MARRIAGE

Preparations for the wedding began. Both Rebecca and Luciano were unhappy with the situation, but they went ahead because they had no other options. That marriage meant nothing more than another obligation they had to fulfill in their lives, so they never wanted to get to know each other, not even to exchange a word, because they were so frustrated with everything that they simply agreed that they would meet at the altar.

For the next 30 days, each one left the task of organizing the wedding and agreeing on all the preparations in the hands of their personal assistants. Only they and a couple of people who would serve as witnesses would be present at the ceremony. The orders that Luciano and Rebecca's employees received were that they should not invite anyone, as they wanted the whole affair to be as simple and quick as possible. Luciano believed that his future wife would hate him for that and Rebecca had the same idea with him, but in the end, it turned out that both wanted the same thing, only that neither really knew it because they delegated all the work to someone else, without even wanting to hear anything about that day. Both had asked their respective assistants to resolve everything on their own, as neither intended to worry about anything other than signing on the day of the ceremony.

"You have to do this," Rebecca said to herself, looking at herself in the mirror on the big day.

She looked beautiful in white. She had asked her best friend to get her a nice wedding dress, because even though she wasn't getting married happily, she at least hoped to do it looking beautiful, as it would probably be the only opportunity she would have to walk down the aisle dressed as a bride.

She took a deep breath and left the room where she had been getting ready, but she was taken aback when she entered the place of the ceremony and realized that Luciano was nowhere to be found. Her sister Diffu, her best friend Marisa, and the priest who would officiate the wedding were the only people present in that place.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked confused and seriously worried. "No one has arrived," Marisa replied, shrugging her shoulders to indicate that she didn't know anything. "Maybe they're running late. We have to wait a little bit more," said Diffu, remaining positive as she always did. Rebecca smiled at her.

The young woman sat on one of the benches to wait. She observed the bouquet of white roses in her hands as anxiety grew inside her. Her mysterious fiancé did not appear. Minutes passed without any sign of him or any member of his family.

"Please call my assistant and find out what happened," she asked Marisa. Marisa nodded and set about doing so. "She doesn't know what happened either," the girl commented after hanging up the call. "She promised to find out and let us know." "Everything will be fine," her sister said lovingly.

Rebecca tried to smile, but she was terribly disappointed. She didn't want to get married, but she didn't want to be left standing at the altar either, especially when her ability to assume full control of her parents' company depended on that wedding. She sighed with regret.

"They're on their way," Marisa told her a few minutes later.

Her assistant had called again to let them know that she had managed to speak to someone on Luciano's staff and he had told her that they knew they were running late, but that they would arrive soon. Rebecca sighed once more, not knowing whether to feel relieved or depressed.

A few moments later, the door of the room opened. Everyone turned in that direction. Rebecca's heart was beating fast with nerves. A middle-aged man, small, dressed in a suit, and with thick glasses, entered the room.

"Is that your fiancé?" Marisa asked, amazed to notice that the man arrived alone. "I thought he would be younger. Isn't he supposed to be your dad's friend's grandson?" "Well, I don't know," Rebecca whispered with a lump in her throat.

The man walked slowly until he reached the altar where the three girls and the priest were. The man introduced himself and showed them the briefcase he was carrying with documents. He was Luciano's lawyer and was there to inform her that the young man would not be coming to the wedding, he had sent him as his representative to carry out all the necessary paperwork in the process, and he was also requesting Rebecca's signature for a cohabitation contract he wanted to agree on.

"What an idiot!" she exclaimed, annoyed as soon as she heard all of that.

She couldn't believe what was happening. She didn't know what offended her more: that Luciano didn't even have the decency to show up for his own wedding, that he sent his lawyer to replace him, or that he asked her to sign a contract to protect his properties and force her to comply with more rules in that senseless marriage.

"Why is he doing this?" asked Rebecca, feeling that she deserved an explanation. "My client is not comfortable with the situation. Mr. Lombardo believes that you and your family may have ulterior motives in all of this, so he has preferred to protect his integrity and the material assets that may be compromised by this union." "He's an imbecile!" replied the girl even more annoyed.

Rebecca felt completely insulted. Both the presence of that lawyer and the mere mention of that contract represented a humiliation for her and her family. She didn't know who her husband would be, but from that precise moment she began to hate him.

Her sister and her best friend tried to calm her down. Rebecca took a deep breath and tried to take things calmly, because the girls reminded her that the future of the company was at stake. So, after taking a breath and internalizing the situation, she agreed to go with the lawyer where they could be alone and talk about all the issues of the contract that Luciano was asking her to sign.

"My client is not satisfied with this marriage," the man said as soon as they were alone. "What a surprise!" exclaimed Rebecca sarcastically. "Mr. Lombardo has already signed the marriage certificate, the proposed contract, and all the related documents. I present each one of them to you for your reading, and if you agree, I will ask for your signature to then consider this situation concluded."

Rebecca took a deep breath while thinking that her future husband was a complete idiot, but at the same time, she reminded herself that it was the condition her father had imposed on her. So she sighed once more and took the contract that the lawyer was extending to her. She began to read it.

That document stipulated that Luciano would agree not to get involved in the affairs of Stellar Gems Co., if she agreed not to have any voice or vote within Lombargo Legacy Co. Similarly, it explained the separation of goods and properties that both would have during the marriage and in case of a possible divorce.

"We know that you are bound by your father's will," commented the lawyer, "so this contract will have the same duration as that required for you to take control of the company, that is, for the next 3 years. From the moment you assume the direction of Stellar Gems Co., you can request a divorce if you wish, my client agrees to accept it." "Just like that? He doesn’t care?" "My client considers this situation a simple transaction, so this document explains the rules of coexistence that you must comply with for the duration of your marriage," Rebecca sighed and continued reading.

Luciano made available to her a mansion named "The Villa" that was located on the outskirts of the city. She could live there while married to him and it would serve as a facade for their marriage, as Luciano established in that contract that he would have no relationship or bond with her. He would attend or stay at that house when he considered it necessary, but at no time would they sleep together or even be obliged to engage in conversation.

On the other hand, Rebecca could dispose of everything she wanted from that house and would have all the freedom to live as a single woman during her marriage. Similarly, she could use the assets, contacts, and resources that Luciano possessed, whether for personal use or for activities of Stellar Gems Co. He also made his personal lawyer, the man sitting in front of her, available to help her with all the legal issues of transferring the company to her name and finally, he committed to accepting the divorce as soon as she assumed her position in the company.

In exchange for all that, Luciano only asked for two things. The first was that under no circumstances could she bother him, in other words, Rebecca had to act as if he didn't exist in her life. Luciano didn't want anything to do with her. That made her feel a little bad because even though she didn't want to marry him, she couldn't help feeling despised by all of that.

The second condition that the contract established was that while they were married, she had to live in "The Villa," appearing to Joseph Lombardo and anyone else related, that they had a happy and perfectly functional marriage. She had to make everyone believe that their marriage was real.

"Okay," Rebecca accepted after reading the entire contract.

The truth was that that agreement didn't seem too bad to her. They would have a fake marriage just to make sure they complied with what was stipulated in Robert Stellar's will and Joseph Lombardo's mandate. She took a deep breath, thinking that everything was fine, in the end, she could continue with her life as if nothing had happened. She was happy to know that despite her new husband's lack of education and cordiality, he was quite intelligent and had devised a way for both of them to come out unscathed from that commitment. Rebecca took the pen that the lawyer offered her and proceeded to sign those papers that now made her Mrs. Lombardo.