A gentle knock on the door made Ruby flinch, her panicked eyes darting to the door.
"Ruby..." Came Elena's voice –Ruby's chief bridesmaid and best friend. "What is taking you so long, Missy? Are you giving birth in there?"
"Very funny." Ruby hissed inwardly. "I'm coming." She tossed the pregnancy strip into the toilet and flushed it down the drain.
Then she hurried to the mirror to check her face, which was looking paler than morning mist fading under the sun.
Splashing a little water on her face, she wiped it with a towel.
"You can't let anyone find out, Ruby." She whispered, staring at her reflection. "Just act neutral. After the wedding, you'll fix this." She inhaled and exhaled severally to calm her racing heart before opening the bathroom door.
"What in God's name was taking you so long ?" Elena craned her neck behind Ruby as if she could find the answers on the tiled floor. "You are supposed to be done with your hair and makeup by now."
"Relax.."
"Don't tell me that. Aunt Donna is going to shave my hair if she finds you like this." Elena grabbed her by the arm and led her to the vanity mirror where the makeup artist and hair stylist were waiting.
"Sit!" Elena pointed to the chair.
"Yes ma'am." Ruby sat down, plastering a sweet believable smile.
In less than thirty minutes, she was transformed into the perfect bride who left everyone gushing.
Just then, Derek's mom, Donna, walked into the room, looking elegantly stunning in a chic lace dress made by Ruby.
"Aww....look at my beautiful daughter-in-law. You look so pretty."
"Thank you, Mom." Ruby forced a smile, her chest heaving with guilt. The mere thought of disappointing Donna crippled her heart.
"Let's go now." Donna signalled at the bridesmaids. "We don't want to keep the guest waiting."
Just then, the door to the room opened and Derek walked in, looking equally stunning in his custom-made white tuxedo, which hugged his body perfectly.
"Derek!" Ruby's expression turned sour. But thankfully, her veil was covering her face, and no one noticed the cold look in her eyes.
"Son, you shouldn't be here." Donna shot him a disapproving stare. "Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?"
"I don't believe in such superstition, Mom. I just wanted to talk to my beautiful bride before we take our vows." Derek's disarming smile left his mother weakened and beaming proudly.
"Listen to your mother Derek." Ruby scolded in a slightly trembling voice, afraid that she might call off the wedding with the slightest mistake from his end. "Whatever you want to say can wait till after the wedding."
"No it can't." Derek insisted, taking her trembling hands. "I just wanted to tell you how much I love you with every bit of my heart," He said smoothly.
"Aww!"
Everyone in the room gushed at the beautiful couple while Ruby held her breath as her stomach twisted in disgust.
"Derek, you should go. We are already running late," Ruby managed to say, forcing a smile.
"I can't wait to tell the whole world that you are the only woman in my life." Derek brought her hand to his lips to kiss it but Ruby pulled it away.
"Derek!" She snapped.
"Son, a good husband listens to his wife. Go." Donna stepped in and Derek immediately left after blowing kisses to Ruby.
-
-
Thirty minutes later, Ruby was standing inside the holy cathedral before Derek and in the presence of both their families and friends–listening to the priest ask that terrifying but necessary question.
"If there is anyone who thinks this couple cannot be joined together in holy matrimony, please speak now or forever hold your peace."
Ruby's heart started pounding even louder. Every bit of her objected to this marriage.
But her loyalty to her family and her love for Derek's parents stopped her from saying anything.
Looking away from her cheating husband, her horrid gaze swept across the crowd of beaming faces, hoping someone would save her from making the biggest mistake of her life. It narrowed on Bailey, who was too busy scowling at Derek to care.
But then, something...rather, someone caught Ruby's attention.
'Is that....' She froze as she recognized the stranger from her night of sin.
He was looking like a dangerously handsome medieval prince in his charcoal black suit and smiling... no smirking devilishly at her.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Ruby muttered under her breath.
-------
For the past four weeks, Kai had been secretly searching all over the city for the drunken red-haired beauty who stole from him.
He hadn't been able to let go of her intoxicating scent or her passionate cry after that reckless, unforgettable night with her.
She had come out of the blue, like a beautiful mist, sweeping across his stormy ocean and taking his breath away.
Sadly, before the sun rose, she was gone, leaving behind nothing but her sweet scent and a mark of her innocence.
And to make things more complicated, he never got to know her name or find out the real reason behind her tears.
But he knew it was because of a man, because she never stopped shredding the entire male species–the main reason she had caught his attention in the first place.
After more than a month of searching in vain, Kai was in the process of giving up when his twin brother, Kaleb, came up with a post about a rising fashion brand that was taking the market by storm. And at the bottom of the post was the brand co-owner, Ruby Angelo–the beautiful red-haired lady–smiling to the camera.
Without a moment to spare, Kai dug out every information there was to know about her. And to his shock, he realised that she was about to tie the knot with her co-brand owner, in a traditional countryside wedding that same day.
Taking his fastest sports car, he drove for hours until he finally arrived at the peaceful countryside of Rollington County, where the wedding was set to take place in the evening.
His plan was very simple, stop that wedding from happening and steal the bride from her jerk of a husband..
What he didn't anticipate was that someone else had an almost identical agenda up their sleeve.
-----
Ruby was still lost in her thoughts, staring at her one-night stand, when a sharp voice cut through the deafening silence, snapping everyone's attention.
"I object to this union." Bailey shot up to her feet, unable to hold back her anger as Derek kept ignoring her.
Wild gasps echoed across the church auditorium as every pair of eyes turned to look at her,
Ruby's icy gaze narrowed at Bailey, her hands coiling into a fist.
Even though she felt relieved that someone had stopped her, she hated the fact that it was her two-timing cousin.
Derek stood frozen in horror, panic seizing his heart.
"Bailey! What has come over you? Sit down this minute!" Her mother's angry voice chided.
"No mother, I won't." Bailey's trembling voice echoed in the silence, tears streaming from her eyes as she said. "I can't watch him marry her. I just can't. He doesn't love her. It is me he loves."
"Is this some kind of a sick joke?" Derek's father, Augustine, whipped his gaze towards him.
"Bailey!" Ruby's father –Jonathan– angry voice boomed like a thunderclap. "What is the meaning of this nonsense? Have you lost your senses? Sit down before I come down there and make you do."
"Uncle, I'm very sorry but I can't let Derek marry Ruby. He belongs to m...."
"Shut that stinking mouth of yours, your little rat." Donna shot up to her feet, waving her finger threateningly like an angry mother bear ready to pounce on prey. "How dare you cough out such nonsense on your cousin's wedding day? Have you gone mad?"
"No aunty." Bailey stood her ground, earning herself ridiculing comments and nasty glares. "I haven't gone insane. I'm simply fighting for what is mine."
"Monica..." Ruby's mother, Agnes, rose like a firestorm about to unleash mayhem. "...if you know what is good for you, drag that lunatic you call a daughter out of this church before I strangle her with my bare hands."
"Bailey, you've embarrassed yourself enough. Come, let's go?" Her mother commanded harshly as she grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her away to the door.
"Derek, say something." Bailey pleaded. "Tell everyone how much you love me."