

pointed the facts out to them and defended Alex. “Leave this place right now.”

“I dare you, Marissa, to choose him over us.” Her dad challenged her.

“Watch me.” Marissa grabbed Alex’s shirt, pulled him towards him, and kissed him right in front of her parents. Marissa’s actions initially shocked Alex,

but after a few seconds, he kissed her back.

It was Alex who pulled back. He grabbed her waist from the side. “You guys can leave now.” He told them.

“Marissa, you are making a big mistake. Don’t come running back to us when he breaks your heart again.”

“You guys are the biggest idiots ever to let your daughter go away from you. And don’t worry this time. Marissa will never come back to you because I

will forever be with her and protect her. I love this girl and will marry her. You guys can leave now, and if you ever try to hurt her, I will forget that you

guys gave birth to her.” With that, her parents left furiously.

After a few minutes, when she digested what happened, Marissa finally broke down. “Shh, it is okay. I am here.”

“Alex,” Marissa tried to speak, but Alex puts his finger on her lips.

“Marissa, say nothing. I meant every word I said. There is no pressure on you. Take your time, but remember that, in the end, you are the one whom I am

going to be with. I have already made the mistake of letting you go once, but not anymore. I am here for you.”

He held her hand and took her to her room. It was a bit late at night. He tucked her into bed.

“Alex, why me?” She asked him.

“Why not you?” He asked her back.

“I do like you, Alex, but”

“You are scared, and I don’t blame you for that. Marissa, just remembers that I love you.”

“How can you be so sure?” She asked him.

“Remember, you told me that the person I would want to spend my life with would love my mother’s ring. At that moment, I was sure that it was you

with whom I wanted to spend my life. Marissa, don’t stress yourself now. Take a rest. Today was quite an eventful day. Just don’t question my love for

you ever again because what I feel for you is not something that I can explain. But I can tell you that my life is empty without you in it, and it has been for

the past three years since I made you leave me.”

“Can you give me some time?” She asked him in a small voice.

“Take all the time you need. Just remember that my heart only beats for you.” With that, he kissed her forehead.