Chapter Four

"Here comes the bride.."

Dante was distracted into consciousness once again by the lull of conversation between the women at his side only to notice that he must have zoned out for quite a bit of time, because he hadn't realized until then, that they had been newly joined by a rather elderly looking gentleman and his wife_Or was it his daughter? Dante wasn't sure. He couldn't be sure these days. With all the pimping about and the rise in plastic surgeries, all the feminine faces were beginning to blur into one.

"Come now dear.." Mariah was beckoning again to someone behind him and Dante turned to see Sophie.

She seemed to have managed to lose her bride's maid meanwhile. He wondered if it had been intentional. For no matter how supportive Janet had been, it had been obvious that she too had been confused and curious. Not her fault, this was all still just a big shock to everyone. Dante himself had long since told Marko not to bother sticking around and the young man had appeared to be quite relieved by the decision.

Dante watched Sophie draw to an abrupt halt the moment her attention was snagged to her mother-in-law and those in her company. She was probably already regretting her decision to come out of her hiding place_which had of course only been a temporally evasive ploy to avoid the guests. She couldn't possibly have thought she would be able to hide for ever.

Whatever composure she had managed to gather in her alone time however, seemed to have fled her again, as she went visibly tense.

If Sophie had her way, she probably would have loved to skip the wedding entirely.

He almost pitied her. Almost.

But they were in this together afterall. For better or worse, aye..?

Dante monitored her walking progress again as she resumed motion, until she was standing right beside him even while making sure that they were not making body contact.

"Congratulations to you and your wife Mr Castillo" said the greying gentleman in black suit.

"..Thank you." Dante replied with a practiced smile, while Sophie simply stared on morosely at them.

Before any of the guests could ask any more invading questions, they heard the announcement over the speakers, urging the guests to be seated as they prepared to serve the first course meal.

"What about Sabastain?" The elderly gentleman's hand candy, spoke up just as Dante was about to seize the opportunity to make excuses and retire to his seat.

He heard Sophie suck in her breath as every one in their small circle suddenly went quiet. The tension was palpable and even the gentleman whose companion had voiced the question, seemed a bit nervous as he shifted uncomfortably, looking awkwardly away as he cleared his throat.

The young lady on the other hand didn't seem to be feeling the tension, if anything, she was encouraged by it.

She was obviously someone who enjoyed being the object of attention.

Dante stared irritably at her. She was such a disturbing sight in a pink, tight body hugging satin dress that barely covered her thighs, with a darker shade of pink shawl in faux fur, draped provocatively over her slender shoulders.

".. isn't he supposed to be at his brother's wedding in the very least..?" She asked daringly "...or should I say what should have been his own wedding..?" She added smugly. She was looking like the cat that got the canary.

"Anna.." her gentleman escort who looked oddly familiar to Dante, whispered urgently in cushion to his lady.

" What..?" Anna retorted, petulantly pouting her heavily glossed lips in a dramatic show of exaggerated innocence. But Dante didn't fail to notice the rise in her tone. She was obviously trying to draw some attention to them.

"I want to know..." She stated unrepentantly

"Or aren't you curious?" She asked persistently, as she shamelessly batted her lashes at the gentleman in an attempt to hypnotize him with her forced charm.

The man shifted uncomfortably again and gave her a sideways glance as he muttered "it's not our business"

But Dante could tell he was curious. As was Paula who was trying very hard not to look too interested.

Dante didn't blame them, he supposed it was natural to be curious about these things. And Even though Anna's curiosity appeared to be malicious, he respected her boldness.

Atleast, she wasn't trying to hide her opinion unlike the rest. She was only saying out loud what had been in the hearts of many.

But as much as he acknowledged her boldness, he did not appreciate the bile in her tone or the effect it had on Sophie, who had gone almost chalk white again, which was a shame, considering how hard he had worked since their time at the chapel to make her skin have atleast half the essence of that bright glow that usually made her look so radiant.

He wanted to smash Anna's face in and wipe that smug smile off her face.

Which was weird, because he didn't usually harbor such violent thoughts, especially not towards women, no matter how annoying they were_and he had had to deal with a lot of provoking women. He also never expected to feel that aggressively protective over Sophie. He had not felt protective over anyone in a long time. Not since Lucinda. But he didn't want to think about Lucinda at the moment.

"Well of course, you know Sabastain..." Dante heard Mariah slice through the tension with a high pitched laughter and an overly sanguine demeanor.

"He doesn't take too kindly to hearbreaks.." she spoke again, pausing for effect and seeming to gain confidence as she held the attention of her small audience and a few by-passers idly eavesdropping on their way to the dinner table. She always did love the spotlight.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked predictably

"Well," Mariah continued, shrugging nonchalantly "you can never dictate the strings of love, and we didn't think it was fair to make Sophie wed one man when her heart belonged to another " Mariah concluded poetically, a hand to her chest as she let out a dramatic sigh that seemed to resonate with the romance she was trying to preach.

"W-ait.. what..?" Anna stuttered

"you mean to say this is a love match..?" She gasped out incredulously, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets in disbelief as her wandering gaze flitted back and forth between Dante and Sophie, then Mariah. The latter simply nodded and smiled as she gave Dante a cautious glance that both begged and threatened him not to say a contradictory word.

Dante nearly burst out laughing, more at the look of confused shock on Anna's face than the convenient lie Mariah had just cooked up. He would have loved more than anything, to shock Mariah and call her bluff, But he was so impressed with the way this was going, he decided to play along.

Putting out an arm around Sophie's waist, he drew her closer to himself, surprised when she came willingly, but then he realized that she too was in a certain agreeable state of shock, and then he kissed the top of her head fondly.

Paula was the first to smile pleasantly, and Dante was surprised, because he hadn't pegged her for a romantic. The gentleman's smile was more relieved than anything else.

"Or don't you agree..?" Mariah was asking now

" Of course"

"Definitely"

Both Paula and the gentleman chorused individually, while Mariah smiled victoriously as she contentedly ignored Anna's confusion.

"Well, you'll have to excuse us now, while we go take our seats" Dante finally said as he quickly steered himself and Sophie _who was pretty much still on autopilot_ away from their company and towards their tables, before Anna could recover from her surprise long enough to throw them another curve ball.

Dante led Sophie into her seat, a bit worried about her continued silence as she sat down.

It took a moment before, thankfully, she finally spoke up:

"My heart belonged to another?" She asked, quoting Mariah's earlier claim.

"Is that the story you're telling everyone now..?" A tinge of displeasure was beginning to creep into her tone.

" that I fell in love with you instead?" She asked

Dante shrugged noncommittally, choosing not to answer as he absently re-arranged his dishware on the napkin before him in preparation for the meal that was already being served.

" That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"What would you rather have her say Sophie? The truth..?" Dante challenged exhaustedly, he couldn't understand her petty grievance.

"That your actual groom-to-be and dearly beloved Sebastian ditched you at the altar..?" He suggested nonchalantly and watched her flinch at his words. "I bet our dear Anna would have loved that bit of information very much" he scoffed.

"Not that everyone else doesn't already suspect that" he added in an aside, even As he felt her go still and very quiet beside him. He could see the pained look in her eyes as she bit her lower lips and dropped her eyes to the beautifully embroidered table cloth but he ignored it, trying to focus on spooning some of the spicy aromatic broth from the platter that had been set before them.

Sophie tried to mask her emotions of course, Not very successfully though. But Dante refused to feel sorry for her. He knew he was being unnecessarily cruel and she probably didn't deserve it, but he was running out of patience too. Besides, he never claimed to be the nice guy. So he really didn't owe her the courtesy.

Matter of fact, She was being very childish and unrealistic. It was high time she accepted the situation for what it was, cause Dante wasn't interested in babysitting a sulky wife he didn't even want in the first place.

" Don't appear so gloomy Sophie.." he groaned after a while, bemoaning her down cast look after noticing the curious way the couple opposite them was observing her and realizing once again that they still had guests to impress and convince. More so now that rumors about a secret romance was going round.

"Don't tell me how to feel" she hissed at him

"I'm not, I'm only making an observation..." He was saying

"I'm not gloomy.." she bit back defensively.

"Good! Then start acting less like a widow in mourning and more like a bride Inlove.."

"With you..?" She asked, her voice laced with disdain.

"Well yes, of course. Who else..?"

Dante replied lazily, teasing her as he dazzled her once again with his wolfish grin which faltered the moment she made a face as though the very thought of being Inlove with him nauseated her.

"You wish" she scoffed at him.

"Well, Don't be so sure dear wife." He spoke acidly "Nothing is impossible afterall and You never know, you might wake up one day to find yourself well and truly Inlove with me. Mariah has an uncanny way of predicting these things you know" He shrugged indifferently.

"I'm never going to fall Inlove with you Dante." Sophie countered determinedly

"I wouldn't want you to " he said, spooning some of the broth into his mouth.

"I mean it!" She emphasized

"Suit yourself " he shrugged again.

Sophie stared at him, pissed at his smug tone. She couldn't believe he was making a joke out of this. Having a laugh at her expense. Well, she couldn't blame him, could she? He didn't know what she was going through. It wasn't his life being turned upside down in a single day. It was all fun and jokes to him. He was such a cruel emotionless person. She could never imagine herself Inlove with such a cold man.

""My heart will never belong to someone like you!" She declared.

And just like that, Dante lost all his appetite. Slamming his cutlery down on the table and forcefully tearing off the napkin from where it sat, neatly tucked at his neck, he turned the full intensity of his intimidating glare at her, shocking her into perfect silence. She looked terrified as though she believed him capable to do her physical harm in that moment, and was thankful for the guests around them, who were no doubt, the only reason holding him back.

"Enough of that!" He declared in a low, no nonsense tone and Sophie trembled slightly at the glimpse of the beast beneath the facade of Dante's politeness. She didn't need to be told twice.

How come she only had the strength to run her mouth around him? He wondered.

She was like a marshmallow among society, but a fiery cat with him.

There was so much bile in her words that he was certain she must truly hate him.

It wasn't the words she had said, so much as the hidden meanings behind them.

The fact that maybe she too, thought him below her station and undeserving of love.

And what right did she have to make that conclusion over him?

She barely knew him.

They had rarely had any altercation_ well except Maybe for that one time in the past when they were little more than just kids.

He never thought much about who he might marry, but he definitely hadn't imagined it to be someone who hated him as much as Sophie Gonzales did, and that worried him more than he was willing to admit.

Which was again, strange.

What did he care if this slip of a woman love or didn't love him?

Hell! He wasn't even looking for love to start with. He had given up on that long ago.

So he certainly shouldn't care at all about Sophie Gonzales and her feelings _or lack, thereof_for him.

Still, she had a way of getting under his skin that he didn't like. Not at all. He didn't want to think too much about her or how she affected him.

She was just another baggage he wished he didn't have to deal with. Simple and short!