Three

Astrid opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Behind her, the band struck up another song. Someone called for the bride and groom to share a dance.

Knox got to his feet, and she followed helplessly.

He stood motionless, his gray eyes fixed on her face, then he turned around and left.

Astrid turned and saw her mother's ashen face.

She could only wonder what Knox was going to do now.

He only made it three steps away before he stopped.

His shoulders went rigid. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

Astrid's mouth dried up in fear.

She was sure he was about to proclaim to everyone present that the bride was a fraud who had conned him into marriage.

Some of the guests who noticed the tension went quiet, a ripple of silence spreading from the groom like a stone dropped in still water.

Then he turned around.

And walked back to her.

Before she could speak, before she could breathe, his hand closed around her wrist. Not hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to make it clear she had no choice.

"We need to talk," he said through clenched teeth. "Privately."

She quickly started following him, a strained smile on her face so that the guests would not notice that something was amiss.

Close on their heels was Ada.

When they got far enough from the wedding party that no one could hear them, she spoke.

"What is wrong, Ingrid?"

Astrid could hear the fear in her mother's voice; it made her more fearful.

Her heart was thudding too painfully that she could not be bothered to answer.

By the time they got to a room, Knox opened the door, then pushed her in before coming in after her.

Now that he was still, the tension vibrated off him like an actual physical force.

Astrid took a step back at the hate in his eyes.

"Isn't it too early to be having a lovers' spat?" Ada said, the false tone ringing under the forced cheerfulness.

"Where is my wife?" Knox growled.

Astrid saw her mother flinch from the corner of her eye, but she recovered immediately.

"What are you talking about?" She continued cheerfully, "There is your wife, you play too much." She gestured towards Astrid.

The door flew open again, but this time it was Knox's parents.

"Knox, what is the matter?" Mrs Gage asked,

"You can't just barge out of your wedding reception, no matter how impatient you are to begin your honeymoon." Mr Gage joked.

Knox's eyes remained on my face, and he repeated.

"Where is my wife?"

At the silence, he thundered, "Astrid, what did you do to Ingrid!"

"Nothing, I swear. Ingrid disappeared this morning." Astrid cried.

She backed up against the wall, looking everywhere but the faces in the room.

"What do you mean, Astrid?" Knox's mother looked from Knox to her face.

Realization dawned on her, and she turned to Ada and asked in chilling coldness. "Ada, what is the meaning of this?"

The door opened again, and Gino stepped in, took in the tension in the room, and probably figured out what was happening.

"What is wrong?" He still asked.

Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but before a word could come out, her mother started wailing softly.

"Knox says that this is Astrid, not Ingrid."

Astrid's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Do you mean to tell me you don't know which of your children is the bride?" Mrs Knox chidded in irritation.

"You all must have been in this to humiliate my family." She continued in disgust. "I told Knox not to marry into such a desperate family."

"Olivia, how could you accuse us of such?" Ada cried out. "How could I know Astrid was up to such mischief?"

"But mother…" Astrid protested.

*SLAP*

Her eyes filled with tears at the unexpected slap from her father.

She held her burning cheek and stared up at the anger in his eyes.

"How dare you shame the family like this?" He roared. "Do you understand the severity of what you have done?"

Astrid stared in disbelief, fear prickling at the realization that her parents were throwing her under the bus.

They had chosen to save themselves and their precious daughter and left her as the scapegoat.

Such a smooth lie, Astrid smiled ruefully at the swift change from desperate begging to viciously blaming her.

'Who can I blame? I allowed myself to be used.' she thought.

"What did you do?" Knox demanded.

Astrid shivered at the cold, quiet tone.

He looked like she was some shit he had picked up with his expensive shoes.

She was too tired to cry, so she just clasped her hands together.

"Please, Knox…" She begged.

"Where is Ingrid?" He echoed

"I don't know, I swear." She sobbed and looked at her parents' faces, hopeful.

But if she was looking for help from those quarters, nothing was coming.

Just disdain and relief that the heat had moved from them and solely on her head.

"We gave you everything we could," Ada cried. "Why would you do that to your own sister?"

"What are we going to do?" Mrs Gage asked, "We can't allow her to take advantage of us like this."

"Oh the scandal, the scandal!" She cried.

Astrid looked at her mother, hoping that she would have some pity, speak up for her.

She avoided Astrid's eyes.

"If anyone learns of this, if this gets out that we were conned by this twit, our shares will plummet." Mr Gage said coldly. "We cannot annul the wedding right now, we have to give it some time."

"The bitch has us trapped." Mrs Gage erupted.

Knox stared at Astrid for a tense-filled second.

"You wanted to be her so badly that you wore her dress and signed her name," Knox said, stopping his pacing and approaching her like a predator.

"Fine. You’re my wife. But you don't get the life she was going to have. You’re going to help me find her, and until then, you will play this part so perfectly that even God is fooled."

With that, he turned on his heel and left the study.

*

Excuses were made for the couple's disappearance, but Astrid was soon bundled out of the garden and into a stretch limo.

Surprisingly, Knox got in after her.

Astrid guessed he did that to keep up appearances.

She was forced to smile and wave at the wedding guests while Knox sat stiffly beside her.

She could imagine that he could not bear to spend another second beside her.

His scent permeated the entire car, and try as she did, Astrid could not pretend he was not there.

She was so painfully aware of him.

The tight jaw, the furrowed brow. She was afraid to breathe too loudly.

She thought about Ingrid. Wondered where she was.

'Probably on some beach with fine white sand and clear blue water,' Astrid mused angrily, dashing an errant tear from her cheek.

She swore to herself that the next time she saw her sister, She would strangle her.

And as for her parents, Astrid did not know how, but she would get even with them.

Her heart was bursting from the betrayal.

The car soon pulled up in front of the magnificent estate that was supposed to be Knox and Ingrid's chance to build a new life, but judging from Knox's expression, it was about to become Astrid's prison.

The butler came forward and helped her out of the car.

She thought Knox was going to come down after her, but the car zoomed off immediately after.

Standing before Astrid was a line of staff. She watched the confusion on their faces at her new husband's hasty departure.

The unwanted bride, whose husband did not bother to accompany her into their home for the first time.

She tried to put on a bold face and smiled, but it felt shallow.

They greeted her and led her to a huge room.

Immediately she stepped in, she saw the dark hues of the room with its massive king-sized bed.

With its clean lines and minimal furniture, she could tell that this was Knox's room.

She wondered why the servants had led her there because she knew that Knox would not accept her being in his space.

But she was too exhausted and embarrased to call them and ask them to move her out of his room.

The worst that could happen had happened.

She stripped off the heavy wedding dress and crawled into bed in her silk underwear.

As she placed her head on the pillow, she inhaled Knox's scent. Cedar and musk.

She had craved being close enough to breathe his scent, but not like this.

Despite how unsettled and unhappy she was feeling, she soon fell asleep.

Until she felt warm hands on her body, followed by lips, kissing desperately.