CHAPTER 6

That wedding was not the typical wedding where the protagonists danced their hearts out. That wedding was not the typical wedding where the guests could smell the love of the newlyweds a mile away because the truth was that it had not been a typical wedding and much less would it be a typical marriage full of love.

As soon as Crystal was taken out of the wedding by her grandfather's men after she found out what had happened, Crystal arrived at the hotel where they were supposed to make people believe they would spend their first wedding night.

The road had only served to fill her with courage against what was in front of her.  Maybe her life wasn't going to be the same anymore, but she wasn't about to make it any more miserable than it already was.

In the room, there was no sign of her husband. The luxuries of that simple room made her think she was already at home living with him.

For that night, only one bed.

Slowly, Crystal took off her dress and everything that had been worth a fortune just to make people believe that they were the typical couple in love who didn't mind spending to remember the moment. For that moment she only had one wish. She didn't want to see him, she didn't want to hear from him, at least not for that night.

With her mind full of ideas, she headed to the bathroom already almost naked while untying her hair. What was her surprise to find that man she didn't want to see putting the towel around her waist.

Embarrassed, all she could do as she closed her eyes and screamed was to remove the towel from around Brandon's waist and drape it over her body.

Expecting anything but that one move on her part, Brandon was caught by surprise causing him to almost throw himself at her and eventually fall to the ground together.

Feeling the pressure on her body and the way her heart was beating, Crystal opened her eyes little by little only to find the man's stupid smile,

“Scared, dear Mrs. Lambert?” asked Brandon mockingly.

“Get off me!”

“Don't enjoy it too much, my dear. This isn't forever.”

“Get off or I swear I'll kick you.”

The truth was that she was determined to do anything to get away from him, she hated what she was feeling, she hated that her heart was beating so fast at the same time she hated more than ever, more than anything else to feel how his perfume impregnated her being at the same time she felt his breath already sailing through her body and the smile on Brandon's masculine face that wouldn't go away.

“Tell me, answer this question honestly, do you think I treated you badly?”

“Get off me or...!”

“Or what?! I can't wait until the day I see you give up, I can't wait until I see on your face how much you detest me, how much you wish you could turn back time so you wouldn't have filed that stupid document in which you stipulated that you would be the mother of that child I need.”

“We will see who happens to be the unhappiest!”

“Don't enjoy it too much, tell me, do you wish it was the jerk who danced with you in the afternoon who was here? I can already see our future, you being the one who can't stand the idea of not sleeping with him, being the unfaithful one in the relationship because, have you slept with him? Am I lying? I saw the way you were dancing, don't deny it anymore.”

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise.

“Brandon, I, I didn't... how could you think that? I wouldn't do that.”

With a flirtatious smile, Brandon pulled away from her letting Crystal know that he had always been in his underwear.  At the same time, she stood up. “Don't worry, I don't care and stop acting like this marriage matters to you, in the end we are nothing. Don't take a role that doesn't belong to you if you don't want me to take the money I've given your family to be who they are. Take a bath and hurry up, we have an appointment later.”

“What? It's eight o'clock. It’s supposed to be our wedding night.”

“My world works differently, you should know that by now. In a moment they'll pick you up and take you to our house, hurry up.”

And without further ado, Brandon left, leaving her with a thousand thoughts in her mind.

White walls, a floor made of the most expensive tile and for every room, a whole house could fit inside. The perfect curtains of the large windows. The silence that invaded everything and a house that was presented to her where she was surely going to spend an unhappy life.

And on the bed of that room that belonged to both of them, a black dress. That kind of dress that only a lady like her could wear.

With a smile on her face she lifted it up. It really was beautiful and underneath the dress, a note.

"In ten minutes I will wait for you at the following address. One of my men will pick you up. Wear the dress."

She smiled. The handwriting was still the same.

And as if something had called her to look up, she managed to see that picture that would break her heart without really finding the reason why.

On the bed that surely, neither of them intended to share with the other, there was a photo.  A huge picture as if he had wanted it to be the first thing she saw when she entered the room.

Brandon Lambert and that blonde-haired woman. The smile on their faces was magical, she had never seen Brandon smiling like that before, not even in her memories.

It was said, Brandon already had a life outside of that marriage contract and that, for some strange reason, made her feel some strange emotion in Crystal's heart. An inexplicable emotion.