Chapter 01

"Are you really sure about this?" Sandro asked her from the side. He's her best friend and he's been worrying about the deal she had agreed on; as if may magagawa pa ito.

"I'm really sure of it, Sands. I told you, you don't have to worry about me anymore, okay?" paninigurado niya naman dito.

She was sitting in front of a lighted vanity mirror as a stylist style her hair beautifully. Inaayos nito ang pagkakabitan ng kanyang belo para mamaya.

"What the hell, Alessandro! Ako ang ika-kasal pero bakit ikaw pa ang tensionado?" tanong n'ya pa nang makita ang paghugot nito ng malalalim na hininga mula sa repleksyon nito sa salamin.

Umiling-iling naman ito sa kanya. "You can't blame me, Gian! I'm your best friend and it was a fucking news to me!" asik nito. "Besides, this isn't the wedding you had dreamed of having," he added. She could see sadness in his eyes, he was sad for her.

But she just shrugged. "I have never dreamed of any wedding, Sands. I knew from that start that this is my fate" she answered. "I don't have time fantasizing things that I know I could never have," she added.

"Alam mong papa-kasal ka sa taong hindi mo naman gusto?" her best friend asked, shaking his head.

She nodded. "I had been told this since childhood. This is why I was even kept despite me being an illegitimate child," she answered.

Sad but that's the truth.

She was her father's child from a woman he met at the bar and had a night of infidelity. And it wasn't kept from her for every day since childhood her step-mother reminds her of that; telling her that she was her father's biggest mistake.

That was honestly too much to take in for a 7 year-old child but she had no choice but to accept that together with all the maltreatment she's getting from her father's wife. Sino ba naman kasi s'ya para mag reklamo? Wala, syempre. She's just someone whose existence was never wanted; the child who's forcing herself to be loved by her father.

But fate still has some mercy for her. Her father never had a child with his wife, her evil stop-mother, the reason why her father kept custody of her. She was kept because she will be needed for their business in the future, her dad told her blatantly.

"And you accepted that just like that? Without even trying to tell them what you really want?" madamdamin pang tanong ng kaibigan n'ya.

Umirap naman siya. "I told you, I don't dream of something I knew is impossible for me to have. Hindi ko paasahin ang sarili ko sa bagay na alam kung ika-lulungkot ko lang sa huli," she answered.

Though it was painful, she embraced that fate. If that's the only way for her father to love her, why not? She'll be more than willing to do everything; she will obey and follow everything he'll ask her to do without inhibitions. She will be a good daughter saying yes to her father all the time. That's what she had sworn to herself.

And that future her dad was telling years back has come, the day where her existence was being prioritized for the first time in twenty-five years of her living. It was the day of her marriage to a stranger her Dad asked her to marry.

The guy was not even introduced to her personally, she was only shown a picture of a young man in a suit who looks snobbish. Her dad said he's one of his business partners.

"Paano kung matandang gurang na pala iyong mapapangasawa mo? Ni hindi mo man lang nga nakita iyon kahit minsan pero pumayag pa paring mag pakasal," sabi pa ni Sandro.

"If that's what you worry then, stop, Sandro. He's not what you think he is, ano ka ba! He's young, about two years older than us and he is fucking hot," sagot naman n'ya.

"Paano mo nasabi? Na-meet mo?" tanong naman nito, nakataas pa ang kilay.

She shook her head. "No," she answered. "But I saw him in pictures. Dude, he's yummy!" dagdag n'ya pa.

"Anong pangalan?" tanong naman agad nito.

"Oh, bakit? Tinitignan mo?" mataray na tanong naman niya.

"Oo, bilis na! Sabihin mo na," pilit pa nito.

Umirap naman siya rito at naiiling na lang na napangisi sa kaartehan ng kaibigan.

"Ano na, Gianna Emilia! Sabihin mo na!" ulit pa nito.

"Oo na, atat mo masyado," asar n'ya pa. "Maverick Jaxon De Chavez," she added, saying her future husband's full name.

The ceremony started as soon as she stepped out of her bridal car. Simple lang ang kasal n'ya at iilang importanteng tao lamang ang imbitado. It wasn't a big deal to her, hindi naman niya ginustong magpakasal at the first place.

"Here comes the bride!" one of the organizer announced. Agad namang nagsiayos ang lahat ayon sa kanilang tamang pwesto at ilang sandal pa ay nag lalakad na siya papunta sa altar.

"Is that him?" she asked her dad who's walking her down the aisle, as they look at that guy standing at the altar, waiting for her.

Her dad nodded. "Yes, Emilia. He will be your husband," sagot naman nito.

"He looks snobbish," kwento naman n'ya.

Her dad laughed because of that. "He's a good man, Emilia. You'll be in good hands with him," sabi naman nito.

Hindi naman na siya umiik pa at tumingin na lamang sa harap, diretso sa mapapangasawa n'ya. Nakatingin din naman ito sa kanya at tulad n'ya, wala rin itong emosyon. Hindi naman kunot ang noo nit ngunit masungit itong tignan dahil sa facial feature nito.

Maverick Jaxon De Chavez is a very handsome man. He has that prominent jaw, pointed nose, attractive thick brows and captivating eyes. And his lips, pakiramdam n'ya ay bigla siyang nauhaw ng madako roon ang kanyang mga mata.

Kumalma ka Emilia, mapapangasawa mo na iyan! She chastised herself.

Fuck! She never craved for any guy like how she's craving for this gorgeous guy in front of her. It will surely hurt not tasting him, gladly, he'll be hers after this ceremony.