Prologue

I never even once imagined that I would be married to a girl that I once loathed. A single mistake may lead to my instant passing as I tremble while waiting for her in front of the officiant with a gun pointing against my head. I tried to calm myself down, but the waiting made me more nervous.

Not a single friend of mine nor any family members attended our sudden wedding. I do not know how I should explain everything to them once this extremity is over — the only thing I know right now is that I must misbehave with their demands.

Shortly after I went home from a business trip not too long ago, a group of fortified men suddenly snared me from my apartment. I was kidnapped and prayed to them to save my life, veritably nonplussed as to why I was being held captive. Despite menacingly brandishing their guns, they refrained from causing me physical harm.

"D-Dear gentlemen... I'm just a regular employee. My family is not even wealthy enough to afford ransom money for me. You might have mistaken me for another person," I rattled while tied up in a chair in an abandoned village, probably a few miles away from the city.

"Your name!" a man twice my age demanded.

"S-Sir? A-Aziel, sir!" I responded in fear as his men brandished their guns in my direction.

"How dare you forsake my daughter and your child and lead a carefree existence without concern?" he growled.

"W-Who is your daughter, sir?" I asked cautiously. "I don't understand what you're saying."

I became intimate with a few women, but none ever got pregnant—at least not in my wildest imagination.

"Do you wish to die?" he whizzed, pressing his gun forcefully against my forepart.

"Hic! No, sir! Please spare my life. I will comply with your every demand," I stammered, trembling and on the brink of wetting myself in terror.

"Very well, then!" he declared before shifting his attention to his men and instructing, "Arrange for your wedding in a few days. I won't tolerate this nonsense any longer. Escort him to the mansion!"

Now, I see the mistake I made just some months ago. I'm not innocent, and I acknowledge it was all my fault—this was the outcome of a little moment of weakness.

As my mind wandered, I was suddenly interrupted by the shout of my father-in-law's men. "The bride is here!"

"You better behave, SON. One mistake is a bullet in your head," whispered my father-in-law as he lowered the gun and hid it from his daughter's sight.

My knees almost gave way under the weight of my fear.

As the wedding march began to play, I felt my heart pounding immensely. My eyes were fixed on the entrance, anxiously waiting for Laia to appear. We hadn't seen each other for quite some time, making the anticipation build up within me.

She entered the chapel bathed in soft light with a bouquet of white and blue roses that I had bought before she arrived at the wedding venue. She looked stunning in a modest yet elegantly crafted white wedding gown, highlighting her inherent beauty. Her makeup was subtle, accentuating her features beautifully.

Laia's smile was the most captivating sight I had ever beheld—a smile that appeared to chase away all my fear and uncertainty. As she walked towards me, her gaze locked onto mine, and for a moment, I could feel an unspoken connection between us.

I couldn't read her mind because I had yet to grasp her real personality. She's unlike any other girl, and I should have listened to her warning before. It doesn't matter anyway. All I can see right now is how beautiful she looks as my heart flutters like crazy in from every inch of her movements. She was even more stunning than the previous time I saw her.

Was I just being forced into a wedding that I could later regret?

I smiled back at her and offered my arm as she walked near.

"You 're so beautiful today," I whispered.

"Shut up! It doesn't suit you," she whispered back in my ears, smiling while trying to act natural in front of her father.

"I meant what I said," I whispered again.

She smiled at me sarcastically and looked away in response.

She doesn't believe my words, but I can't blame her.

************************************

We never once had a good relationship, even though we've known one another for too long. We didn't even expect this sort of thing to happen just because of a single mistake that I made. Who would even want a wedding like this?

"Do you, Aziel Elrod, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?" the officiant said.

I was flustered seeing the sharp glare of my father-in-law and his men from their seats.

"I-I... I do!" I stammered in fright.

She chuckled briefly, then looked away. I was embarrassed and tried to calm myself as I focused on the ceremony.

"Do you, Laia Dominique, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?" the officiant continued.

She paused and thought for a long while. I felt nervous as she took her time to answer the officiant.

"L-Laia... It's your turn to answer," I whispered, trying to pull her from her thoughts as the pressure in the room worsened.

"Oh! Right, I do," she answered halfheartedly, looking at her bouquet.

Goodness! I might die of a heart attack and not in her father's bullet. Even so, her father's expression softened suddenly after that.

"I pronounce that you are husband and wife. I ask you now to seal the promises you made with each other this day with a kiss," the officiant declared.

I suddenly heard the scraping sounds of the chairs around the hall.

"Hic! S-sir?" I asked as my father-in-law and his men suddenly stood up.

"Tsk! Such a coward," Laia mumbled while pulling me near for the kiss.

The wedding ended up without a drop of blood shed on the ground.

Who would have thought that fate would unite two people who used to have an odd vibe against one another? I didn't even know when we started being hostile to one another, but I was sure it was because of some childish reasons. I didn't even know her real identity, and now I suddenly became the son-in-law of an ex-mafia boss.