Chapter 5

Aella couldn’t believe she had just been married to Damien. He smiled at her as she had a frown on her face. After the pastor announced them as husband and wife, Damien had to pull Aella closer while others congratulated them.

“You need to smile if you want this to be believable, he whispered to her through grunted teeth so that no one would know he was warning her, and just like a charm, she immediately smiled widely.

“I was smiling.” She whispered back.

“It’s time for the bride and groom to walk down the aisle, and with this, they seal their bonds together, promising to love each other till death do them apart.” The priest said, and with that, Damien took Aella's hands in his as they both walked down the path, waiting for them to pass. Damien stared at his mother, and she had a very broad smile on her face as she applauded with all her might. Aella also saw how happy she looked and had a flashback to the day of the contract.

***Flashback***

“Why do you want me to have a fake marriage with you when you can just have any woman as your bride without having to pay any commission to her?" Aella was questioned after finally agreeing to do what he wanted.

“Because I don’t want to be committed to any woman, and I don’t think I can love anyone, but my mother doesn’t care as all she wants is a grandchild.” Damien said this to her as Aella's eyes almost popped out due to surprise.

“Do I still have to bear a child for you?” Aella questioned, and Damien also hadn’t thought about all that before talking about this contract deal.

“Yes, but you don’t have to worry—no strings or affection included. I would only be in intercourse with you with the sole aim of bearing a child, and once you do finally have one, you only get to stay with the child for a year, and we file for divorce, and you won’t be attached to my child anymore; you would be a free woman again.” Damien said, and at that moment, Aella was also okay with his condition.

****Flashback Ends***

As Aella walked past her mother-in-law with a sad expression. Damien was about to hurt his mother intentionally, as well as the child that would come into this marriage. Aella thought of what would happen to the child if she were to leave him at just the age of one or if the child would ever find out that his mother and father never loved each other but got married due to consequences.

“What are you thinking about? You need to stop having a sad expression. Cameras are clicking.” Damien whispered, taking her out of her sad thoughts.

“I am sorry. I just can’t believe I am getting married this early in my life, but I don’t want to think about it anymore.” Aella said to Damien, even though she was well aware that Damien didn’t care.

It was soon time for their photoshoots outside the church building.

“Do you think we need to have an album for a wedding that won’t last more than a year?" She whispered to Damien as the cameramen slowly set up their snapping equipment, and Damien's mother was also setting up her make-up in preparation for the photos.

“We don’t have a choice; my mother made sure to remind me of the fact that, as she said, she wants to keep a memory of everything.” Damien said to her as she nodded in realization and slowly a wide smile spread on her face. She was very glad that someone in the family was nice, and she pulled care about her when Damien wouldn’t care because it was more than obvious that Damien didn’t like her guys, let alone anything about her.

“Please smile for us, beautiful bride.” were all the things she could hear, as no one even cared about how Damien looked or dressed; he was more like a decoration to the pictures.

It was soon time for pictures with the family, and Damien's mother rushed up to Aella and hugged her tightly, almost lifting her up as she stared in shock as Damien's mother dropped her slowly to the ground.

“I am so happy you finally joined the family; I swear I didn’t believe him and thought she was just trying to make a mockery of my plea that he get married.” She said to me so loudly that I slowly felt embarrassed.

“She is such a beautiful wife, to be honest, another man said, and with the way his aura felt, Aella knew immediately that he was either Damien's uncle or a rival.

"Yes, Michael, I mean, look at her. I knew Damien to have a unique taste, but this woman is just so perfect and unique, I don’t know how else to explain it.” His mother said this to Aella as she pulled her cheeks playfully, making her smile.

“Just so you know if Damien ever treats you badly, make sure to report it to me. I know he won’t dare to treat you badly because he explained to me how much he loved you and how you took his breath away on the first day.” She added, making her turn her glares back at Damien; he didn’t even let her know of all the tales he had told his mother, and now all Aella could do was smile wierdly, like she was well aware of everything his mother had just said.

“And also, please take good care of Damien; he's the only son I have.” She said, and then Aella realized that he was the only son of his mother, which would explain why she made the wedding so grand.

“And don’t forget to be quick to produce grandchildren for me, and I know you won’t slag at that. You can even start today." She whispered the last part to Aella, making her blush.

*****

After the shoot, Damien's mother continuously tried to bond with Aella, it was time for the reception, and Aella and Damien had to use a different car to get there. Now it was Aella and Damien alone as she knew he was about to start complaining about everything.

“Why couldn’t you speak when my mother tried to bond with you?” He whispered to her, making Aella roll her eyes subconsciously.

“I was trying to be as respectful as possible.” She said this to Damien, who nodded with a smile at her response, and here she was thinking he was about to yell at her.

“Your grandmother's surgery is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning, so you would have the privilege of seeing her.” Damien said. He subconsciously wanted her to be happy, since it was so obvious she wasn’t happy right from the beginning of the wedding.

Aella could not hold in her happiness as she smiled widely and was about to hug him as her own way of thanking him when she noticed her mistake and pulled away.

“Thank you so much.” She whispered to Damien, who didn’t say anything, and he tried to contain his smile.

Their car soon arrived at the venue, and the guests welcomed them with loud applause and fliers everywhere. But Aella was a bit happy about how everything was slowly going, as she felt like the bad person playing a trick on everyone’s mind, but Damien didn’t even care, so she also didn’t care. The celebration continued for an hour, with everyone bringing different gifts for the both of them.

It was soon almost nightfall, and they had to leave for their honeymoon, which was still at Damien's house, as all her luggage had already been placed in Damien’s mansion, waiting for their arrival.

When they got to the mansion, Aella was already exhausted and had no energy in her anymore. She rushed into the apartment, not even bothered to admire the exquisite taste of his apartment. She turned towards Damien, who was still taking off his shoes.

“Where is my bedroom?” She said this to Damien, who looked up at her weirdly.

“Do you want to have a separate bedroom?” He asked, stunning Aella as she moved closer to him.

“Are we going to sleep in the same bedroom?" She said this to Damien, who chuckled.

“Yes, do you want my mom to make life miserable for us? She would be here almost all the time, and she wouldn’t like you to have a separate bedroom, so sleep in mine." Damien said to her before pointing to his room, as he wasn’t ready to sleep just yet. He had just made a decision in his life that he felt he was soon about to regret.

Meanwhile, Aella, not caring about Damien, just ran straight to the bedroom and, without even doing anything, fell into bed, ready to sleep.

Damien sat down in his little bar for a late-night drink, which he usually does, and soon decided to take a nap as he had been stuck at his house with Aeppa for three days and had no choice, all for the sake of his mother.

He opened the door to see Aella fast asleep with her body fully spread on the King-size bed when Damien thought of an idea to wake her up and make her notice she had done something wrong by taking a nap on the bed.

He quietly tiptoes to the bathroom, takes a bowl of water, and returns to pour it all on Aella's body. She was so shocked by her sleep that she woke up breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

“What was that for?” She questioned, still trying to understand what was going on.

“You are in my house, and I won't agree to this trash you keep doing. You can't walk into someone's bedroom and just take a nap, and mostly not with a wedding gown. After everything you had to do today, you still took a nap with it!!” he yelled, making her stand up as she was about to enter the bedroom, but he pulled her back.

“Go and make use of the bathroom in the sitting room or somewhere else,” he muttered before pushing her out, and although Aella was exhausted, she still had no choice but to follow his command and do what he wanted from her.

After Damien had taken his shower, he came out, and his room felt so much like his. He sniffed the air around him with satisfaction before taking his seat on the bed and turning on his phone, only to be shocked by lots of numbers and messages from people he knew and also didn't know. There was even a much louder uproar online as everyone was talking about his wedding and how grand it was and also how gorgeous his bride was.

“She looked like a fairy from a fairytale movie," he muttered out the comment from the post his mother had made.

And just then, Aella rushed in with only a towel wrapped around her chest and an awkward smile to top it all up.

"Uhm," she began, but Damien had already lost his mind staring. His gaze began from her skin down to her covered body and back to her wet hair, blushing cheeks, and most especially her smile.

“I am sorry I had to walk in this way; you pushed me out without my night dress or anything else," she said to Damien, but he was still unable to control himself.

“Damien?” She called out in confusion as he suddenly came to his senses.