Chapter 2

The day of the wedding was here already, and Marie felt sick to her stomach!!!

She wasn’t sure she could go through with the plan, but was sure that she had no other option, deep down she knew she was making such a drastic decision against someone who has supposedly done her no harm.

She had stayed up all night convincing herself on a million and one reasons why she just had to pull through with this.

“Who knew why Berry Montana would go this far to ruin someone else’s wedding”; Marie thought to herself as she wheeled into the parking lot.

“You’ve got this,” Marie takes a deep breath and tries to calm her nerves as she stares at her reflection in a mini mirror.

Silver lawn garden was a perfect location to tie the knot, for a moment there; Marie wished it was her wedding day or she was genuinely here for the event, but reverse was the case; she was neither her for any of the wishes.

Safely pulling over in a spot where reversal won’t take much of an effort, she unstrapped her seatbelt and reached out for her makeup pouch for a slight makeover.

In few minutes, Marie felt more confident with her brushed up look; she unstrapped Audrey from her baby car seat and stared lovingly into her bright grayish eye; emotions waving through her.

“I’m sorry, I have to make you do this” she said leaving a gentle kiss on Audrey’s forehead who giggled in response.

Sending a quick text to Berry to inform her of their arrival at the venue, she slipped out of the car with Audrey in her arms.

The wedding hall in the garden was a grand ballroom, with crystal chandeliers, gilded mirrors, and luxurious red velvet drapes. The lighting was soft and romantic, with candles flickering on the tables. The guests were dressed in their finest, and the air was filled with the sounds of conversation and laughter. The guests were arriving, and the ceremony is about to begin.

"Marie?"

A male voice called from behind.

Turning around, Marie sees a sophisticated looking handsome in his tuxedo; a replicate of the groom’s picture Berry sent to her.

“Wait, was this the victim and how did he know her name?” she thought, fighting her facial expression from letting the cat out the bag.

He kept smiling at her, there's a look in his eyes that she can't quite place.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I'm here as a guest," Marie says, her voice shaking slightly. "I was invited."

"Really?" Field asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I didn't know you knew the princess."

"I don't," Marie says, and she can feel her heart racing. "I'm just a friend of the family."

“Oh… I see, see you around”, he responds and walks away.

“Phew!!! I just hope I haven’t gotten us into a mess,” she muttered to Audrey who giggled in response to her; obviously ignorant of the situation at hand.

She quietly crept into the hall and sat at the far end, very close to the exit door. Procession begins and her heart thunders as they make to begin exchanging vows;

“Okay… One. Two, three;” she drew in a very sharp breath.

“Field is the father of my child!!” she abruptly stands up and yells on the top of her voice. Her heart thundered as she raced out of the hall, headed straight to the parking lot.

“You just did that!” she kept repeating to herself; still in utter disbelief at how everything seemed to have happened.

“Do I deserve an explanation right away?” Kathryn Carlo who was slowly growing red in hurt; her eyes welling up.

“Definitely my princess, I do not know who that woman is; I promise you?”

“How dare you lie to me?” Kathryn slung into a nearby chair; her legs shaking from the announcement she had just heard.

“I swear on anything you want me to swear on, I promise; even if it means taking a paternity test to prove it to you, I’d never do such to you”

“I think he’s being honest,” Don Carlo chipped in.

“She probably might have been contracted to pull this stunt, this could truly be a set up,” Don Carlo continued, uncertain of what he just said; he had always liked Field because of his affluence and his physical appearance and had fought tooth and nail to ensure that he got married to his daughter.

“Exactly what I was going to say” Field added, silently blessing Don for his intervention.

The guests were beginning to mutter angrily under their breath amongst themselves, some looked displeased and were probably going to leave the event in no time, while some sat quietly and kept observing.

Kathryn sat still, wrapping her head around everything that had just happened she loved Field so much notwithstanding that they only dated for a very short while; she couldn’t imagine life without field.

“Do you mean you don’t trust me?” he took Kathryn’s slender hands in his, staring lustfully into her eyes; trying to seduce her with the charm literally every lady fell for. “Of course, I do; I just…” his charm was working.

“Shhh” I understand, let’s get back to where we left off, but I’d have to address the guest’s firstly.”

“Alright”

"I want to make it clear that what the lady has said is not true," he began, "I am not the father of her child and I have never met her before today." He said, concluding as he ironed out his Tuxedo with his both hands.

The crowd had grown silent now.

He still felt what he felt for Marie the very first day he set his eyes on her; he had never felt so strongly for any other woman in his life, and finding out the fact that they had a baby together even magnified whatever this strange feeling he had for her was.

He was in dire need of the contract he was pursuing in the county’s government house and this wedding was going to be a sure gate pass; he couldn’t afford to lose this now, at least not now. *********** After few hours of hiding out in a hotel for fear of being arrested, Marie made plans to escape with Audrey at night, engulfed in a mix of emotions: fear, shame, anger, and regret.

Marie kept feeling that she had made a huge mistake, and there was no room to fix things, all she needed right now was to ensure they both remain out of the reach of this influential families she messed with.