CHAPTER 2

ALLISON’S POV

“Where am I? What happened,” I said.

“Honey, you're going to be fine,” my mother said. My parents sat by my bedside holding my hands. The last thing I remember was my mother calling my name. I looked around and noticed I was in my room, an IV stand was by my bedside.

“You got into a little accident but you're fine now,” my father said.

“Accident? Aside from a slight headache, I feel fine” I said confused.

“That's because we could the nurse to administer painkillers,” my father said with a tone of anger in his voice.

“We know you ran away from home and we went after you but you got hit by a car. Why did you do that, you put yourself and the entire partnership in danger!” my father scolded.

“Well, in case you haven't been paying attention, I ran away because you're forcing me to marry someone I don't even know!” I said raising my voice.

“There you go with your smart mouth again, well my darling daughter, guess what, today is your wedding day. Now get up and dress up. We don't want to be late to your wedding” he said, raising his voice.

He left the room slamming the door, the nurse entered the room to pack her things and removed the IV drip from my hands. I looked into my mother’s eyes hoping it was a joke.

“Today is the wedding, no, this isn't happening”.I thought

“Mother, what does that mean” I asked as tears rolled down my eyes.

“Honey, you've been asleep for two days, we just thank god you woke up in time because your wedding is in 6 hours”. She said holding my hands.

“No Mother, please don't do this to me” I pleaded with her. “I know you must think that we don't love you, but we do and that's why we are doing this,” she said as she left the room.

The next five hours felt like the longest of my life. I sat in a make-up chair looking hopeless, I wasn't even with my phone to speak to the one person that mattered right now - Liza, my best friend.

I wore the wedding dress hung at the centre of the room. It was so gorgeous, made for Evelyn by Russette’s fashion but it was my perfect size because Evelyn and I wore the same size.

“You look amazing dear, thank God you and Evelyn wore the same size,” my mother said as she entered the room.

“Well, I don't feel amazing, Mother” I replied sarcastically.

She approached me from behind and rested her hands on my shoulder.

“You have always been the carefree one. You know I initially thought it was in a phase and you were just angry because it seemed like we paid more attention to your sister, but sadly, it wasn't and that's how I know you be just fine, because you can handle anything” she said.

I smirked at her remark as tears rolled down my face, “Honey, no you can't ruin your makeup” she said wiping my tears.

“No!. It didn't seem like it, you always paid attention to Evelyn more. You planned this wedding because she wanted it before she ran off. If not you would have forced me to do this from the onset. So, don't bullshit me” I said firmly, pushing her hands off me.

“ALLISON” she gasped. My father entered the room interrupting us, “it's time, let's go!” he said.

…

As I walked down the aisle, hands locked with my father, my mind was a mess, I wished for anything to save me from this misery.

“This is it. It is happening. It should be Evelyn in this dress, she should be walking down this aisle. The colour, the decoration, everything is exactly what Evelyn would like. I'm just a prawn and this doesn't even feel like my wedding” I thought as I fought back the tears in my eyes.

“I was marrying a man I only knew from rumours. And there's nothing I could do about it.”

I stood at the altar, my eyes fixed on the door hoping Evelyn would burst in and save me from this misery. But as the minutes ticked by, I knew she would never show up.

The priest cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to the present. I turned and faced the man in front of me. He stood there emotionless, his hair neatly parted. He has broad shoulders but I couldn't see his face clearly because of the reflection of the sunlight on his face.

I barely heard the priest ask the man before me a question.

“Do you Allison, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” the priest asked.

My mouth was sealed shut. I wanted to say no so bad. People in the crowd started murmuring under their breaths. Sweats began to form on my forehead as the priest asked again.

“I said, Do you Allison, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” the priest asked the second time.

I took a deep breath and said, “Yes” my voice barely above a whisper. A sigh of relief swept through the crowd and Adrian pulled me close for a kiss.

I closed my eyes trying to ignore the emptiness in my heart. “This is my new life, my new reality,” I thought.

After sitting at a reception party everyone seemed to have enjoyed aside from me, I settled into the car with Adrian on our way to his mansion. The car was filled with awkward silence as he lit a cigarette.

“Well…” Adrian spoke with his British accent breaking the silence. “now that you're my wife, you will have to follow my rules” his deep voice echoed in my ears.

“What just happened, he just completely walked over me,” I thought

“Rules, I don't understand” I stammered.

“Of course, you don't” he smirked. “You and I will sleep in separate rooms, I don't plan on sharing a room with a low-life,” he said puffing out the smoke from his cigarette.

“Low-life!, what?” I asked shocked, I expected him to be arrogant but he was so out of line.

“Rule 2, I don't care about what you do, but I expect you to be ready at all times to escort me to certain events.” he continued, ignoring me.

We arrived at his mansion and his staff were waiting outside with smiles to welcome. He parked the car before the entrance and turned to look at me.

This was the first time I was looking at my so-called husband properly and he had a stern look.

“Lastly, you will stay out of my business!” he stated firmly.

I swallowed hard speechless, I expected this to be a nightmare but this was hell!

“Oh and next time, don't you dare interrupt me, there will be consequences,” he said before leaving the car.

I sat in the car agitated and confused. I clenched my fist as sweat formed on my face.

“Get out of my damn car” Adrian shouted as he had his way up the stairs.

I got out of the car fidgeting and completely confused about what happened. Instantly, I felt light-headed and my head started to hurt.

“is it because of the accident” I thought.

I hit the ground, losing my composure, and the last thing I saw was people running towards me.