You did good

               

April walked down the aisle with her heart thumping loudly. How did her life come to this? She had come to the wedding as the planner but now she was about getting married to the groom.

In the past, whenever she thought of getting married, she always pictured it to be a beautiful day; getting married to the love of her life and not some strange billionaire she signed a contract with.

April had read numerous stories about contract marriages and she found them ridiculous and amusing. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to be involved in a contract, loveless marriage.

At first, when Mateo brought up the idea, she had blatantly refused and scolded him for taking her as a loose woman but it seemed like the man had expected that his bride would suddenly go missing so he had previously conducted a background check on her and found out that she was desperately in need of cash~ lots of it to save her dying comatose mother.

Being a businessman, he offered her a billion dollars in exchange for marriage and she willingly agreed. What kind of daughter would she be if she let her mother die when there was a golden opportunity right in front of her.

Besides, how bad could it be? They were only to stay married for sixteen months and after which, part ways amicably.

April took a deep breath to calm herself down. There was no turning back now, the best thing to do was to focus on the tax at hand.

'Sixteen months wasn't a lot of time, it'd run out before I even realize' she consoled herself.

April only came back to her senses when Mateo took her hands in his and gave it a light squeeze. She looked up at him and his gaze told her that he wouldn't entertain any nonfeasance.

The priest began his lecture but she could barely hear him over the erratic beating of her heart. Mateo's hands tightened around hers as the priest spoke about love, commitments and hardship that will test them. April couldn't help but feel like a fraud for nodding along, feigning interest.

"We are gathered here to celebrate the holy matrimony of this couple." The priest began. "If anyone is against this union, you may speak now."

Deep down, April prayed that Mateo had a crazy obsessed ex that'd barge in and stop the wedding but to her disappointment, no one spoke so the priest continued. "Proceed with the vows."

Mateo began immediately, not hesitating even in the slightest that one would think he was excited about getting married while in reality, he wanted to get it over with.

"April, i offer this ring as a reminder of our marriage and our future. Let it serve as a symbol of our connection from this day onwards." His words made April pause as she felt he would have promised his everlasting love or something else even if he didn't mean it, at least, it'd make the whole thing more convincing to the crowd. Her thoughts were silenced when he slid the cold, thin platinum band covered in diamonds up her finger.

So this was really happening!

She was surprised that the ring fit like it was made for her, also the wedding dress. It felt strange.

'It is probably just a coincidence' she brushed the thought off her mind.

April held Mateo's hand this time and collected the ring from the priest. "Mateo, I give you this ring as a symbol of my promise and agreement to you as your partner. May it serve as a reminder that I'll stand with you till the end of this." Then she proceeded to slide the ring on his finger. If he didn't promise his undying love for her, then she wouldn't do it too. She had already deceived quite a lot of people.

They both stared at each other and April saw an unrecognizable emotion flash through Mateo's eyes briefly but he regained composure almost immediately that she thought she saw wrongly.

The priest continued his speech about trying times and sacredness of wedding vows and afterwards, he blessed them.

Then the dreaded moment that April had tried to block from her memory came to light. The priest took a step back as if to give them privacy and then said, "I pronounce you man and wife. Mateo, you may kiss your bride."

April's eyes widened and she tried to swallow the huge lump in her throat. 

She married a stranger so kissing him wasn't a big deal, right? She tried to convince herself but the deafening silence of the crowd wasn't helping matters. 

They were probably anticipating the kiss. Mateo had never been seen with a woman, let alone kissing one, so naturally they were curious.

Her whole body stiffened as Mateo took a step closer to her and wrapped one hand around the back of her neck. The world shut off for April as Mateo leaned towards her, drowning her in his masculine scent. Her knees grew weak just by inhaling his scent alone and fortunately for her, he wrapped his other hand around her waist, stopping her from falling.

This was it! It was happening!

Mateo leaned forward causing April to instinctively shut her eyes then the next moment, she felt his soft lips brush lightly against hers before backing away. She opened her eyes after feeling that he had pulled away and she let out a sigh of relief. 

'It wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be'  she chuckled inwardly. April's relief didn't last long as Mateo pulled her in and his lips suddenly slam against hers. 

April was momentarily stunned but quickly regained her senses and returned the kiss.

He was probably trying hard to convince his family and the crowd. Mateo drew her closer than she already was such that a thread wouldn't be able to pass between them, and deepened the kiss.

The loud cheering of the crowd brought them back to reality and Mateo slightly pulled away but he kept his forehead glued to hers.

"You did well." He muttered in a husky voice.