Chapter # 2

The next day, dressed as a bride forcefully, I was holding my mother’s arm desperately. 

“Mama, I will do anything you say, don’t make me marry Kyle,”

“Do you think I want that? We have no choice, my love. Look at your father, only you can save him.” She sighed.

Frowning when I was not moving an inch as she secured the veil over my head.

I wanted them to listen, to understand that he wasn’t the man I wanted. 

In fact, the one I truly desired was the person who forced me to say yes.

Why couldn’t he notice my love? My feelings for him? Why make me marry Kyle when I didn’t want to?

“Please…” I whimpered, clutching my chest due to pain and enhancing that sting, he entered with his cold front. 

‘Wow, so he had dressed up for my fucking wedding too.’

Unbothered expressions, wearing all black shirt and pants accompanied by a waistcoat and well combed hair to look eye-catching.

My jaw clenched, glaring at him through the reflection which he obviously ignored and asked Mother.

“Are you guys ready?”

“No. I am not,” I hissed, ripping the veil off from my head and throwing it away. 

Displeased with my actions, he came closer. I flinched when without a second, he grabbed my wrist and made me stand. 

“I don’t have time for your drama. Come,”

I felt numb, I was drained, I couldn’t do it but he forced me to move. My lips began to shake with tears blurring my vision. 

“Mama,” 

Please, please, please, stop him…

“Denzel, careful, please,” Mother whispered, emitting compassion for me but how could I blame her?

There was nothing she could do. Kyle was too powerful… we couldn’t fight him.

“Then tell her to accept her fate. This is the best for her but her tiny brain is incapable of understanding this,”

Growling, he didn’t bother to hear further and since my father was in the hospital, he decided to walk me down himself.

Like hell I would let it!

Whimpering, I struggled to release his harsh grip but he had always been overwhelmingly strong and nothing I did affected him.

“Leave me, let me go!”

“Leave me, Denzel!” 

“I said I don’t want to-”

Tired of my whining, he gave me a rough yank, pressing me against the wall. 

My throat dried when his muscular body was lethally closer to mine. Sadly, those heartbeats were no longer latched with mine.

I shivered when he placed his one hand above my head and pressed his index finger on my lips with the other hand, freezing me in one contact.

“Shut the fuck up, Eliana,” 

I obeyed…

Silly me, after he had horribly broken my heart, I swayed by his one action. 

What kind of attractive spell was it? It was almost like a connection of a soulmate. Did he feel the same- 

‘Oh, what was I saying? If he had, he wouldn’t be throwing me into fire.’

“Mhm-”

“Enough, Eliana, stop creating a damn scene.”

Licking my lips anxiously, silent tears streamed as I held his wrist, pulling his hand from my lips down. 

“You stop it,”

My misery was transparent yet he had become blind towards my anguish.

He couldn’t hear how madly my heart was screaming his name. 

How insensitively he backed away from me…

“You are no one to decide or force me into anything. Leave me, Denzel, don’t do this to me.” I whimpered, shaking my head in denial.

And my weak, delicate whisper infuriated him. He almost looked… powerless and slammed his both hands on my either side.

“What is your problem!?”

I responded breathlessly, “Do you want me to die from the pain of marrying Kyle before you?” 

His anger faded at my comment. 

“What?”

Mouth gaping out of incredulity when I sobbed a little, leaving the cage of his arms to cover my mouth and wipe my tears.

“Even if you don’t feel the same, I cannot bear marrying another man before you,” I cried a little, taking support from the wall yet stumbled.

The heftiness was too much for my fragile soul as tears gleamed, breaths restricted around my throat.

“How can I marry another man when the one I love is before me…?”

“Stop speaking nonsense, Eliana. You are about to marry Kyle,” He whispered, forcing to murder words from my tongue that caused me to snarl.

“But, I feel nothing for him! I don’t love him! I love-”

“Enough!”

My tears, my words, my pain, nothing worked, nothing lessened my pain. 

It was unbearable for me to hold Kyle’s hands, it would only be a nightmare for me. 

Unfortunately he comprehended nothing. Maybe I was never that important or close.

Neither these tears nor my confession mattered… 

“Enough is enough,”

Relaxing a little, he contemptibly pointed his finger at me along with a warning tone.

“Don’t spout nonsense,”  

It pierced a portion of my soul, igniting embers I never knew existed. It hurt a lot.

Never once I imagined he would abandon me… 

“Nonsense.. huh?”

Hanging my head low with endless gloom, I forced my sobbing to halt, staring at the ground- the place life threw me- for a few seconds.

That man had ZERO care about my anguish.

My life had fallen apart.

“You-”

“Leave me. I won’t go with you.”

He attempted to grab me so he could drag my hollow soul to that fucking altar which I didn’t allow.

“You are not my father, you are a nobody, Denzel Reynold,” I growled, pointing my finger at him in the way, praying his soul would burn too as I gathered my dress and moved back.

“Okay, fine. Go with your mother,” He scoffed. 

Just, scoffed. 

Once again, it meant nothing to him.

Rolling my eyes, I ran back to the dressing room, to my mother who was astonished to find me back.

“What happened?”

“Why would he take me there? You are my mother, I will go with you,” 

“But, you are so attached to him-”

“I don’t care. I will go with you,” I hissed, curling my hands in a fist to contain my powerlessness.

“Okay,” 

Mother didn’t think deeply about the reasoning and helped me to fix my form. 

When she set the veil over my head again, she kissed the top of my head, heartbroken.

“I am sorry, this is not how I imagined your married, my love,”

“Me too. But… What can I say? Let’s go and get over this,” I sighed, giving her hand an assuring squeeze.

I was left with no choice, too empty to fake sadness at this point.

“Bless you,” 

She smiled, wiping her tears as we left where the man I least wanted to see was waiting for me.

The scheming billionaire, Kyle Hudson. His blue eyes shining, brown hair flowing in the air while keeping a charming expression.

I got fooled once, but not again.

His usual manipulative aura surrounding him, earning a glare from me. 

‘Wow, after destroying my life, sending my father to the hospital, here he is,’

The second I stepped forth, his face glowed, observing my helpless figure carefully, doubling the wrath flaring in me.

That bastard…

“Ah, there you are, Darling, I was impatiently waiting for you.”

“I wasn't,” I whispered furiously.

“Ah, come on, You are looking absolutely stunning,” 

Grinning, he took my hand without offering, making me stand at the altar. 

Keeping my hands caged in his, he pulled us closer, too much to my discontent.

“Drop that sweet act after giving my father a heart attack,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

“Do you think I did this deliberately?”

“Yeah, right,”

I scanned the hall and fortunately, Denzel wasn’t there. I seriously wouldn’t be able to continue if he was there. 

It stabbed me that after devastating me, here I was, incapable of marrying another man in his presence.

It was like he had taken shelter into my soul- Shut up!

“If I had known he was weak-hearted, I wouldn’t have come near him in the first place,” He frowned, caressing my knuckles to convince me.

“I don’t need your explanations,”

“Okay, I am sorry, Baby. Let’s place this behind us and start a new life, I promise I will give you all the happiness and keep you happy.” 

Murmuring, he kissed my hands, flashing a wide, toothy grin to convince me.  

Not wanting to create a scene or infuriate him, I remained motionless as the ceremony started.

The worst point of my life.

If my heart hadn’t belonged to someone else.

In that case, how could I fathom about liberating a yes for an undesirable marriage?

“Do you, Eliana Duke, take Kyle Hudson, as your lawfully wedded husband?” 

No, never, not anymore.

It took life-threatening force from me to say my ‘I do,’- It shattered me. 

Each second was heavy on my breaths, tears refilled, suffocation took over me. Invisible fetter defeated me and it was not from Kyle’s actions.

But, Denzel’s.

When I never meant anything then why did he hold my hand? 

Just to leave me on another man’s mercy?

I was overwhelmingly outraged at Denzel, hating myself for loving a man like him who left me here.

Whatever the reason was, my life was destroyed.

… All because of him.