Chapter 2 You May Kiss the Bride!

Alaina Westbrook marched away from her husband, a tiny smirk on her lips.   ‘Oh Michel, it’s too soon to get so riled up. I’m only just beginning,’ she said inwardly.   From the moment she walked into the hall, she’d known exactly where he was.   He was hard to miss. He stood a whole head above everyone else in the room.   His broad shoulders acted like a beacon calling every stray attention to that sculpture of a man.   Weren’t those the exact things that made her fall in love with over and over again?   Even though, she’d loved him long before puberty decided to bestow all that goodness on him.   She scoffed. That all seemed like a lifetime ago now. Love… that wasn’t something that mattered to her anymore.   She headed straight for her destination, the man in the sparkly wine suit.   “Dr Roshan,” she called sweetly.   He turned slowly. “Hello…miss,” he said, smiling politely.   “Mrs, actually,” she corrected, holding out her hand to him.   He shook her hand firmly.   “I’m a huge fan of your work,” she continued.   “My work?” he repeated, giving her a quizzical look.   “Yes.” Alaina smiled widely. “You don’t know me but I know you quite well, Dr Roshan. I hope we can become good friends.”   “It would be an honor to be friends with a beautiful woman like you,” he agreed even though he still looked confused.   Alaina merely smiled and walked away. Her parade wasn’t over.   She’d spent the entire afternoon getting dolled up just for this. To make this impact.   The eyes of the entire room were on her with every step she took. That was exactly what she wanted.   The old Alaina would have hated this. She would have worn a soft white, cream or pink dress and stayed as far back in the room as possible.   But that Alaina was dead.   This was a new Alaina and she had no fucks to give.   She let her eyes discreetly run over the crowd. She found him… the one that killed her. Her darling husband.   Once she ascertained that he was no where near her, she moved on to her next plan for the night.   Alaina headed straight for the stage where a band was softly playing in the background.   “Hi,” she called to the one closest to her. “I am Mrs Ferrari. I’ll like to say a few things to our guests here tonight. Get me a microphone, please.”   “Oh! M-Mrs Ferrari, sorry I didn’t recognize you immediately. Of course,” he ran off to get her a microphone.   Alaina didn’t bother pointing out that there was no way he could have recognized her. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.   He returned with the microphone and handed it to her.   “Stop the music,” she ordered. The music slowly faded to a stop.   People began to turn towards the stage questioningly.   Alaina marched into the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen! I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. Give yourselves a round of applause.”   A round of polite applause echoed through the hall.   Out of the corner of her eyes, Alaina saw Michel’s eyes widen in shock. He began to storm towards her.   She sped up her speech. “Honestly, we are so honored to have you here. Myself, and my loving husband .”   She pointed towards him. The spotlight shone on him.   He was forced to stop now with all those eyes on him and smile winningly.   Only Alaina could see that the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. A murderous look was hidden behind those eyes.   The crowd was shocked. They began whispering to each other.   Alaina laughed lightly. “Yes, yes, I know you’re all shocked. My face didn’t quite show in the wedding pictures released yesterday so I thought I’d come introduce myself today. Why don’t you join me up here, honey?”   Michel smiled tightly and walked up to stand beside her.   “My name is Maria Ferrari, wife of Michel Ferrari. And you’ll be seeing a lot of me around from now on!”   The room broke out in applause. There were several phones out recording her. By tonight, they would be all over the internet.   Alaina smiled. Everything was going even better than she expected.   In all her planning and scheming, she never would have expected things to just fall into place so easily.   The crowd’s eyes were on her expectantly, waiting to see her next move. Oh, they couldn’t guess what was coming next!   “AND NOW,” she cried over the applause. She turned to Michel.   His eyes widened in panic. She could almost read his thoughts.   ‘What now? What does this crazy bitch have planned next?’   She winked at him. His eyes widened even more. She had to keep herself from laughing out loud.   “You… may kiss the bride,” she declared. She uncurled her fingers from around the microphone and let it drop to the floor.   Before it even reached the floor, she grabbed him by his lapels and dragged his head down.   He was so tall and so big that she couldn’t have ever dreamt of actually pulling him down.   But he hadn’t been expecting it so he was so shocked that he actually bent down himself without even realizing what he was doing.   Standing on her tiptoes to meet him. Alaina crashed her lips against his, a triumphant light in her eyes.