Chapter 2: Fear

                                     Love doesn't knock.. it enters and burns you will hell fire.

                                             Burn it baby, even your ashes will call his name.

                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                                  ~Arlet~

Clad in a beige gown and minimal makeup, I skimmed my mirage. I was a plain-jane girl with long hair, an oval face, and not a towering personality like Riele, the model. The only thing I love in myself is my eyes.

The day has come for me to box my feelings and drown them at the bottom of the ocean.

How immature I thought I could fade in the crowd fraying this color, and nobody would attend to my existence. My long hazelnut hair comes from my mom; she was one of the most stunning women I had in my life. If she had been here, she would have scolded me for choosing this dress. Reile didn’t involve me as her bridesmaid, and I was happy for the sake of my heart. Reile looked so happy in the past few days. The spark in her eyes, the blush on her face, everything looked surreal. I could only imagine how it feels to marry someone you are madly in love with.

Besides, just like me, my feelings never mattered to this universe. The leftover tears rose again, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Ruben. I hated crying for the last week; I still couldn’t figure out to stop myself from falling for him.

“You look beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes and ricocheted at the person who would hate to see me grieving silently. I dabbed my tears, pretending to fix the concealer.

He would have said the same thing if I had worn a hoodie at this event.

He came, stood next to me, and I gave him a half-shrug.

“What? You hate beige, but it looks beautiful on you.” Milo winked, making me smile. Everything in me is beautiful to him, isn’t it?

He is three years older than me, and most of the time, people get confused about us being a duo. He is the most attractive guy in the town. But of course, after Ruben. He is my best friend, Milo. Ladies die to get his attention, and I don’t know what he sees in me.

Maybe he felt responsible after my parent’s death. But the way he cared for me, I would have definitely fallen for him if I hadn’t fallen from Ruben. But jokes apart, he is my best friend, and I like it that way. He was the one who brought me out of my self-sabotaging cacoon and dragged me to get verbal therapy and forced me to do the one thing that completes me, swimming.

It’s hard for people to believe I was the same girl who got a swimming scholarship to pursue her college, but because of the unexpected event life threw her way, she rejected it and got adopted by her uncle and aunt.

“Are you ok?” He discovered my feelings a few days ago when I was silently crying in the library. He knew I had a crush on someone, but never knew it was none other than Ruben Rodriguez. I nodded silently and grabbed my clutch to walk out.

He clenched my hand, but I didn’t dare to look into his eyes, knowing he could see everything in me, even my silent sobs. Still, I tried to muster a smile.

Milo sloped a bit, producing a dubious brow at me.

“You don’t need to pretend in front of me.”

I bobbed, swallowing hard. “Does that dick even know your name?”

My eyes widened in pretended anger. “I am telling you he will divorce your sister in a day. Once he knows who Reile is.”

That made me laugh. “Stop right there.” He pointed at my mouth.

My brow crinkled, thinking he got something on my face.

“Yeah... that smile. You know it can kill hundreds of men.”

I blushed and slapped him softly.

His eyes still wanted me to show him the same smile. I took out my notepad and wrote.

Nobody knows I exist except you and Oliver.

“The thing is, everyone is blind who can't see you. Besides, I don’t want anyone to know.” He debated.

Before I wrote anything, he stuffed the notepad and pen in my clutch and pulled me into a side hug. “Shall we go, Miss Arlet Amor?”

The hall was filled with gossip and pitiful eyes toward me as we went out. They never forget to remind me about my loss, but Milo besides me was more like a hunter ready to kill them all with a stare.

The open garden by the lakeside could be a dream come true. The cocktail tower and the beautiful floral centerpiece of the dinner table took my breath away. When my eyes landed on the wedding arch, it was mesmerizing—white drapes with baby pink floral dandling playing with a soothing breeze. The dim-light, and a romantic number playing in the environment.

I looked at Milo and smiled. “You loved it, didn’t you?”

I bobbed and saw Debbie and William roaming here and there while I was sure Reile would be busy getting nervous counting the hours.

“Let’s sit there.” Milo took me next to her mom, but before that, I got a video call from Reile.

“Hello, Arlet.”

“Please, come up. I need you here.”

Leaving Milo on the way toward her family, I jolted toward Reile’s room. She seemed stressed with something, but to my surprise, why she needed me?

“Where are you going? The groom and his family are here.” Debbie grabbed my elbow and thwarted me.

I wrote on my phone and showed it to her.

Reile needs me.

“Oh, shut up. Stay here, and help me out with the guests.” She interjected, pointing at me to bring drinks for the guests.

I walked past the server and stood next to the table when my phone buzzed again. “Where the heck are you? Did you see it?”

See what?

“Come here, Arlet.” She was biting her nails, and it stressed her more than I expected from her.

I turned but froze when I saw Ruben in a white tux. His smile could give me a hundred deaths right now at this moment. His moist green eyes never looked so cherished. A pang of hurt swallowed inside me, knowing he was not there for me but for the woman he loved.

He didn’t even look in my direction, and I scooped the entire scene in my memory. He was holding a wheelchair ahead of him.

But when my eyes landed on the person sitting on it, my heart broke.

It was a sweet child in a princess dress, smiling, looking ahead.

“What the heck are you doing here? Reile is calling you.”

One bridesmaid hauled me from there, making me follow the way toward her room.

What in the world did she want now from me after snatching the man I was in love with?

The woman who pushed me through the door locked me inside.

Reile is lumbering in stress, and her perfect bun seems a little messy.

“Where the hell were you?” She cupped my shoulder and shook me badly.

I gave her a questionable look.

“I can’t..”

“I can’t marry him.”

What the heck? Is she out of her mind or what?

Hastily, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled the fear out of me.

What are you saying? He is here. What are you scaring off?

“I fear being a mother.”

What? She grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the window.

“That girl in the wheelchair is his daughter.”

“I can’t marry him.”