CHAPTER TWO: The Wedding

Ava:

‘I would make this marriage work,’ that was what I kept chanting to myself as I got dolled up for the wedding.

After being forced against my will, I had resigned to my fate already.

‘This marriage would work.’ I somehow convinced myself of those words as I walked down the aisle, with my dad right beside me, wearing a big, proud smile on his face like he was the one getting married and I was the one handing him over to Dante.

I glanced over to my right, searching for my mom and when I caught her sad brown eyes which were on me, she averted her gaze immediately. The woman just sat there, and honestly, I really wasn’t surprised that she didn’t counter my dad’s demand to get me tied to Dante. She had always bent to his every whims and demands right from time.

Swallowing the tight lump stuck to my throat, I avoided every other gaze on me and finally looked ahead.

I should’ve run the moment I saw him at the altar with a blank expression, and his hands clenched beside him. But then, I wouldn’t even reach the door before someone gets me and pulls me back in. There were security men in every single nook and corner of the hall. I also spotted some outside.

Everything was meant to be perfect. That’s what dad told me. A wedding dress that cost more than my life. And my father specifically pointed out that the flowers had been imported from Dante’s hometown in Italy.

But I was marrying a man who wanted me buried, not tied to him.

Dante Rossi stood across from me like I was a criminal he’d been sentenced to guard forever. His deep dark eyes didn’t blink, or soften, and they didn’t even twitch. He looked at me the way someone would look at the last breath of a dying enemy. And I forced out a smile. I smiled because crying would’ve made all this seem more real than I wanted to.

I smiled because I recalled my mom telling Ivy and I that crying on your wedding day was a bad omen. She said even happy tears weren’t supposed to be shed. The only time you should cry is after the vows have been exchanged. Or maybe later at night when you were pleasing your husband. She had specifically called those tears of pleasure.

I had wanted to ask her if she had cried on her wedding day. That would have explained why her marriage to my father was what I prayed to never have.

By the time we finally got to the altar I avoided Dante’s piercing eyes on me and focused on the flowers in my hands. I couldn’t look up in fear of what I might see.

I was raised to smile. Raised to be perfect. Raised to marry the man my parents handed me over to. I just never expected it to be this man.

Dante’s voice cut through the chapel, colder than thin ice.

“On this unremarkable day, surrounded by relatives and strangers, I stand before you with no joy in my heart. I stand before you with a heart ripped apart by your very own actions.”

A gasp rose from somewhere behind me. It came from where my mother was seated. Was it hers? Or my own soul dying a little more? I couldn’t tell.

“From the moment we met, I knew my life had met with its greatest burden.”

I glanced up and I saw his dark eyes that looked like they were swallowing my soul. The only twitch in his expression was the visible frown that settled on his brows as his gaze slid lower, taking me in. I blinked, and by the time I opened my eyes, his expression was back to the usual stone faced kind.

I forced my lips into a curve. Smile, Ava. If you smile, maybe it won’t hurt so much.

But it did. It did so much because I expected this, and I pleaded to not be forced into it. But out of my father’s greedy demands, he disregarded my wishes.

Dante wasn’t a man who second-guessed himself. So I didn’t doubt any of the words coming out of his mouth. I was almost certain that I wouldn’t last a week in this marriage.

I bit down on my lips as he continued, “I vow not to cherish you. Not to honor you. I will be nothing more than a shadow in this farce of a marriage. I will not comfort you. I will not celebrate you. I will not love you.”

“With every day that passes, I promise not to grow with you, but away from you. You are simply my wife by name. You are my punishment. And I promise you hell, Ava.”

He said my name like it burned his mouth.

Silence settled like dust. Not a soul moved. No one objected.

They all knew. They sent me to him knowing he’d destroy me. And they expected me to accept it. I spared a gaze to the direction my father was in, and what I met was a blank expression.

I wanted to shout, I didn’t kill her! I swear I didn’t! But my lips refused to open. My guilt was already sealed in the way everyone looked at me.

It was my turn to speak. My vows trembled on my tongue. I stared at the man who used to smile at Ivy like she hung the stars for him. Now he looked at me like I stole the light.

I said it anyway. Every damn word.

“I promise to love you.”

He flinched.

“I promise to stand beside you. I pledge to you my living and dying, equally in your care, and tell no strangers our grievances.” My grip tightened on the flowers in my hand, “I promise to be your wife, your friend, your strength.” Then and there, the vows my mother usually made Ivy and I chant right from when we were eighteen spilled from my lips ever so smoothly, “You cannot command me, for I am a free person. But I shall serve you in ways you require.”

He looked away. A war was going on behind his eyes. I knew I’d never be a winner in it.

Before I could finish, the officiant cut in as Dante spared him a deathful glare.

“Ex… exchange your rings.”

Dante took mine and lifted my hand up. A shiver racked through me the moment our palms touched. He must have felt it too, because he waited more than a minute before slipping the ring into my finger.

I returned the gesture, barely able to steady my shaky hands. My fingers brushed his very big hands. And I could almost imagine every other thing in his body being big. I slipped the ring in and it was then I finally looked up to take him in.

His shoulders were broad, sharp dark eyes, chiseled jaw that framed his chin, and thick, full lips to match everything.

.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

I didn’t move for a moment. His arms suddenly circled my waist when he realized I wasn't moving closer.

He pulled me to him, and his cologne wafted into my nostrils, making me suddenly feel floaty. He leaned in. Close enough to kiss me. His breath ghosted my lips. My heart stilled as his arms around my waist tightened.

I expected a kiss, but his thumbs pressed against my mouth, covering my lips, and he kissed them instead, before pulling away almost immediately like he could stay closer to me for more than a minute.

The crowd clapped. The lie was complete. And I was wondering how exactly this marriage was going to work. This man clearly despised me enough to not even be able to grant even a kiss.

And my heart broke. A tear rolled down my cheek as he pulled back. He didn’t bother wiping it.

This wasn’t a wedding.

‘This marriage wouldn’t work.’ I chanted to myself as the reality of the situation I was in slapped me so hard it became difficult to breathe.

Ivy had taken his heart to the grave. And I was left to live with the ashes.

This was the price of guilt, and I would carry it on my shoulders whether I wanted it or not.

By the time the wedding ended, I was led into a black car. My mom didn’t even come around to say goodbye to me. Either she was too ashamed to, or she didn’t want to see me anymore.

My father’s last words to me were. “Behave yourself, Ava. Dante is rumored to not be that evil.” He said that like I was supposed to be glad the man I was married to is evil, just not that evil. “And as a woman you are to make the marriage work by all means.” He gave me a small smile, probably only because his deal with the Rossis had been sealed and he would get a whopping amount of money from this. “And remember, a man has his wills, and a woman respects only the will of her husband.”

I didn’t get the chance to say anything before he moved back and shut the door.

Dante slid into the car minutes later, tugging his tie and cursing about something under his breath. And he didn't even spare me a glance as he finally spoke out, “Drive.”

Just like that, the chauffeur gave a nod, and started the car. It was at that moment I realized that my fate had already been sealed with a man that made demands with one word. He was even worse than my dad.

I rubbed my sweaty palms, holding back from the urge of biting into my nails as I looked out the window. My heart drummed loudly in my chest as the tension between us increased the more the silence grew.

I heard a deep chuckle from beside me. It was menacing and cold, followed by a deep Italian accent, “If you keep looking like you’re about to break, how would you survive the wedding night?”

My heart dropped to my stomach with a loud thud. What?