Chapter 2

Brielle’s Pov

“I’m sorry mom, but I already have everything prepared” the voice of Albert echoed from the  room. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop in the conversation Albert was having with his mom, but Albert said that too loud. I wished I could hear the whole discussion since my instincts kept telling me that it was about me, but no. I couldn’t.

 Rebecca had bagged in on us few minutes to the time we were supposed to walk down the aisle. Albert’s countenance changed when he sighted his mother and from that moment my heart went into a state of unrest.

The middle aged man who came with her, dressed in a tux walked up to us and whispered into Albert’s ears. Albert gave me a signal to wait outside of the room which I heeded to. I was standing outside waiting for them to be through with their meeting when Albert’s voice thundered in disagreement to whatever his mother was asking of him, and that was all I heard.

I was frozen for a moment, but just then, I heard footsteps from the stairwell. Fast footsteps which didn’t seem to belong to anyone who was in a good mood. Rebecca and the man from the earlier walked past me and headed out of the place without flinching.

I stood there stiff and scared for my life. I rushed back into the room through the door Rebecca had left open. Albert was standing and when he saw me, he looked away and asked me to stay away from him when I tried to reach to him.

At exactly thirty minutes later, we walked down the aisle, with few close friends who were present as witnesses. None of which I knew.

I stretched my hand to hold that of Albert, but he took his hand away without sparing me a glance. I felt horrible and devastated. I tried to figure out what I had done wrong but there was nothing I could get my mind on. I fixed my gaze firmly to the ground begging myself not to let any tear escape from my eyes.

I took solace in the beat of the wedding march song and walked with it towards the alter. There was no one to grip my arm tightly and comfort me so I bowed my head to the ground as I walked.

The vows were said, the lies concealed as I took Albert to be my husband, for better or for worse. My actions were mechanical, my tone robotic. I had always dreamt of the day I would get married, but now I knew better. Those dreams to begin with; they had been signs of the nightmares to come.

After taking the vows, I kept praying not to ever regret the decision I had made. It seemed to me that I realized what I was going into, right in front of that alter.

 Soon, the wedding was over. It happened so fast as I had wanted and told Albert earlier. I Brielle, got married to Albert Stone, the only son to one of the most powerful family in the city, who was supposed to marry Diana, the heiress of the Davis company. The thought made me want to hurl and the one thing I wanted more than anything else was for someone to wake me up. Any moment from now, I would wake up in my half lit room, decorated with the heap of clothes dumped on the couch.

I waited to wake up, but it didn’t happen, I didn’t wake up to my room. I was already in the car married to the CEO of the Stones Company. I couldn’t even dare move my face towards him, in fear of the amount of anger that I might see in his eyes. I didn’t even have to look at him to know how much he resented me at the moment. Whatever his mother told him got him.

Soon, the car we had entered came to halt outside a huge mansion, the Stone’s mansion. I’ve heard stories of how the Stone’s mansion looked like a paradise, but whoever used that word to describe the Stone’s mansion hasn’t gotten a better word yet. It was like heaven, wide and beautiful with the waterfalls all over the place. However, the place looked odd to me, everywhere was quite and I could only hear the sound of the water going up and down of the waterfall.

Albert and I didn’t speak to each other ever since the wedding, except when we took the vows, courtesy to his mother. He jumped out of the car before me and rushed into the building which was so magnificent, and didn’t forget to whisper a thing to the lady who was right in front of the door waiting for us to return. It seemed that the Stones had a thing with whisper.

I hesitated before getting down from the car. The lady whom I understood to be their housekeeper came for my belongings and I followed her behind as she led the way.

She took me to one of the biggest rooms in the mansion which had a beautiful tree right behind it. I wasn’t sure what tree it was, but its flowers became a point of attraction for me the moment I set my on it.

“Here is your room ma. If there’s anything you need don’t hesitate to let me know” the lady said and exited the room.

I scanned through the room, looking for nothing in particular. I scoffed and fell to the big bed that was sighted by the right side of the room. The more I reminisced how I got to the Stone’s Mansion, the more I wished I took a different step which played in my head.

Whether it was a contract marriage or not, the fact remained that I had taken a place in Albert’s life that wasn’t meant for me, and I knew it at the back of my mind that when he finally sees his ideal woman, he would abandon me right where he picked me up.