The sunlight reflected into the room, and the peaceful sound of nature echoed through the atmosphere. Carmen smiled as the makeup artist applied a thin primer layer to her moisturized skin. Her eyelashes gently touched each other as an eye primer got added to her eyelids. She could feel the softness of the brush when it touched her face as the lady applied the foundation to brighten her skin tone.
The door opened, and a classic woman stood at the doorway with a bright smile. "Mini, Is the bride ready?" She asked. "No, I am still touching up her makeup," Mini explained as she put some cream concealer on her finger and lightly dabbed her fingertips on areas that looked dark on Carmen's face. Carmen turned to gaze at the woman, her lips curved in a grin. "Mom! What are you doing here? I thought you were out there greeting the guests." "I want to see my daughter transformed into a beautiful bride." Her mother said with a smile. Mini stopped working on Carmen's face a few minutes later after she had layered the color on her lip. "My job here is done. Mrs. Smith, how would you grade my work." She said with a beam on her face as she laid down the lipstick and turned Carmen's chair toward the door. Mrs. Smith's smile broadened, and her eyes sparkled, seeing how elegant her daughter seemed. "Mini, you are amazing. She looks like the most stunning bride I have ever seen, and for that, I give your work an A-plus." Mrs. Smith said. She walked away from the door and approached Carmen. Her hand gracefully touched her daughter's face, and her eyes teared. "My beautiful baby." Mrs. Smith cried. "Mom," Carmen whispers sadly. Her mother's emotional outbursts were negatively affecting her mood. "Mini, can you excuse my daughter and me? I want to assist her in wearing her wedding gown." Mrs. Smith said with a slight smile. "Okay. I am going to leave now." Mini replied and left the room. Carmen knew that there was more to her mother's statement. She looked at Mrs. Smith and saw that her smile had disappeared, leaving only sadness on her face. "Mom, what is this actually about?" Carmen asked with an aching heart. Mrs. Smith pulled a chair in front of her daughter and sat down. Carmen and her mother were now facing each other. "Does Liam love you?" Her mother asked. Carmen laughed at first, but then her smile faded when she noticed that her mother was serious. "Oh, you are serious. Mom, today is my wedding day. I will be his wife in less than an hour, and you choose this moment to ask me such a question?" Carmen said in a shaking tone. "Carmen, I could not ask you this question since I thought you and Liam were just a flame for you and you would get over him soon. Plus, your grandpa seems to like that you were in a relationship." Mrs. Smith said as she held onto her daughter's hands. Carmen slowly pulled her hands from her mother's grip. She was now tearing up and felt thankful to Mini for using waterproof makeup on her face. "Why now? Why are you saying all this to me now?" Carmen cried. The tears were now falling from her eyes uncontrollably. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffed. "I did not want to go against your and your grandfather's wishes. But baby, this is a marriage you guys are talking about now. You and Liam have to live under the same roof and see each other daily, and I want to make sure he loves you. Because I don't feel like he does." Mrs. Smith explained. Her daughter's teary face was aching her heart, but she knew this was the best decision she had made for Carmen. "He loves me. If he did not, then why are we even getting married? Why will his family and his friends be here? Why would anyone want to be in this building?" Carmen screamed. Her heart was racing, and she could not understand what she was feeling, but Carmen could tell it was not joy. "Fine. Please stop crying. It's my fault. I should not have assumed." Mrs. Smith said as she embraced her daughter. Carmen rested her head on her mother's shoulder and wept bitterly. She knew her mother was right. Liam never told her he loved her, not once in their relationship. But she thought it was because he was shy. Now that her mother had brought the subject up, she felt deep in her heart that Mrs. Smith was right. After Carmen had cried out her fear and pain, it took her a few minutes to calm down. From there, her mother helped her wear her gown, and they did not discuss what had happened. There was only silence cycling within the room. Liam was the only one in the groom's dressing room. He had not worn his suit yet. His hair was messy, and his face looked frowned upon. He was on a call, and his expression appeared gloomy. "I don't think I can do this. It's not fair to you and me." He said. "You can't do this to her. We both can't break her heart." The caller replied. "How can't you expect me to marry a woman I don't love? Are my feelings not as important as hers are to you!" Liam lashed back in anger. "That's not true. I love Carmen, and for her, I am willing to sacrifice my love for you." Liam ended the call in rage. He looked into the mirror and hated his reflection. "Why do I have to suffer for you? You denied me the chance to be with the woman I love, and now I will do the same for you. Every single pain I am feeling, you will undergo the same until you divorce me." Liam stated.Please remember to follow me for more of my work, like, share, and leave your honest review. This will significantly help me, the author, get more recognition. Also, if you are curious about the novel, check out Author Rever on all social platforms to discuss it with me. Gems are highly appreciated. Thank you and have a lovely day.
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
The light in the room flickered, and the air got chilly as the breeze blew the window curtain open. The white bedsheet appeared whiter from the glow of the bulb. Also, the bedroom looked extremely luxurious because of the fancy furniture."I will take the guest room, and you can take this bedroom," Carmen said, wishing desperately that her first night as a married woman wouldn't start with such an intense atmosphere.Then she anxiously stood still, waiting for Liam's reply as the seconds passed.Realizing the room's silence, Carmen could feel her heart pounding, and she grew tense.With every passing second that Liam did not answer, Carmen felt more uncomfortable. Unable to take the quietness any longer, she hugged herself tightly and stared at a well-built man sitting in a chair, gazing at her like some prey he could not wait to devour.The sleeveless nightgown she wore did not make her feel comfy at the very least, and Liam's cold stare only made her feel worse.Feeling the chilly
"Beep!" "Beep!" The clock blew off. After it rang a couple more times, Carmen lazily opened her eyes. Still in a confused state of mind, her hand reached out for the alarm clock. Instead of pressing the off button, she knocked it off the nightstand. "Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!" The alarm screamed louder as the sound echoed in the room. "I think I broke it," Carmen mumbled beneath her breath as she pushed the comforter off her. Then her toes flickered when they touched the cold tiles and chills ran through her body. Still feeling a bit dizzy, Carmen grabbed the clock from the floor, shut it up, and set it back on the nightstand. In that instant, her sight caught the other side of the bed, and Carmen sighed at the empty sheet and softly muttered, "Good morning, Carm." Then she turned away from her bed and headed into the bathroom. Feeling drained and hollow in her soul, Carmen dragged her feet a
After Liam had left the villa, Carmen pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down.Then she low-spiritedly looked at her Eggo Waffle Sandwich and frowned at it, feeling like Liam refusing her food means that he had rejected her too. With every stare she gave her food, Carmen could feel this piercing ache in her chest. In frustration, she angrily stood up, grabbed the plate, and approached the trash bin. After opening the lid, Carmen couldn't bring herself to toss the Eggo Waffle Sandwich into the bin because in her mind, if she did, then just like you can't eat food from a dumpster, she and Liam's marriage will not have a chance for love. With such a thought on Carmen's mind, she withdrew from the trash bin, headed back to the table, and she set the plate on the dining table. Then she sat down and began to eat the Eggo Waffle Sandwich angrily while sniffing. Two minutes into her breakfast, her phone began to buzz, and she
Feeling indecisive, Carmen stood in front of the mirror, wearing a blue long sleeve dress with its length reaching below her knee. Then she wore her hair down. However, the reflection staring back at her was not what she was going for at that moment. The bite marks on her neck were still showing, and the wound on her fingers remained exposed. In anger, Carmen took off the dress and threw it on the bed, and it landed on top of all the other clothes she had tried on. Then she approached her closet, took out a gray sweater and blue jeans. After Carmen had worn it, she went back to the mirror and stared at her reflection. The sweater's turtleneck and long sleeves concealed the bite marks on her body, and the sleeves were also long enough for her to hide her fingers in. But even though her dress code was perfect, the only thing destroying it was the hot June sun awaiting her outside her house. “Mom is not going to buy this look, but it is the o
With a touch of fear in her eyes, Carmen folded her hands into a tight fist as she saw Liam and his mother approaching their table. Her heart kept skipping every beat as they got close, and she hastily gazed away when his eyes met hers. "I invited Lina over for breakfast, but I did not know she would drag her son along too." Deborah softly said. Not listening to her mother's words, Carmen's mind remained occupied with thoughts about how unloving her husband's gray eyes were when they gazed at her. After Liam and Lina reached Carmen and Deborah, he pulled out a chair for his mother, then waited for her to take her seat before he sat down. "Good morning, mother." Liam addressed Deborah. "A pleasant day to you too," Deborah answered with a bit of hate in her tone. Hearing the harshness in her mother's voice, Carmen stared at Li
The driver felt the fear within Carmen and the hostility from Liam. He looked into the V-mirror and saw how pitifully Carmen had folded herself together. Liam and Carmen did not appear to be the couple he knew in the past. The driver noticed that the brightness in Carmen's smile had got swapped with a frown, and Liam's eyes had lost its kindness.'Boss, why are you treating madam like this? She's sweet and friendly to everyone, so why do you hate her?' He thought.After Liam's question, Carmen dared not look at him. She kept her head down, and her eyes focused on the floor of the car. It was clear to Carmen that her apologies wouldn't get her out of this situation."Are you deaf!" Liam screamed.His voice had harshness and chills within it, and it wasn't long after Carmen heard those words she began tearing up. However, Carmen choked back her cry so she wouldn't annoy him.
Carmen sat on the couch with a frustrated face as she watched the long hand of the clock slowly change its direction. She felt scared and upset that it was now eleven-thirty o'clock and Liam had not arrived home yet.Their brief episode that morning, him accusing her and denying her, weighed heavily on her heart, but her mind remained occupied with worries about why he had not reached home.Carmen stood up from the couch for a minute and paced back and forth for some time as she tried to keep her messed up emotions in check and stopped herself from crying. After walking around the room for a while without hearing a car sound, she sat down on the couch and continued watching the clock.As Carmen sat there for another fifteen minutes without removing her eyes from the wall clock or shifting from her current position, her stomach gurgled from hunger. She pressed both her hands against her abdomen and squeezed it tight to su