A bride without peace

If someone had told Aurelia she would get bored at her own wedding, she wouldn’t have believed it.

Her prayers finally got answered when the party ended and guests started leaving.

She stood up instantly and hurried to where Wendy stood.

“If I spend one more minute in this outfit I’m gonna collapse.” She grumbled, dragging her nails over her itchy lace sleeves.

“You designed the dress, you should have known better.” Wendy rolled her eyes before focusing back on her phone.

Aurelia scoffed. She looked around and found her parents discussing with her husband’s family. She had gotten to know them at the church after the matrimony.

“That conversation seems like it’s going to last for an eternity. We should go home.” She said to Wendy.

Wendy’s gaze shifted swiftly from her phone. “We? Home?” Before Aurelia could answer, she continued. “Do you realize you are now married?”

Aurelia’s brows furrowed. “And?”

“And you have to go home with your husband, you dumbass!” Wendy snapped.

Her brows dropped. Realization suddenly dawned on her.

She now had a new family and a new surname. Tonight, she would be going home with her husband.

Speaking of which, she hadn’t set her eyes on her husband for about two hours now. The last time she saw him, he was talking to a man in his late fifties. The man had had a deep frown on his face, and she could tell something was wrong, but it was none of her business.

Even her infamous brother-in-law also disappeared from the wedding. He’d left few minutes after he sent her that text.

“Do you know where my husband lives? Does he live alone?” It had been a long time she genuinely prayed, but at this moment, she was praying for Wendy to say yes.

She couldn’t imagine being in the same roof with Oliver, her brother-in-law.

Yesterday, he did tell her his name. It was when he was eating her up and she didn’t know the name to moan. He had whispered it to her ear.

Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she stared at Wendy, waiting for an answer.

“While you were seated, giving out fake smiles to people you barely even knew, I did go about doing some findings.” A hint of pride was laced at Wendy’s tone.

“And?” She anticipated, her sharp gaze pinned on the girl who looked exactly just like her, but a mini version.

“And I found nothing.”

Aurelia’s eyes dimmed in disappointment. “What do you mean you found nothing?”

“There’s literally nothing of the family you got married into out there. I think they like to be private. But…” Wendy looked around before leaning closer to her.

“I only heard that the handsome guy you met earlier at the church’s entrance is the Groom’s brother. Fuck! He’s so handsome. I had my eyes on him the whole time. But then he left early, with the groom and a strange man.”

While Wendy was talking, Aurelia had a look of disgust on her face. It wasn’t intentional, it came naturally from the fact that her sister was fantasizing the man she had slept with barely twenty hours ago. It felt irritating and annoying.

She had the urge to warn Wendy to kill whatever little crush she had developed on Oliver, but then she decided not to. It would make the whole thing suspicious.

She only knew him last night but she was sure of all things, he wasn’t a pedophile.

Wendy just turned eighteen few months ago and even though it would be legal for her to consent, she had high hopes that he wasn’t the type that went for extremely young girls.

She was about to speak when she spotted her husband entering into the hall. He was on a call but ended the call when he got to where his parents and her parents were.

Her eyes didn’t leave the hall entrance, she thought his brother would walk in next. But he didn’t. He never did.

“Aurelia!” A tap on her shoulder pulled her from her trance.

“Mum sent me a text to tell you to come to where they are.” Wendy informed.

Her heart skipped for the umpteenth time since the beginning of the day. “Wh-why?”

“I don’t know.” Wendy shrugged her shoulders.

She looked at where they were and noticed they were conversing. There was no smile on their faces and it gave a hint that it wasn’t a funny conversation going on.

Since Oliver left the hall, she had became less nervous. But now the nervousness returned, doubled.

‘Could it be that he told her husband about last night? And her husband was here to end the wedding?’

She would be the happiest person on earth if the marriage ended but then not at the expense of her parents finding out she slept with a stranger the night before her wedding.

She couldn’t tell which was worse. Whether it was because he was a stranger or because he was her brother-in-law.

With her shoulders held high, she walked to where they all were and wanted to put on one of her fake smiles but there was nothing funny or exciting at the moment.

She didn’t bother to exchange pleasantries with her parents-in-law because she had already done that at the church and even earlier at the reception.

“As you know, you’ll be going to your new home.” Her father spoke up, and she nodded. “Hardin is a busy man, so your honeymoon will not be this week, but next week.”

She almost scoffed, but she didn’t. She knew better than to. As polite as she could, she spoke up, “I don’t see why we have to go for honeymoon.”

“She’s right.” Hardin was in support, which she didn’t find surprising because it was clearly obvious he was uninterested in the whole thing.

“We don’t need honeymoon. We’re not some stupid couple in love.” He added, his tone as serious as his expression.

This time around, Aurelia scoffed loudly. Stupid couple?

She titled her head to stare at him. “People who go for honeymoon aren’t stupid. They’re people in love who got fortunate to marry their sweethearts.”

Hardin spared her a stare, but it didn’t last. Not even for a second.

“If there’s nothing else important to discuss, I’ll like to go home.” He didn’t refer to her.

She clenched her fists tightly, stopping herself from saying any more words.

This was her first impression of him. An asshole.

“You’ll go for honeymoon, Hardin. It is needed.” Her father-in-law spoke up.

He looked a bit older than her father but more approachable. He was jovial when she met him and he gave her full assurance that she would be taken care of. He was also soft spoken, and that was what she liked about him.

Hardin didn’t say a word, and she assumed it was an ‘okay’

***********

The drive home was painfully silent. Not a word between them.The silence followed them all the way to the mansion gates.

The car door was opened for her by a security guard waiting for her to arrive. There were also house staffs (ladies) waiting to take her things out of the boot.

She stared at the building. It was big, just like her father’s house, but there was no place like home. It wasn’t about the interiors or how big a house was, it was about the people in it, the bond.

She ignored the greetings from them and walked into the house, tailing after Hardin.

At each step she took, she grew anxious. She didn’t know what scared her more; the cold husband walking ahead of her, or the possibility that the devil she met last night lived somewhere behind one of these walls.

They walked past the living room and just as she climbed the stairs after him, he stopped, but didn’t turn.

“The staffs will show you to your room. If you’ve rested, request for what to eat. Whatever discussion you want to have, save it for tomorrow.” He said flatly and then continued climbing the stairs.

Aurelia didn’t go after him. She just stared at him till he was out of sight, wondering if he was usually this cold.

“Miss Aurelia.” She heard her name from behind, and when she turned, she found one of the staffs smiling at her.

As someone who was used to giving fake smiles, she could tell the smile of the staff wasn’t genuine.

“Welcome. May I show you to your room?”

Without saying any word, she nodded, and the staff led the way.

When they got to the room, the staff switched on the lights, displaying the king sized bed and the other interiors in the room.

“Is there anything you’ll like me to change, ma’am?” The staff asked.

Aurelia didn’t immediately reply. Her eyes scanned the room and she didn’t find anything she’d like to change. The room was spacious, just like her room.

“No.”

“Dinner?”

“No.”

“Drink?”

“No.”

“Need me to do anything else?”

“Fucking no!” She snapped. She was exhausted, and what she wanted at that moment was to take off the itchy gown, clean her makeup and sleep.

“Okay ma.” The staff lowered her head and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

As soon as she was out of sight, Aurelia fell flat on the bed.

Today could pass as the worse day of her life, but she was too tired to ponder on it, she was too tired to cry, too tired to think, too tired to blame her dad for trading her happiness for business.

She finally took off her wedding gown, got into the bathroom and had a long warm relaxing bath.

When she got out of the bathroom, her phone beeped and she proceeded to check what it was.

Her heart skipped when she saw it was an unknown number. She instantly thought of him.

“What do you want now?” She mumbled breathlessly as she clicked the text.

“This isn’t your house. You won’t skip meals because you feel like. Your food will be brought in. Eat and do whatever you want with your life.”

Her grip on the phone tightened. She was pissed off, at the same time she was relieved it wasn’t a text from who she thought it was.

She didn’t need a soothsayer to tell her who sent the text.

She wanted to reply, but she decided to ignore him because she had absolutely nothing to say to him.

She placed her phone down with a frustrated sigh.

Then it vibrated again.

A second message.

She grabbed the phone violently, ready to retort, but her hands trembled when she read the coldest text she’d ever received.

“If I don’t get a reply in the next one minute, I’ll assume you died out of starvation and I’ll be glad to send your body to your parents.”