Celine Roberts couldn't believe she was currently living in what felt like a nightmare. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't push down the unease that rose up her throat as her step mother pulled the white bridal veil that covered her face.
The woman's face held a scowl, though Celine was used to the fact that her step mother didn't like her, she couldn't help but swallow a lump of hurt down at the nasty look in the woman's eyes.
"You really did inherit that vixen's looks, the same pretty face she once used to steal your father from me. If it makes you feel any better, you look beautiful, but wipe that look of sadness on your face, do not disgrace our family. The minute we enter that wedding hall, there should only be a smile on your face, understood?"
Celine felt her heart tighten in pain but she held her chin high and nodded.
Today was supposed to be the happiest day of a woman's life, her wedding day, but this day wasn't joyous for her, it was painful.
Though she wore the prettiest wedding dress befitting a princess, though she looked very beautiful as a bride should, all she felt was heartache and panic.
Why should I put a smile on my face when I'm being forced to do something I don't want to?
But she couldn't tell her step mother the words. Not when she'd already resigned herself to pushing through with this wedding today.
Lydia Roberts led her stepdaughter out of the inner room where she'd just finished being dressed, into the main bedroom where a row of beautiful looking ladies were seated each dressed in lovely light pink dresses, the color for the bridal train.
"Good heavens!" Someone exclaimed excitedly the minute Celine stepped out of the inner room.
"You look like an angel Celine!" Natalia, Celine's best friend and maid of honor added looking at Celine in pure admiration.
The other ladies also echoed enthusiastically, the excitement in the air was palpable, but Celine's heart was constricted, she couldn't feel a trace of joy at all, nevertheless she put a stiff smile on her face.
"The ceremony is about to begin, everyone hurry out!" Someone announced from outside the room.
All the ladies in the bridal train filed themselves out of the room except Natalia who noticed something wrong with Celine's expression.
"Hey, you're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen, and you're marrying the man of your dreams, you're happy right?"
Hearing this question, Celine felt like a hammer had landed on her heart.
As expected of Natalia, even if everyone else didn't notice something was wrong with her, she would. They'd been best friends for a long time.
"I'm happy Nat." Celine forced herself to reply with a composed look.
"Then why do you look like you're not attending your own wedding but your funeral?" Natalia pressed wanting to make sure her friend was doing fine before the big event.
Celine knew since she couldn't avoid this wedding, she couldn't let Natalia see that something was truly wrong, hence she smiled brightly. She could do that, she could act on cue, because it was her job after all.
"It's just wedding jitters Nat, I'm feeling great."
With that, relief showed on Natalia's radiantly beautiful face.
"Good, now let's go make your dream wedding come true."
At this moment, Lydia returned to the room with a frown on her face. Impatiently calling, "What are you delaying this for? Hurry out, the wedding is starting!"
Celine let out a deep breath and followed them out.
The beautiful, figure hugging wedding dress held her tightly in all the right places accentuating her hourglass figure, yet she couldn't help but feel claustrophobic, she felt as If the heavy jewelry and floor length train were all weighing her down, yet it really wasn't, her nerves were just too chaotic at this moment.
A sudden desire to escape overwhelmed her but she pushed it down, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down.
How could she escape when it was all her fault she was here in the first place?
If she hadn't been blinded by her own stupidity then she might not have ended up in this situation right now.
She felt her step mother's strict presence beside her guiding her towards the grand doors of the wedding hall.
Silence descended upon the wedding hall as the doors were pushed open revealing the beautiful bride. Gasps followed after.
The wedding was the grandest event in the whole of Neville, with the most prominent figures currently in attendance.
Standing straight up ahead, at the altar was a tall handsomely built man clad in a perfect black suit, her groom. The man she was about to marry.
But the sight of the groom didn't make her face blush, instead she felt something hot simmering through her veins, hatred.
As she walked down the aisle supported by her father's strict arm, she felt like the soft roses sprayed on the carpets were thorns, leading her to a lifetime of doom instead of bliss.
She didn't want to marry him!
She absolutely didn't want to marry him!
But she could only cry internally yet put a smile on her face for the crowd around.
A heavy weight of her own decision settled on her shoulders.
She was going to marry someone she absolutely despised. A sick feeling roiled in the pits of her stomach as she recalled the fact that just a few days ago, she had loved this man, loved him deeply enough to anticipate this moment, until she saw his very true self.
The urge to flee began to mount inside of her again, but she pressed it down when all of a sudden, her feet stopped moving right in the middle of the hall as if some power had seized her ability to move.
A cool breeze blew against her, bringing with it a strangely domineering aura. She glanced around, ignoring the strange gazes she was getting from everyone who were wondering why the bride had suddenly stopped walking when her eyes landed on a figure standing in the shadows of the hall.
That mysterious figure had a piercing gaze that seemed like it could see into her soul. Yet somehow, that frightening gaze had melted away the strange nervousness that was making her heart pound.
This person was like a shadow of death lurking along the joyous looking halls of this wedding. The pair of icy stone cold hazel orbs seemed to scrutinize her.
She didn't understand why his aura and the sight of him suddenly banished the feeling of wanting to escape from her mind.
Their eyes had met briefly and she couldn't fully see the man's face, but something told her he'd seen her fear which no one else had been able to see. This made her eyes sting as tears gathered in them.
Everyone was pushing her too far, her father, her step mother, they all didn't care for how she felt, yet something in a stranger's eyes made her feel seen.
"What are you doing? Keep walking!" Her father said sternly as he tugged her, making her continue to walk towards her groom as she tore her gaze away from the mysterious figure.
The tears she had refused to cry for weeks suddenly poured down her well made up face.
Celine was never the type to show her weakness in front of others before, though her family was tying a hypothetical noose around her neck, she still hadn't shown her pain to a friend like Natalia who was very supportive, yet In a single moment she'd seemed to open up silently to a stranger. She let him see her tears.
What was wrong with her?
She managed to calm her emotions and forced herself to forget that single shared gaze with the strange man she was certain she'd would never see again since he might just be one of the wedding guests.
Today she had given up on fighting, she would marry this person she despised with all her heart.
----------***----------
Tristan Grayson couldn't take his eyes off the bride as she walked onto the altar.
His deep eyes had caught the glisten of tears in her light blue eyes and a frown pulled his thick dark brows together.
In that moment their gazes connected he was suddenly struck by a strange feeling, her beauty was enchanting and he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes off her. Undoubtedly, she was the most beautiful bride he'd ever seen.
And he'd seen many of them clad in a cliche white dress tying themselves to a man forever.
In his life, he never really fancied weddings, nor had he ever planned to tie himself down in one, he'd come into this hotel on business and somehow his gaze had fallen onto the breathtaking bride who looked like she was being led to her death.
Something about her eyes had prompted him to enter this wedding hall instead of going ahead to his meeting.
Though he couldn't make sense of the whole debacle called marriage or the ridiculous vows they showered upon each other, something about this bride had drawn him here.
Was it the deep sadness he'd seen in her eyes or the invisible shackles he'd felt were tying her down?
Regardless, the tears that had welled up in her eyes when their gazes met was confirmation that it was both.
He watched her climb onto the altar with her groom, holding her head regally high.
He noticed her mesmerizingly beautiful figure and the open patch of her snow white skin that somehow made a trail of heat thrill through his veins.
It was weird, a single glance at a woman actually made him feel hot.
Tristan Grayson was a man clad in nothing but darkness, that much was something he knew very well himself, but he somehow felt drawn to this blue eyed sad looking bride who looked nothing short of an angel.
They were opposites of each other, and despite the strange thrill he felt in his chest towards this woman...she wasn't for him. And certainly not when she was tying herself in holy freaking matrimony to some man forever.
Turning decisively, Tristan made to walk away but stopped all of a sudden as he caught a glimpse of something on the altar.
The bride facing her groom had a beautiful smile on her face, yet no one saw how tightly her hand was clenched at her side, but he did.
That small action made it very evident that he hadn't been wrong. This bride had shackles she couldn't escape from.
Alas, he wasn't a hero who saved damsels in distress, even If the damsel was this angelic little bride who'd made his dead heart skip a beat.
Without lingering any longer, Tristan left the wedding hall.