Dine with the devil

A few minutes later, the hall got crowded with relatives, friends, guests, and the family of the bride and the groom.

It took a brief while, but everyone finally got seated in their respective seats and patiently waited for the groom to appear.

Five minutes passed in silence, yet the groom did not show up as everyone expected.

Then within a split second, the hall got noisy as people started questioning Liam's lateness.

"Where is your good-for-nothing son!" Liam's dad screamed at his mother in a fit of rage.

But she scowled at him and lashed out, "Why are you shouting at me? So is he, not your son too!"

As the noise in the hall increased, the groom's family seats on the front roll became boisterous with questions. Liam's parents were taking all the heat from their relatives, even though they tried to give an excuse for their son to remove the tension from them.

Things were getting out of control, and the whispering got more emphatic as people continued mumbling and turning to the next person seated by them to gossip.

"Since the groom is not ready, we will call the bride inside. May we all stand as the bride enters." The clergyman announced.

A few minutes passed, and then everyone suddenly stood up from their seats as the large wooden door opening caught their attention, causing the entire hall to become peaceful.

The musician started performing the bridal chorus, and Carmen marched gracefully down the aisle.

Her glamorous white gown, veil, and matching diamond headpiece brought out the bride in her as her eyes beamed with excitement.

As Carmen slowly marched towards the floral arch, her eyes searched the stage for her groom for a while.

Then her finger clenched tightly around her white silk bouquet when she did not see Liam.

But Carmen kept her head high and continued walking, and then halfway down the aisle, her dad walked up to her, and she held onto his arm as he took her to the stage.

"Don't worry, Carm. He will be here." Mr. Smith whispered in his daughter's ear before going to his seat.

But Carmen did not believe her father's words as another two minutes passed, and people started getting restless.

After acting calm for a brief while, the guests started to look back at the door, wondering when the groom would walk inside.

Then another five minutes passed and another four minutes.

At this point, Carmen could feel her tears flowing again. Today was her happy moment, but she did not feel like the luckiest bride in the world.

All hope seemed to be slipping away from her heart when the door suddenly banged open, and Liam walked inside.

Immediately, Carmen turned her head to stare at her groom. Instead of feeling happy, her tears seemed to pull more, and she could not believe he entered the wedding hall wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

"What is going on in the head of your mischievous son?" Liam's grandfather shouted at his daughter-in-law and son.

But his parents could not answer as they bent their heads in shame, realizing that their son had brought embarrassment to the Davis name, and yet, they knew why he did it.

The hall became clamorous again. But this time, the noise was a bit louder than the last.

The whispering became more lucid for Carmen to hear, and the scandal people had to say about her wedding was unbearable for her to handle.

Their mocking statements and ridiculous remarks wounded her as much as seeing the scowl on Liam's face.

Keeping his gaze fixed on Carmen, Liam walked up and faced her.

As she focused on his eyes, she saw pure hate in them, and it hurt her to see such a look of misery in his expression on such a day.

With an aching heart, Carmen kept her head bent the entire time the clergyman spoke, knowing how much the look on Liam's face was breaking her heart.

Feeling completely desperate, all Carmen wanted to do at that moment was to look him in the eyes and ask him why he was acting like a jerk on their wedding day because she honestly didn't know.

The entire time, Carmen continued to puzzle over if it was her fault that he acted this way and what she did to get treated in such an awful manner.

"Now I need the groom and bribe to say their vows. So the bride can go first." The clergyman intoned.

Holding her breath, Carmen lifted her head and gazed directly into Liam's eyes before exhaling softly.

Then she faintly smiled to lighten the mood. But Liam's expression didn't change, and his face seemed to become stiffer.

However, Carmen was still hopeful that her vow would make him forget and forgive whatever she had done to him.

"From today onward, I belong to you and only you. I will love, stay by your side, trust you, and cheer you on for the rest of my life." Carmen boldly said, pausing for a second as she waited for a reaction from Liam.

When she got none, she bravely continued, "From the moment you wrote that confession note to me, I have kept those words close to my heart, and never will I forget them. I love you, Liam Davis."

'Here we go again with this damn love note. I never wrote it for you.' Liam thought, screwing his face into a frown.

"Groom, it's your turn." The clergyman said.

After a few seconds, Liam did not answer, but he still waited patiently.

 But Liam seemed too focused on his thoughts to hear what was said to him, and it took the clergyman five calls to get his attention.

"Liam! It's your turn to say your vow to the bride." The clergyman awkwardly reminded him when their gaze met.

"Oh, I did not bring the paper on that I wrote my vow on, and I can't remember what I wrote," Liam replied sarcastically.

Then he casually put his hand in his pocket like he did not care about what was transpiring.

"Haha, You have humor. But let's put the joke aside. Don't you have anything to say to your bride?" The clergyman said in annoyance.

"Wait, you are right. I do have something to tell my bride." Liam coldly intoned.

Immediately, Carmen's face lit up because of his words as she wondered if things would take a turn for the better.

With a deadpan expression on Liam's face, he drew close to Carmen and whispered, "I don't love you. I never did, and I never will."

Then he pulled away from Carmen with a sly smile as he stared at the devastation in her eyes.

Time stopped instantly for Carmen, and she stood still, suddenly numb from those words.

Even though she wanted to believe what she had heard, her heart shattered every sense of reasoning she had.

So when the clergyman asked Carmen if she would take Liam to be her lawfully wedded husband, she said, "Yes," without any hesitation, and with a frown face, Liam did the same.

"I now pronounce you guys husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The clergyman declared.

After hesitating for a moment, Liam removed the veil from over Carmen's teary face and went in for a kiss.

 It took a second, and then Carmen mumbled, "Ouch," as the salty taste of blood pulled upon her tongue when their mouths parted.

Knowing that he had bitten her, Carmen swallowed her fear as the cheering and clapping sounds in the hall grew louder.

The excitement on the faces of people was joyful. But Carmen could not forget the coldness in Liam's voice when he whispered to her, "You made your choice. Now you have to dine with the devil."