CHAPTER 5

MONTHS EARLIER

Sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at nothingness and at the same time, seeing everything at that point where her destiny was, a couple of tears fell. As pure as the silence, that silence that she lived and in which she seemed to live forever because after that, there was nothing.

It was done, that which she had come to fear so much, that which she had refused so much was done because more than being for her welfare, it had been for the welfare of her grandfather and all his possessions.

The white veil falling to the sides while her black hair was kept perfectly combed as well as her makeup, perfectly adhered to the softness of her young skin. Her small hands still held the bouquet of flowers with which she had to look better with her bride dress.

In her eyes, the sea of emotions that was pounding inside her heart was reflected. She had taken the biggest step and although many people say that the first step is the most difficult, now she realized that it was not so, not always the first step was the most difficult to take, but all the steps she had to take until the end of her days.

In her mind, the images of a lifetime passed over and over again. If her parents were still alive as they had always promised to be for her, none of that would be happening, she would not need to see herself as the biggest failure. A life she dreamed of, today was nothing more than a mirage, a damned mirage that made her happy while it lasted.

She was only twenty and her life was already over. The truth is that it was always finished from the moment that unpleasant news knocked on his door, which became nothing more than a clear hell in which she was going to live for the rest of her life.

“What did you just say?” Crystal asked, getting up from the armchair, the same place her grandfather had asked her to sit.

“Crystal, I really don't have time to discuss this. I already told you and there is no turning back. This is your destiny whether you want it or not," replied the older man in his sixties across from her.

With her legs crossed, smoking a cigarette in front of her, Crystal realized that what her grandfather had told her was just another piece of news. Something that could be as normal for Mr. Adolfo Bennett as asking for the resignation of his employees.

“How can you ask me that, apa?”

“Then what do you want me to say? What's right if the company goes bankrupt just because you don't want to help a little and more than help me, help yourself? In the end, it's all going to go to you, Crystal. I don't know what the problem is.”

Tears came out of Crystal's eyes at once. She knew her grandfather, she knew he was capable of anything to maintain his position in front of the world that looked up to him but the truth is she never thought he would go to such lengths, even asking her to give up her dreams, her life and everything she truly was.

“This is not a fairy tale where the prince and the princess are the only ones who can make their dreams come true. Here the prince doesn’t come in search of his princess, dear daughter. This is real life, take it or leave it, it's as simple as that," said the man getting up from his place.

“I can't do it, Grandpa! Where's my life, my dreams, everything?”

“Marry Brandon Lambert and you won't have to worry about your future because after that, you won't have to lift a finger to do anything.”

“I don't want to marry a person I don't know!”

“I'm sorry, Crystal, it's the rules of living here.”

“Do you think my parents would be okay with what you're doing to me, Grandpa?”

“Do you think they care about you wherever they are? You're getting married in a month. The preparations start tomorrow.” Mr. Adolfo said, caring little for the tears coming from his granddaughter's eyes. His only granddaughter.

How could everything change in a single moment? Even his mind seemed to wander between what had happened and what was about to happen. That had been the price of being born into that family. Her emotions that day had been nothing but a roller coaster. As soon as she thought she could be happy, she realized that it was all nothing but a sham. In her mind the humiliation replayed over and over again.

It was not even ten o'clock in the morning when she was already ready to marry that mysterious being who was going to solve her life completely. Not only hers but also that of her family. Tears fell when she learned that in a few hours she would be married to Brandon Lambert, a cruel man her grandfather admired. He himself had a mission to accomplish in order to be the rightful heir to all that his family had. The Lambert family. A son was the way out, a son that only Crystal Bennett could give him.

Without knowing him until that very day when they got married, Crystal spent her life feeling only the need to die, to die and in that way end it all, with the false promises of her parents and with the broken dreams.

For that very day when Crystal most wished to die at the same time that she saw herself in front of the mirror dressed in white, hope came to her once again remembering only one person, remembering that in her heart, her first love was still alive.

It wasn't until the moment Brandon Lambert kissed her lips in front of the altar after having made empty promises, after having been the one admired for his statuesque male figure until she knew that she was marrying her first love. That childhood sweetheart who one day just walked away, leaving her alone, leaving her in that dark hole where she found nothing to cling to but herself.

Emotion replaced her desire to die when she found out. She had just married the boy who had always been there for her.

Suddenly, all Brandon Lambert could see after kissing her so gently was a smile painted on her face. That couldn't be, he didn't know what she was thinking at that moment but that couldn't be. They were marrying for a contract, no more than that.

In Crystal's mind, the words of the person who was once her first love and who was now nothing more than a lout, kept repeating themselves.

The smile was still on her face as the guests approached to congratulate her. It was at that moment when, in an abrupt and unmannerly way, he went up to his now wife and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her away from the world that was celebrating the marriage.

“What's wrong with you, Brandon?” complained Crystal as soon as he let her go.

“To what do I owe that stupid smile on your face?”

If his incredible physique had amazed her when she had arrived at the altar, now it made her fearful. The veins in his neck showed how annoyed he was.

“What are you talking about?” Sshe asked a little more sure of herself.

“Never forget, Crystal. Never forget these words because you may regret it: Just because you were the first and the one who insisted the most to give me a son, the son I need, by taking the artificial insemination papers to my grandfather, doesn't mean that you think you are a wife. You are nothing, Crystal, you are nothing more than an instrument that will help me to have what I want. This is a marriage contract, nothing more, nothing less, okay? Never forget my words because otherwise, it can hurt you more than anyone else.”

And without saying anything else, he left, leaving Crystal completely stunned.

The tears in her eyes were the same ones that had not stopped flowing from that moment when he humiliated her.

Locked in that room, she now realized that her first love was no longer her first love.

At the door, a couple of knocks.

“Come in," Crystal said. The tears had already dried on her face.

“Crystal, the bride and groom's ball! They should be there in three minutes.”

“I'm coming.”

And with no more to say, the woman who had gone to warn him, left without even bothering to ask him what was wrong. No one seemed to realize that what she needed most was someone to talk to.

With nothing else to do, she got up from her place, leaving the bouquet aside. She no longer cared about following tradition, all she wanted was for the show to end.

Outside, in the big house where the celebration had been decided. Everyone seemed genuinely happy. With a fake smile, Crystal walked to the center while looking for her husband, who was nowhere to be seen.

Her heart began to pound from one moment to the next. Brandon couldn't leave her there, let her deal with it on her own.

“Dear guests, please pay attention here!” they called over the microphone. “The next piece will be danced only by the bride and groom. A round of applause, please!”

And without wanting to do it, Crystal looked around and realizing that the world was already watching her, she advanced a couple of steps ready to do it for herself. Neither Brandon was so strong nor she was so weak, after all he had said it well, they were nothing more than a counter to each other. weak, in the end he had said it well, they were nothing more than a contract.

And suddenly, the lights in the room went out, suddenly her steps went forward and at the end, a person grabbed her waist from behind, causing her to become exalted from one moment to the next.

“Shh, calm down! Follow my steps,” said that man very close to Crystal's ear. “No one will notice if they keep the lights off.”

No, that person could not be Brandon because the person who had taken her by the waist was an angel who had saved her from that embarrassing moment while Brandon was trying to pull her down.

And on the second floor of that big house, Brandon Lambert watched her smile as she danced.

“Who is that dancing with my wife?” Brandon asked one of his men.

“We don't know, sir.”

A sigh came from deep within him. Something was not right.