CHAPTER ONE

           Crystal let out a heavy sigh as her friends dronned on behind her, making her more anxious about the event that was drawing close. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, while her thoughts were on how to go about her upcoming wedding. A weight on her shoulder made her flinch and come back to her senses. She exhaled and turned around on her seat, then smiled at her curly haired friend who had what she recognized to be her veil in her other hand.

          "What are you thinking about?" Martha, her friend asked.

          Crystal smiled. "It's nothing. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm actually getting married."

          Trisha, her other friend jumped out of the queen sized bed in the middle of the room and jogged up to them, smiling brightly.

          "Remember when you said you would never get married because you haven't met your mister right and all?" Trisha teased, and poked Crystal in the forehead.

          Crystal swatted her hand away from her face and relaxed on the chair. She exhaled and glanced at each of her friends.

          "You know this is beyond marriage and all. This is also a business between my family and the family of my soon-to-be husband. Although, James and I dated and he's a nice guy— Marriage material— I still feel it's too sudden," Crystal said.

          "James said to us that you were so excited to get married to him... So, why are you saying it's too sudden though?" Martha asked, and tilted her head sideways out of confusion.

          Crystal waved her hand at them, and stood up from the chair she was sitting on. She went across the room and picked up her wedding gown that was laid on the bed. She ran her fingers over the diamond studs around the corset of the gown. She sighed and faced her friends with a smile on her face.

          "Well, I just hope that this marriage ends well. James is a nice guy, and I'm sure he will spoil me rotten and all. I mean, he did get me a whole ass expensive BMW, even a sports car and lots of gifts while we dated, it won't be that hard for him to do more. My only fear is that this marriage doesn't end up becoming something I don't want it to be," Crystal said, but her mind was on something else— The reason behind her marriage with James Noah. She had to make sacrifices to get what she wanted and she only had this chance to do so. She mentally hoped that everything went well with her union with the millionaire.

          "Enough of all these... You're getting married this weekend and we have all week to prepare you for it," Martha said, and approached her with Trisha behind.

          "Yeah... I'm getting married," she muttered under her breath and sat on the edge of the bed. Her eyes stayed glued on the white wedding gown, then a smirk appeared.

†††

          The D-Day arrived, and Crystal was awoken at the crack of dawn by her bride's maids. She was feeling anxious, happy and confused at the same time. At that moment, she knew she was having cold feet. Even while she had been soaking in the bathtub, she contempled on calling off the wedding but she knew how bad it would be for her family in the eyes of their fellow business moguls who were aware of the marriage.

          Several hours later, she was walking down the floral designed outdoor aisle behind her family mansion. Her palms were sweaty and her mind was blank as she walked on. Once she reached the altar where her soon-to-be husband stood with the priest, everything became a blur for her. It was almost as if she was a robot that had a memory wipe.

          After an hour, she was legally a married woman. Everything looked different to her, she felt different and at that moment, she knew something would not be the same again.

          "Congratulations, Mrs. Noah," someone said as they walked past her. Crystal simply nodded and smiled, then glanced over to her side.

          A gasp left her lips when she spotted one man that always got her attention. Guilt began to well up inside of her as she took in the tall, muscular blonde haired man who stood, towering in front of his grey haired grandfather. She found herself leaning on her palm as she stared at him, the way he smiled showed off his white teeth, and the way his suit hugged his muscled body made her feel warm in so many places.

          Crystal flinched when he looked in her direction and the sharpness of his blue eyes made her internally swoon. Cyrus Noah, the nephew of the man she now called her husband. He was someone she had been so attracted to since the first they met at a family function. He was rich, a celebrity figure, a professional swimmer and many more— He was just an all rounder in Hollywood.

          It ached her heart that she had to marry someone who she did not truly love to get close to someone that barely knew of her feelings. The worst she felt was their age difference. While Cyrus was twenty two, she was twenty seven and the thought of them being together was something she knew the world might frown upon, considering how popular he was and how influential their families were.

          If there was one thing that Crystal was not bothered about, it was that she was going to finally get Cyrus's attention at all cost. Over the months they met, she had been ignoring the burning sensation she felt for him but she knew she could no longer hold it in any longer.

          "Hey, honey," a deep voice brought her out of her thoughts. She held herself back from rolling her eyes and turned her body to face her husband.

          James wrapped his arm around her body and she internally cringed at the feel of his strong arms around her body. James was a handsome man, but she could not feel that spark she felt when she was with Cyrus, whenever James did anything to please her.

          "I'm so glad we are finally married," James said against the shell of her ear.

           "Yeah, me too," Crystal said with a straight face.