CHAPTER 14: THE WEDDING SURPRISE II

EMMA'S POV

My hands shook against my mouth. My legs gave way the moment I heard those words.

"Emma Armstrong, you are hereby ordered to pay a billion dollars in compensation for the damages caused by your actions. Failure to do so may result in a prison sentence."

The next second, everything went blank. I found myself falling into darkness, and the last words I heard were the exclamation, "Someone has fainted!"

By the time I opened my eyelids again, I was no longer in the midst of the crowd. Instead, I was seated inside a car.

I tilted my head sideways and looked up, only to find Mom staring intensely outside the window. On the other side was Dad, looking somehow exhausted.

My gaze slowly went down to my dress. I was still in my wedding dress, with my flowers still intact in my hands.

Was it a dream?

"Mom..." My voice came out low, so low that I could barely hear myself.

"I had a crazy dream that my wedding with Ethan got interrupted by Avon, the marriage law prosecutor... He said I was guilty of fraud, and I think he fined me a billion dollars." A laugh escaped my lips at the last part.

"Such a crazy dream..."

"You're awake." She choked out. I looked at her. Fear filled her eyes.

My heart dropped.

It wasn't a dream!

"It wasn't a dream, Miss," a familiar voice came through my words. I raised my gaze toward the driver's seat and found Avon staring at me through the mirror.

My chest tightened at that moment. In fact, air left my lungs.

Him...?

How's this possible? Wasn't I dreaming? How was he sitting in the driver's seat, driving? Where's Ethan?

My head throbbed as different questions flew in all at once.

Elena is dead. I confirmed it myself after the fall, before her body was pushed into the beach. I even went as far as framing her for stealing Ethan's money just to erase her from everyone's memories.

But how could she still be haunting me even after death?

My jaw tightened.

Elena!

My hand clenched down against my dress at the thought of her.

"Emma, calm down," Mom whispered, as if trying to tell me to breathe.

"Miss, it seems you're now back. It will be nice not to waste more time by taking you to the hospital. Let's just take the next route to the station," Avon stated without even glancing at me.

My heart skipped beats.

"No, no, no." I shook my head in horror, my eyes instinctively going to Mom.

"Mom, do something!" I shook her hands. She gave me a look, the kind of look that told me they were helpless.

I turned to Father. He gave me that same look.

Where the fuck is Ethan? Why is he not here when I need him?!

"Where is Ethan? Why..." My words halted when the car suddenly went left with a piercing sound that almost made my heart jump into my stomach.

I furrowed my brows at Avon, then my eyes slowly went to the direction sign, which clearly stated—

He wasn't joking?

He's actually going to the station?

No, no. I can't imagine myself inside a cell wall on my wedding day.

Something has to be done!

"Please, I don't want to go there."

"Then pay the fine, which is one billion dollars," he replied.

"One billion?" My head blanked out.

"Isn't that too much?" I cracked out.

"You knew the law, but yet you decided to overstep it... so yes, it isn't too much," Avon replied.

But I can't just give one billion dollars. I was lucky to have gotten a billion dollars from Mrs. Adams E. for my shares.

But if I paid that same billion as a fine, I'd lose everything I had just gained.

"If I give that money away, I lose everything—my shares, my money. No, I can't give it away."

"Then be ready to spend the rest of your life in a prison cell," he replied coldly.

Mom's hands found it way to mine.

"Emma, give it out. I still have thirty percent of the company's shares. We can sell them to Mrs. Adams E., and at least you'll still have something left."

My head said otherwise, but she's right. If she paid a billion for just twenty percent, just imagine how much she will pay this time around for thirty percent.

"Fine, I agree to pay."

°°°°°

ELENA'S POV

Emma, I wonder how you find my gift. Was it interesting? Nice? Or scary?

Although she fainted and was rushed out of the hall, and my connection got cut, I still trust what Avon can do. All I need to do is sit, wait, and prepare myself for the news.

I knew Emma would have no choice but to pay.

And once she did...

A smile slowly formed on my lips.

Just that moment, my door burst open, revealing Mrs. Adams leaning against the door, breathing heavily as if she had raced her way down here.

"Elena, have you seen the news?" she asked.

A deep frown appeared across my forehead.

"I've seen a lot of news, so which one in particular?"

She brought her phone out and shoved it in front of my face.

I squinted my eyes to be able to see what was written due to its closeness to my face.

It was the news about Ethan and Emma's wedding.

I chuckled softly and relaxed back in my chair.

Her look shifted from shock to something else, like someone whose realization had just hit.

"It was you?" Her voice dropped.

"Why are you so..." The thundering of footsteps emerging from the door caused me to swallow my remaining words.

"Ma'am!" Cleo called the moment she entered the room.

"She has paid the fine. The one billion has been returned to your account!"

A slow smile spread across my lips.

Exactly as planned.