Chapter 2

CLARA

"Do you, Prince Roberto, take Cassandra Williams, as your lawfully wedded wife? To love and cherish forever, till death do you part?"  Jared, Roberto's handman, who served as the officiator of the ceremony asked. 

Prince Roberto looked at me, taking my hand into his. His gaze softened as a smile brightened his face. "I do." He said and cheers erupted from the numerous attendees. Everyone was happy, smiling, jubilating, everyone except the bride – or can I even call myself that?

Those two words of his echoed in my mind as a swarm of guilt gripped my heart, accompanied by a wave of uncertainty and fear. 

"Do you, Cassandra Williams, take His Majesty Roberto as your lawfully wedded husband? To love and cherish forever until death do you part?" The million-dollar question shot at me, firing a billion bullets at my heart. 

I swallowed nervously, looking up at Alpha Roberto and feeling my insides tremble. Every fiber in my body screamed at me to yell 'No' and run out of the hall and away from this life of lies my father was subjecting me to. 

I realized that I was taking too long to give my answer and that may seem a little bit suspicious, luckily, the tears welling up in my mind may make everyone think I was just too emotional with cold – feet. 

I sucked in a deep breath, bracing myself. "I do." I finally replied and the cheers echoed, even louder than the first. 

"I now pronounce you Prince Roberto and Cassandra, husband and wife!" 

   Perfect. Only that I wasn't Cassandra. I was Clara, and I was about to start living my sister's life. 

-:-

Hate is a strong word, but I choose to use it in this case. 

    I hated Prince Roberto because it's his fault that I'm in this shitty position. If he was like other reasonable men, he would've understood that Cassandra never wanted to get married to him, didn't want to, and was totally against the union. And now that she ran away, he would've understood her motives and just simply moved on. 

But no, not as my father had narrated it. 

My father had said Roberto would've killed us if he didn't get married to Cassandra that day. He said I had to get married to him in her place or else  Roberto would exact his wrath on all of us in the family. 

So I had to do this for all of us. 

   I was forsaking my life, my freedom, my dreams, and my aspiration just to live up to some stupid arranged marriage. I hated this, I hated this so damn much and I hated Roberto as well. For the past two days of our marriage, he had been trying to appease me with so many gifts: jewelry, clothes, shoes, bags, etc.c However, everything he did didn't faze me one bit. 

I found it annoying and it just made my hate for him attain new heights. Did he think he could buy my love with gifts? And he seemed to never give up despite how much I showed apathy towards the gifts he gave me.  He kept on trying and trying and now, he was here again with something new. 

"Open it up, Cassy." He said, his face beaming with a smile as he set down a hamper in front of me. It contained various products; I could see cosmetics, shopping bags containing clothes, and expensive gold jewelry. 

I crossed my arms, looking up at him with a scowl, "And did I ask you to get anything for me?" I questioned, a hint of disdain in my tone. 

His shoulders slumped and the smile fizzled away as he stared at me, "Isn't it normal for a husband to spoil his wife with gifts, Cass?" 

I groaned, rolling my eyes, "Ugh! Stop calling my Cassy, stop calling my Cass – in fact, don't even call my name. Why can't you just leave me alone?" My words dripped in frustration and annoyance. 

Prince Roberto's brows drew together in a frown as the impact of my words hit. He opened his mouth to speak, shut it back almost immediately, and then let out a loud sigh before speaking again, "I want to make this work, Cassandra. Please, just accept my gifts. I don't want to fight with you. I know we didn't have a proper relationship and married a bit too quickly not knowing much about each other, but I'm willing to get to know you. I just wish you'd let me, please." 

I rolled my eyes and scoffed at his words – he's such a pretender with a mouth that's full of shit. For an evil Prince like him with a callous and ruthless heart, he sure does have a sweet mouth and knows how to act innocent. 

However, the sooner I took a look at his gifts, the sooner he would go away. So I sighed and looked back at the hamper again, I noticed a small note perched on it so I picked it up to read. 

I carefully unfolded it and scanned my eyes over the handwritten letter:

My dearest Cassandra, fairest of all,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I cannot help but feel enthralled

By the very thought of you, my belle.

Though our marriage may have been arranged,

My heart beats true for you alone.

With every moment we've exchanged,

My love for you has only grown.

So take this small poem as a sign

Of the love that I hold dear.

For you, my sweet, I'll always pine,

And hold you close, forever near.

With love,

Roberto

What is the name of— what sort of foolery is this? 

I finished reading the letter and tore it into shreds right in front of him, flinging the paper bits on the floor. "Did you copy this from a greeting card?" I hissed, rising from the seat. "A poorly written greeting card, that is, it sucks. I cannot and will never love you, I don't want to be with you. Why can't you and every other person just accept that?" 

"I know that, Cassy. Just try, please. We can make it work and—" 

"With all due respect, Prince Roberto, thank you for the gifts and the poem. But I don't want any of it. I'll be in my room now, your majesty." I made sure to drag out his title, adding hints of sarcasm as I spoke it. And without giving him another moment to respond, I went around him and left the living area, going upstairs to my bedroom. 

     I banged the door shut behind me and lowered myself to the bed, landing with a plop and face–down on my pillow. The event that just happened downstairs replayed in my mind and I figured that I was being a bit harsh on the prince. 

I was quite surprised that he had kept quiet while I raised my voice at him. I expected that he would've lashed out at me but he didn't, instead, he didn't take my words to heart and responded to me calmly. Unlike other Princes who were known to be stern and tempered, he seemed…different. 

"Must be a facade. He's a pretender." I huffed, telling myself as I rolled over on my bed, clutching my pillow. 

   I gazed up at the ceiling, staring at the large golden chandelier that hung up, its yellow luminescent light brightened up the room, and its silver sparkles added style to the space. 

The room was beautiful, expensively furnished and Roberto had specially prepared it for me. He felt I might not be comfortable enough to share a room with him, and he was right, I wouldn't have. 

He is a gentleman, but it's confusing because the Roberto I'm seeing now doesn't match the scary stories of the Prince Roberto I've heard of. 

Or maybe he's calm because he loves me—I mean, Cassandra. 

Cassandra…

Where is she? 

   I reached for my phone at the edge of the bed and scrolled down my contacts to her name and I hit the dial for the umpteenth time in the last forty–eight hours. The phone rang and rang and rang, but there was no response of any sort. I sighed, tossing the phone to her as I let out a frustrated groan, 

It's been like this ever since I haven't been able to get in touch with her at all and it's not like her number was switched off. She just chose not to pick up. What's happening to her? What did she see in Roberto and this marriage that made her run away? Will I suffer through the same too?

All these and many more questions sped through my mind and I wondered just how my life would be as Roberto's Queen. Would I be able to escape this, or would this be my fate forever?

Nevertheless, all that I knew and was sure of was that I'd never, ever, ever love Roberto. The man who took away my freedom, the man who made my sister run away, and the man I'm forced to call husband.