Chapter Two

Dante would never in a million years, have imagined himself in the sort of situation in exactly which he now found himself: Married to another man's wife.

Well, technically, she was not Sebastian's wife_ Not legally anyway_ still...

" Smile Querida.." Dante whispered fiercely through his teeth at his just proclaimed wife, who was still looking very much like a deer caught in headlights.

She tilted her chin towards him in that elegant half-turn manner wherein she could see sideways without really turning her neck. She stared vacantly at him like someone in a trance.

"You have to show a bit of emotion if not excitement Sophie.. the people are watching" he reminded, as though she had completely forgotten they had audience. As if she could forget. She was very much aware of the congregation before her.

All two hundred and some odd number of them, Expressing varying degrees of surprise and suspicion over the unpredictable twist in events which had resulted to the turn up of a completely different groom.

Dante and Sabastain might have been brothers, but they had very little in common, least of all in their physical attributes.

Although both men were impressively tall, Dante was obviously taller. While Dante was as dark haired and brown eyed as their father, Sabastain had taken after his impressive maternal genes with the sexy blue eyes and honey blonde hair that many found mesmerizing, Along with that cocky heart melting smile that was to die for and the confident swagger that reinforced his devil may care attitude. He was indeed the typical playboy and a serial heartbreaker.

Not with Sophie though. Sebastian had always treated Sophie with respect. Their friendship went way back. She was one of his very few female friends who had not exercised his seductive wiles on, even though he had always know Sophie had had a childhood crush on him. He had treated her more like a little sister until a few months ago when he had incited their brief courtship, which eventually preempted his marriage proposal.

Sophie had been delighted.

She had not just been one of his conquest. She had believed herself to be the one to win Sebastian Castillo's wayward heart and tame the untamable playboy. She had been the woman he wanted to marry. She; Sophie Gonzales.

Well not anymore she supposed, seeing as she was now well and truly wedded to another man. And that being his brother no less.

Sophie was forced to acknowledge that brother now, who had unfortunately become her husband by default as of two minutes ago. She nodded slightly in acquiescence to whatever it was he had said and flicked her gaze back to the cheering crowd. She could see her mother amongst the throng of people. Smiling and doing the happy tears thing even though until a moment ago, she had been very much wearing the same confused look as the rest of the congregation.

Sophie wondered what her father had told his wife about the arrangements.

Or if he had said anything at all.

What was there to say really..? That she had been traded as easily as a common possession..?

She still couldn't comprehend most of it anyway. And Somehow, she was still expecting to wake up any moment from now and realize that this was all just a bad dream. Something concocted by her subconscious in reaction to all the pre-wedding tension. A horrible joke. For now though, here she still was, standing like an obedient little lamb for sacrifice, being the perfect bride as was expected of her and going through the motions like a lifeless zombie.

Not really allowing herself to feel anything.

Dante glanced at his wife again. Wife! it was weird just thinking up the word. He couldn't believe he was married now. She had nodded as though she understood what he had said, but she still wasn't smiling and she still had that vacant look in her eyes, so he wasn't sure. It was thesame look that had graced her face when her father had confirmed the fact that she was to go ahead and wed Dante. Alonso had been too relieved to realize that his ambitions would not be thwarted afterall, to notice his daughter's devastation.

He looked at her yet again and tried to remind herself that she was also a victim of injustice here. She was just as much of a pawn in this game as he was. Dante would have felt sorry for her, truly he might have_ if only a tiny bit of sympathy_but he was too busy feeling sorry for his own self.

She was so delicate. So innocent. Well, maybe not so much, seeing as it had not taken much to convince her to go through with the wedding afterall. Because here she was standing beside him, instead of falling to pieces and moaning the betrayal of her beloved as might have been otherwise expected.

Although something about Sophie Gonzales said she was not the kind of person to give in to melodramatics.

She wasn't exactly short, although he was aware that his height often dwarfed men that would normally be considered as averagely tall.

She was just... well, small. Petite. And although she had somehow_possibly by the miracle of some heels or something_ managed to come up to his shoulder level, he could still very much see the top of her auburn head and it was as comically cute as always.

She was quite a sight in the elegant white of her flowing gown. Her hair was done up in that chic fashion that involved a large portion stylishly pinned at the top of her head with two delicate curls dangling coyly on either sides of her oval face. She was as beautiful as a bride should be. Not that he was taking any note of her physical appearance. He was just... well, making an observation. Sort of.

"It's time to head out.." He whispered again as he reached out a large hand to encase her smaller one and felt her stiffen all over again in thesame way she had when the priest had urged him to kiss his bride. She had gone dreadfully pale and absolutely still as though he had been putting a knife to her throat instead of simply dropping the light kiss on her forehead which he had opted for. It annoyed him that she would have such a blatantly negative reaction to him and it annoyed him twice as much that he would give a hoot about how she felt or rather, did not feel.

She jerked her gaze towards him again with a furrowed brow and an inquiring eyes.

"We still have a wedding reception dinner to go through.." he explained.

She gulped as though she were swallowing something bitter. She seemed to have gone several shades paler.

"Right..!" She mumbled.

"Sophie..?" Dante called softly when she still wasn't making any attempt to move. Her hands in his were cold and her fingers were beginning to bite into the palm of his hand from holding on too tightly.

"You're not going to swoon are you..?" He questioned irritably in half dread and half amusement. It would be quite a ridiculous sight watching Sophie Dermot dramatically drop to the ground in a dead faint. But he wasn't entirely sure he was up to entertaining that sort of humor just yet. If ever.

If anything, he just wanted this day to go by as fast as possible with little to no drama at all.

"Of course am not going to "swoon" Dante.." she whispered fiercely. She sounded terribly upset and he was shocked to feel himself enlivened by the sudden fire in her voice.

" Whoever uses that word anymore...?" She asked rhetorically as She scoffed at him with a supercilious air. Her chin jerking up In his direction once more as she spared him with a disapproving look, as though she were correcting a small child. Dante didn't take too kindly to being scolded and he didn't care for her petty grievances, but Her face had more color now and she didn't look so much as a ghost anymore. So he took it all in stride.

"Uh.. I was just questioning your ability to make it down the aisle in one piece?" He said with mock concern.

"Well I think I can manage it just fine, thank you very much" she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, I do doubt that very much, since you are more focused on my face than the steps ahead of you" he bit back with a smug look on his face. And Sophie was going to make a quick comeback but the recessional hymn was being played out now and Dante had begun to move.

She looked tactfully away from him and tried to watch her step as they began to make their descent down the aisle.

Sophie didn't really feel anything as she stared at the congregation of well wishers on either side of the church aisle, on their way out. Not the joy or excitement she had expected to feel.

A part of her was still numb, she supposed, encumbered in the state of iced shock in which she had been embedded from the moment Dante had told her she had become his bride by default. She had stared at him then, not really believing her ears. She had thought; surely this had to be some sort of cruel joke. She had expected him to laugh and tell her that of course it had all been a lie and he was really just kidding her, although Dante didn't look like the kind to make silly_albeit life threatening_ jokes.

But he had stared back at her as seriously as she had looked at him. As though they both knew something was terribly wrong but neither of them were willing to admit to it just yet.

Of course something was wrong. Infact everything was so wrong. Horribly so.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to wail. But she couldn't do any of those things now, could she?

She was a proud Gonzales. Tough as nail. And The Gonzales don't crack.

Although she couldn't say thesame about her father anymore.

Alonso was the last person she had expected to agree to this elaborate sort of madness.

Admittedly, she knew it was going to cause a scandal when everyone found out that she had been jilted at the alter.

But surely, even that was better than the possibility of switching a groom at the last minute.

She had tried to understand her father's position, but much as she thought about it, she still felt there was more to it than just the need to escape the scandal.

Dante might be the older Castillo son, but he was still just the adopted Castillo brother and there was yet much speculation about his birth. Surely, if her father was only considering his social status, he wouldn't think Dante the best catch for his only child, would he.

Sophie didn't want to be one of those elite snobs who raised their noses on children of disreputable and questionable birth, but Sebastain had more social standing than Dante, and she could think of a dozen other options her father could have settled for_though she had never looked forward to marrying any of those people either.

Of course not many people minded these days and to be fair, Dante had worked so hard to earn his position. He had been the one to implement the standards that had transformed the Castillo enterprise into a multi million dollar conglomerate. The one to bring the much esteemed prestige to the Castillo name, of which it could now boast of.

However, Dante was more than happy to work in the shadows. The brain behind the mechanics.

Gaius was expected to be retiring soon and though he might have been obligated to hand the helm of power over to his younger son, there was doubt about who was more competent for the position.

Sebastian's marriage into the Gonzales name was supposed to have been his chance at redemption, As an alliance between the prestigious Gonzales name and the Castillo's was bound to cause a ripple and increase their stock value no doubt. Too bad he seemed to have chickened out last minute. Not that Sabastain had ever been known to take responsibility seriously. Still, he must have understood how important this marriage was to both families.

His mother especially. Mariah Castillo was something of a nouveau-riche.

Entering the Gonzales social circle was to be like the greatest pinnacle of her social aspiration. It was one thing to have the money, and another to have the influence. But quite a different thing entirely to have both. And she wanted both. She had always wanted it all.