-Leia-
It’s been a month since I had that argument with Christian and in a few hours, I’ll be his wife. His gold-digging wife with zero respect for herself.
When I told my mother what was happening and that it would help with her treatment, she wouldn’t talk to me for a week. Not because she felt disappointed in me, but because she blamed herself for it. She thinks her cancer pushed me to do this, truth be told I am doing this for her but I would do it again and again if it would help.
I’m paying for her first round of treatments and my debt in full tonight. There’s an upside to my wedding day!
Currently getting preened and pampered in my wedding suite, I allow myself to be transformed into a woman I do not recognize. This is who the Moores need, this is what I’m being paid to be so I can’t complain.
After I’m done being dolled up and the dress slipped on, I take a look at myself in the mirror and groan. I’ve always dreamt of having a huge wedding one day, now I’m getting it just with the wrong groom.
The dress is beautiful, though; sweetheart neckline, cinched in at my waistline and flares out, made from the finest silks and lace with Swarovski crystal embellishments and a 2-meter train.
“Look at you,” Delilah says as she walks in. “Ready to become a hoity-toity bitch?”
“Shut up,” I chuckle, and wrap my arms around her. “I’m ready to bolt and go back to my Mamma.”
My mom couldn’t be here and I wasn’t going to force her, either. She’s having a terrible reaction to her treatments and is constantly vomiting, so I told her to stay at the care center because this isn’t my real wedding, anyway.
“Hmm, I’m sorry,” she rubs my back. “If it’s any consolation, Lucas dropped us for Milan Fashion Week, so I’m all alone here, too.”
I giggle and nod; it should have been all three of us, but now I’m forcing Delilah to mingle with the type of people she can’t stand. Being an artist, she sees beauty where there’s none, but with wealthy people she sees nothing. So she calls them porcelain dolls, pretty to look at with no soul behind their dead eyes.
“Well, none of you bitches are ditching me on my actual wedding day, okay?” I exclaim, suddenly feeling tearful. Another few embraces and shooting the shit before Olivia calls and lets us know we’re heading to the church.
Semi-showtime.
On the way to church, Oliva pats my hand and gives me a reassuring smile. “It’s a pity your mother is feeling poorly. I would have loved to meet her,” she says.
I accidentally let slip about my mother’s cancer while trying on my wedding dress. My mother couldn’t make it and I ended up bawling my eyes out in Olivia’s arms and spilling out my reason behind saying yes to Alexander. At least now she won’t think any less of me, as Christian does.
“Hopefully we can all have brunch together when she’s feeling better,” I say, returning her smile. I love Olivia, she’s the sweetest woman under the sun. No wonder Alexander dotes on her.
We take a turn close to the church and my heart drops at the sight of the line of paparazzi waiting outside. The second they see the limo, they rush toward it, snapping pictures and annoying the hell out of Olivia.
“This is going to be more difficult than I expected,” she groans and pulls out her cell phone when the limo stops in front of the church steps.
A few minutes later, five men walk out to clear a path for us, and only then does Olivia open the limo door. “Whatever you do, don’t listen to them,” she warns before getting out and holding her hand for me to take.
Ten steps up, and I already feel like a cheap floozy with the embarrassing questions they’re throwing at me. Bought wife, a gold digger, and even a mail-order bride! Damn, I knew the Moores were wealthy, but I didn’t expect them to get this kind of tabloid treatment. Shows me just how blind I was to my boss’ fame prior to this.
We arrive just in time and an unknown man takes my arm to lead me down the aisle. As usual, Christian looks impeccable and absolutely gorgeous in his suit, even if he did have a pale color to his face and wore a terrible scowl. Oh well, I want to be here even less than you, guy!
Vows are said, I do’s are mumbled half-heartedly and when it comes to the kiss, we both make sure it's over as quickly as possible. Although I must admit Christian’s lips are super soft and he smells divine.
With fake smiles plastered on our faces, we walk towards the front of the church in a rain of confetti and well wishes. The reception hasn’t even started and I already want this damn day to be over. I can only fake a smile for so long.
Christian opens the limo door for me and I clamber in with him right behind me. The drive to the reception hall is fraught with anxiety in the limo, with neither Christian nor I acknowledging one another. Besides, what exactly do I say to a man who called me a gold-digging whore?
And being the stubborn ass I am so proud of being, I refuse to be the first one to say anything.
The limo stops at the reception hall and Christian gets out first before holding his hand out for me to take, that scowl ever-present. I am almost impressed by his gentlemanly ways when he pulls me close to him and whispers:
“There are important people here. Try not to embarrass me too much, Red,” then he kisses my cheek and leads me towards the hall while I’m trying to push down my anger.
How absolute dare?! He can be lucky I’m exhausted and cranky or I would show him just how embarrassing I can get! Gosh, the nerve of this man, I swear to God.
The last waves of wellwishers come to greet us when we approach the bridal table and, for some reason, I feel Christian stiffen up next to me. I frown and turn my head toward him when I see what he’s looking at. A handsome older gent approaches with an absolutely gorgeous blonde on his arm, smiling brightly at us.
“There he is,” the man says, shaking Christian’s hand and pulling him closer for a hug. “Never would have thought I’d see you tying the knot, little brother.”
WAIT, WAIT - HOLD UP! There’s another Moore brother? Since when?!
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Christian says through literal clenched teeth, then he turns to me. “Leia, this is my stepbrother, Damon, and his… lovely wife, Amber.”
There’s definite tension between these brothers, especially when Christian says Amber’s name. What the hell went on between them?
I flash them both my best smile and Damon embraces me. “Hold on to this one, Chris, she’s a keeper,” he says, chuckling, and I can’t help but catch the amusement in Damon’s tone.
“She’s met you, how can I?” Christian says, shooting back with venom and a fake smile, glaring at him for some or other reason, and it makes me even more damn curious. Why does Christian hate Damon so much?
Amber also hugs me with a giggle as fake as her boobs, but just as I’m about to pull away, she digs her nails into my upper arm. “Enjoy him now, but just remember when he’s on top of you, he’ll wish it were me.”
With those whispered words, Amber pulls away with the same fake smile plastered on her face as she turns to wish Christian well. Meanwhile, I’m left wondering what the hell kind of family I married into.
-Leia-I never would have thought I’d be miserable on my wedding day and yet here I am, miserable as heck. Everything was perfect; the church, the reception, the cake, even the dress. The only thing not perfect was the groom. I know I have no right to be pissed off about it especially since I chose this, but damn, could Christian at least pretend to like me in front of others? It feels like I’m playing a one-sided game here.Thank God the mess is over at eleven pm; I’m just about ready to strangle someone.The drive to Christian’s penthouse is spent in an awkward silence when I realize that we haven’t really spoken about anything regarding this arrangement. Like at all. Damn it, I didn’t want to be the first one to break the silence, but here goes.“Uhm, Christian,” he visibly stiffens at the mention of his name and turns his head to face me with a questioning raise of his eyebrow. “Yes, Red?” ugh, that nickname.Swallowing my pride, I take a deep breath and try not to let his ridic
-Leia-“There she is! Mrs. Christian Moore!” Lucas exclaims when he sees me walking into the restaurant for brunch and I nearly hurled. He wraps his arms around me in a warm embrace and does a little squeal of excitement. “Please, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I said yes to this dumpster fire,” I say while kissing his cheek and plopping down opposite him then immediately ordering a glass of wine.Lucas whistles when the server walks away. “Not even a Mrs for 24 hours and you’re knocking back the brunch wine. Tell me everything,” he says, leaning forward for some hot gossip when there’s none.Lucas McBride is nearly six feet tall and looks like a surfer; green eyes, sandy blonde hair, and ripped to perfection. He’s just your typical gorgeous guy who loves fashion, gossip, brunch time mimosas, and looking at eye candy, not of the opposite sex. Yep, you guessed it - besides, every woman deserves a colorful bestie, yes?“You’re salivating,” I comment with a scoff
-Christian-“Check your emails, mate, you might just see somethin’ interesting.” Jasper had said just before the shit hit the fan. I had been having a good morning up until then, a productive morning with CEOs from three major companies inviting me to a luncheon this weekend to discuss an important merger.Since then, it has wrapped me in nothing but a veil of anger the entire day. From the minute Jasper sent me that article, to the moment Leia arrived back at the penthouse as if nothing happened. Yeah, I get that I have a reputation for being a bit of a man whore, but I promised to push it aside when I married Leia. Not because I felt something for her, but because I know how sacred those vows are, even if they were fake. I wasn’t about to sleep around when I promised not to, but that went out the window when I realized Leia wouldn’t do the same. Was I foolish to think she’d think this is sacred, too? Of course, I fucking was.Once upon a time, I would have given everything to a wo
-Leia-I get up from the floor after getting off the phone with my mother. They started the new treatments with her almost immediately after I paid them and for the first time in years, there’s hope in her voice again.That alone makes it worth it; that alone tells me I need to push forward and do this.I haven’t heard that light in her tone in a very long time, not before her diagnosis and everyone bailing on her. It pains me not to be there for her right now, but she also refuses me at times. She hates pity and I understand that.When Christian barged in here a few minutes ago, it confused the hell out of me. I thought he would have apologized to me for getting it wrong, but it was simply to tell me about a stupid luncheon. Ah, I guess I’ll be paraded around this weekend then. ***I haven’t been able to visit my mother since our last phone call and it’s leaving me anxious. Her doctor has informed me that she’s taking well to the new treatments, but they’re leaving her drained. The
-Leia-The luncheon passes slowly and every time I turn my back, I see Christian chatting up some beautiful woman. This happened more times than I can count, and after he sees me looking, he merely winks.What the hell is going on with him right now? I thought we had some kind of breakthrough earlier, but clearly, I was wrong. The man cannot be broken as easily as I suspected. I’ll need to figure out what type of person he really is if I’m going to win.Before we are about to leave, I need the lady's room and excuse myself. Christian doesn’t look as annoyed with me as he did before, and I think my silence throughout the day has something to do with it.When I’m done doing my business, I walk out of the stall to wash my hands… and who should saunter in while I’m doing this, all while looking smug?“Hello, Amber,” I greet her while looking at her in the mirror. She crosses her arms and chuckles, shaking her head.“I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were this dumb,” she says, s
-Leia-I won! I am back at work again, and everything is right with the world. Well, if you want to call co-workers staring at me and having continuous sex dreams about Mr. Grumpy Face winning; ugh, what the hell!After what happened in my bedroom, Christian has made himself even more scarce. There’s no hair or nail of him at the penthouse, and I’m starting to suspect he barely comes back. I mean, yeah, that kiss had all kinds of steam levels, but there’s no reason for him to stay away from his own home.Perhaps I should call him to clear the air. Aaaah, no, why should I be the one to clear the air when he was the one who kissed me?! But then again, I didn’t exactly stop him, did I?“No, you pushed into him and moaned like a hussy,” I grumble while drinking my cup of super-sweet coffee. “He probably thinks even worse of you now; you’ll go from Red to The Scarlet Woman.”“Is that so?” Christian’s voice behind me makes me nearly drop my coffee cup when I jump to my feet. He smirks when
-Leia-It’s Saturday morning, and I just woke up with a headache. I roll out of bed, throw on my fluffy bunny slippers and shimmy downstairs for a cup of strong coffee. My hair is a mess and I am not wearing make up, but fuck it. These last few days have been terrible, not to mention my change of season allergies.Terrible, you ask? Well, my mother had an adverse reaction to her treatment and had a mild stroke. Alexander has been in a pissy mood for the last few weeks and takes it out on the first person he sees AKA Me. Then there’s Christian who is apparently in Tokyo and all without even telling me. My life fucking sucks right now.Klaus follows me downstairs for his morning kibble. At least there’s one constant in my life. After six months of living here, he’s finally ventured outside of my bedroom. “Let’s get you some brekkie, my Klausy Wowsy,” I grumble as we walk into the kitchen. He prows in agreement and after I tend to him, I walk over to de-zombify myself with some, expens
-Leia-OHMYGOD OHMYGOD Did that just happen?! Wait, no this can’t be right… Christian is leading me out to his black sports car after punching some guy I was dancing with - oh, fuck.I buckle myself in, literally and figuratively, then turn my head to face him when he gets inside. He starts the car, and screeches off towards God knows where while white-knuckling the steering wheel. He’s pissed off, clenching his jaw and keeping his eyes on the road.Swallowing hard, I decide to be the one to break the ice. “Christian-”“Not now,” he says while not even looking my way. The tone of his voice is devoid of emotion; cold and ruthless like the first time we ever spoke.This is my fault; I was dancing too close to that guy and probably leading him on. When he kissed me, I was about to push him away before Christian did that for me. What was he doing there, anyway? Was he following me?I breathe out a sigh and wait in silence as we make our way to the penthouse. Christian opens the passenger