SCARLET
I go through the rules one more time.
The marriage will last for six months.
Act like a perfect couple in public but keep distance in private.
No one can know it’s fake.
Husband pays wife five million dollars monthly allowance.
Do not fall in love.
No dating other people (cheating is not allowed)
No strings attached.
There is one rule that is in bold.
I believe that was Devan’s way of being insistent.
Also….Do not fall in love.
I give Devan a glance.
He’s breathtakingly handsome of course.
You could easily fall for his charm.
I take in his features again.
A glance at his broad shoulders.
His chest.
Yeah, so attractive.
But again, my heart was crushed just five seconds ago.
Why would I want to fall in love again?
I’m doing this out of spite.
I’m doing this to embarrass Kelvin too.
I’m doing this for the pact I made with my mother, which I didn’t mention to Devan.
Would he understand me?
Which leads me to the last rule.
No strings attached.
This is going to be a show.
A show where I play a loving wife in public.
No strings attached.
I should always keep that in mind and focus on the goal.
No matter what Devan’s looks do to my insides.
“Is everything is okay?” Asks Devan.
“Yeah, yeah. This is perfect. Can I have a pen please?”
He quickly hands it over to me and I suck in a breath before putting my signature on the papers.
Six months.
I remind myself.
No strings attached.
Devan signs, too.
And the deal is sealed.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Matias declares.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
And those words make me realize.
Will we kiss in public?
The way Devan looks at me tells me he has the same thing in mind.
Although…
My eyes land on his lips.
Would I really mind kissing those sexy lips that look inviting.
Focus, Scarlet.
That’s not the point here.
“We’ll figure things out slowly,” Devan tells me.
“For now, we need to plan on how this is going to pan out. First of all, we should deal with the wedding. We should quickly plan on how we’ll embarrass that…” he shuts his eyes.
“You know who.”
“Now this is my favorite part,” Matias says as he takes a seat beside me.
“The plan was to show up at my wedding, married to someone else,” I begin.
Matias stares at me like he’s trying to figure out something.
“But why would Kelvin want to marry you, when he has someone else?” He asks.
“What do you mean?” I pry.
“What my idiot friend is asking is, what is Kelvin benefiting from this marriage? Is there anything you can think of?”
Yeah.
Because he could always break up with me…
“Do you think his mistress knows about you?”
She definitely knows about me.
And they had an argument last night…
The prenup.
Kelvin mentioned the prenup.
How could I have forgotten about that?
There has been a lot going on.
And my mind has been trying to process this whole thing.
It’s logical for me to forget some parts.
“I signed a prenup,” I tell the men, and that piques their interest.
“What were the terms?” Devan probes.
“If any one of us cheated, they would lose everything.”
“Everything?” Devan arches a brow.
“In my case, the most important thing is the MPH.”
“That’s the real deal,” Matias bangs the table, startling me.
Now that I think about it.
What if this was part of his plan?
“But I would never cheat on Kelvin, and if he agreed to sign it…would he risk it?”
“Unless he planned on framing you.” Devan concludes.
Twenty four hours ago, I wouldn’t think that was a possibility because I thought I knew my fiance.
But now?
Right this moment?
I wouldn’t put it past him.
I was so blinded by love when I signed it.
Well, I thought I was getting my happily ever after.
Look at me now.
“We’ll make him pay,” Devan declares.
“And that starts today.”
For the next one hour, we go over the plan.
______________________
Everyone was worried about me.
I spend the first thirty minutes assuring them that I’m okay.
I lie that I was feeling overwhelmed and I needed time to myself.
“Do you know how scared I was when they found your car abandoned at the cemetery?” My father asks after embracing me for what felt like an hour.
“I’m so sorry, dad.”
I want to explain everything to him, but again I’m not ready to relive it.
Everything still hurts.
And things are moving so fast.
I prepare myself for the wedding.
Since the bride is back, the wedding plans are back on.
It doesn’t take long for the bride to get ready..
About an hour later, I’m walking down the aisle.
I’m really walking down the aisle.
My father is right beside me.
I hate it that he doesn’t know how I’m hurting right now.
That there’s a plan to destroy this wedding.
Will he understand me?
Everyone is watching me.
I can feel their gushes.
This was supposed to be a magical moment.
A moment never to be forgotten.
My heart should be beating with joy.
The joy of walking towards the man who’s about to be my husband.
But that’s not what I feel.
Instead it feels like I’ve been crushed into pieces.
Kelvin stands at the altar.
Waiting for me.
I can’t believe I was going to marry him blindly.
I watch him smile.
Gosh, someone should get him an Oscar.
How did he manage to pull everything off?
Was I so stupid that I couldn’t even trace any hint of deception?
Or was he just a perfect liar who knew how to cover his tracks?
He takes my hand.
The smile never leaving his face.
You would think he’s actually in love with me.
I give back the fakest smile I have ever given.
“We’re gathered here to celebrate the union of Kelvin Harrel and Scarlet Miller,” the priest begins the normal recitals and I zone out for the rest of it.
I just look at Kelvin.
The man I thought was the love of my life.
The man who made me fly so high.
And all for what?
Money?
“Scarlet,” he calls my name and that’s when I come back to reality.
“Sorry,” I say.
“It’s just that the groom is…”
Such an asshole.
A lying bastard.
A coward.
“I just can’t believe this is happening,” I lie.
But is it entirely a lie?
I still can’t believe he did that?
I can’t believe these are the circumstances of my wedding.
That I’m already married.
To someone else.
Not my groom.
“I was just telling the priest we wrote our own vows. And I’ll start by reciting mine.”
“Okay,” I nod and force a smile.
Kelvin sighs before he begins.
“Scarlet Miller. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You’re my happiness, my peace, my joy. What I mean is that you’re my everything. I want nothing but for my day to start with you and end with you. You make my life worth living even when I feel like giving up. I have never seen someone so perfect. I look at you, and all I see is a beautiful future. I love you so much Scarlet Miller.”
How charming.
Those are the words I would have fallen for.
The words that would have led me into a ditch.
It’s the way he says it so gently.
He sounds so intentional.
A good actor indeed.
The cathedral goes silent.
Everyone is waiting for me to declare my undying love for this scamburg.
I look at the crown.
And then at the door.
In a few minutes…or seconds, Devan is supposed to appear, and take what’s his.
That’s me.
His legal wife.
“I only have one question,” I say, looking into Kelvin’s eyes.
“Was anything ever real?”
He’s confused, rightfully so.
“Why? Kelvin. Was it all for the money?”
“Scarlet,” he whispers, as gasps from the crowd suddenly fill the air.
“What are you doing?” He asks.
“All this because I’m the heir to MPH?” I proceed.
“What are you saying?” He feigns ignorance.
More gasps fill the air.
This is the part where Devan appears at the door.
“Don’t do it, Kelvin,” a female voice is suddenly heard.
And everyone turns to the direction where the voice is coming from.
The entrance.
There stands a blond, in a short A-line dress.
She looks so familiar.
My w orld stops for a moment.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
It should be Devan standing at that door.
Instead…
That’s the woman Kelvin has been cheating on me with.
What the hell is she doing here?