Chapter Two: I Do

“My name is Ashley Grander. I am twenty six years old. I have an interesting personality and my hubbies include partying, going on vacations, painting when I feel like it, and casually enjoying a glass of Mojito in the beach.”

Lily’s hand shook as she held the paper and read through her new personality for the umpteenth time. She hadn’t slept a wink the entire night, and it was almost morning.

“Take that again. You have to master it so that you don’t make any mistakes,” Emily told Lily. “And for the love of Christ, stop fidgeting!”

Lily swallowed again and tried to steady her hand. None of them in the room had slept at all. “My name is Ashley Grander. I am twenty six years old…”

“What did you do on your twenty-fifth birthday last year?” Don Grander interrupted Lily impatiently.

Lily tried to remember what she had read that Ashley had done. “I went skiing in Vermont, and after that, I travelled for a girl’s trip to Venice,” Lily answered, hoping to God that she was right. 

The one-eyed man still had that revolver.

“Great!” Don clapped his hands, impressed. “Makes everything even better since she is smart as heck,” he said.

“Well, the hair stylist would be here in a few minutes, so we need to hurry up with the last of the rehearsals,” Emily said grudgingly.

For the life of Lily, she could not understand why they could not tell this Christopher guy that their daughter was dead, or maybe he was an old frail ugly looking man whom they were indebted to in a way, but either ways, thinking about it made Lily cringe.

They had forced Lily into making a call to her brother and her boss at work with a convincing lie so as not to arouse any form of suspicions.

“Who are your parents and why are you getting married to Christopher Bridger?” Don Grander asked Lily.

“Um, Don Grander and Emily Torres are my parents, and I am getting married to Christopher Bridger so that I could help my parents secure his empire for them,” Lily swallowed as she rolled out the words from her head. 

She felt like a prick already.

“You are smart, and I like that,” Don said again and Emily rolled her eyes. “Here, this is Ashley’s phone which you would be using from now on,” Don said and gave Lily an iPhone. 

They had already taken Lily’s phone from her and switched it off. 

“That life of yours is dead and gone until after a year,” they had informed her.

Lily then followed Emily into Ashley’s room to get started with getting dressed as it was morning already. It took every ounce of self-control in Lily not to gasp at the beauty of Ashley’s room. It was obvious that the girl she would be impersonating had enjoyed nothing short of luxury and comfort, unlike Lily who had had to scrape bones in search of flesh, just so that she and her baby brother could survive.

“Take a look at her wardrobe and get yourself acquainted with her stuff before your stylist gets here,” Emily said.

Lily noticed that she was not exactly a friendly woman, but then again, Lily had other things to worry about other than Emily’s niceness. Lily was still wondering why the couple did not seem mournful that they had lost a daughter as she went over to Ashley’s wardrobe.

Everything screamed designers, and ironically, they both had the same sizes of everything – clothes, shoes, bra, even undies, but unfortunately, their taste differed completely.

“I cannot wear these. They are too revealing!” Lily shook her head as she stared at dozens and thousands of skimpy and indecent clothes.

Emily walked over to her and said, “You keep forgetting that you do not have a choice. You should be lucky that you will get to spend one entire year with the Christopher Bridger.”

With that, Lily kept mute.

In the next couple of hours, Lily’s wavy golden hair was dyed into Ashley’s wavy auburn hair, and she was wearing Ashley’s wedding dress. 

Tears welled up in Lily’s eyes, but she knew that it was useless to cry now, because there was nothing that could be done. As Lily followed Don Grander and Emily to the wedding venue, she knew that her life was about to be turned upside down.

“You cannot fuck this up, or you and your brother are dead meat,” Don Grander gave Lily one last doze of threat.

As Don Grander held Lily’s hand and walked her down the aisle towards her groom, Lily did not expect to see a dashing well-built groom for a husband. Christopher Bridger was the most handsome man that she had ever seen.

But as Don Grander delivered Lily to him at the altar, there was a coldness and ruthlessness in his eyes, so much so that Lily felt instantly that she had just gone from frying pan to fire.

“Do you, Ashley Grander accept Christopher Bridger as your lawfully wedded husband?” The Priest asked Lily. 

“Yes, yes, I do,” Lily answered. She could not afford to fuck this up, and she needed to always remember that. For the sake of her brother’s life, Lily would cross oceans and walk through fire, so if she closed her eyes long enough, she would be able to endure one year with a total stranger.

“Do you, Christopher Bridger take Ashley Grander as your wife, to love and to hold, to protect and to love?” The priest asked Christopher.

“Yes, I do,” Christopher answered huskily and coldly.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the priest announced and a round of applause erupted from the few guests seated in the hall. “You may now kiss your bride,” he told Christopher and Lily.

Lily closed her eyes and waited for her to be kissed for the first time in her entire life. 

As Christopher’s lips joined to hers briefly, Lily opened her eyes and stared at him. Although she had no prior experience, she felt nothing at all. 

Lily stared at Christopher’s icy demeanor and felt sorry for herself. She was a wife now.