Chapter 3: The wedding
1106 Words
"Don't say a word," the masked man said with his hands over her mouth.
With tears in Crystal’s eyes, still perplexed and scared by the whole situation, she nodded in agreement.
He slowly took his hand off her after making sure she was not going to cause a ruckus. Then he backed off, stepped over Sean’s body, and picked him up, putting him on his shoulder before leaving the house.
“What the heck,” Crystal exclaimed just above a whisper, with a heavy sigh of relief and a tear-dried face. She sat still in her bed, lost, trying to make sense of what just happened, then immediately got up to go shut the door of the house. Afterward, she stepped into the bathroom and stood under the running shower for minutes.
***
The alarm was blaring.
Crystal woke from her sleep immediately and turned off the alarm. It was her wedding day. It had been a week since the craziest events of her life unfolded like a movie, and she had the hardest time making sense of all of it. What mattered now was that it was her wedding day, and she had to get going. Mr. Sinclair had already sent word that he would have a chauffeur ready for her to go, so she looked out her window and saw a really luxurious Mercedes parked outside waiting; she assumed that was the ride.
She took a shower, got dressed and packed, and then left the house.
“Good day, Miss Rivera,” the chauffeur, who was now standing outside the car, said as he approached her to help with her luggage.
“Good morning, sir,” she said respectfully to the man as she perceived him to be rather aged.
He took her luggage and put them in the trunk of the car, after which he opened the car for her to sit in a gentlemanly manner. She got into the car and was welcomed by a sense of luxury and wealth as the soft leather chairs embraced her.
The car drove off to the Sinclair Mansion where she was to undergo beauty treatments before the wedding ceremony at a designated church.
Upon arrival at the mansion, a swarm of maids came to help with her stuff, and one with a smile walked up to her.
“Good day, ma’am. It's really my pleasure to finally meet you. I’d be your maid from henceforth. You can call me Mary,” the maid said with a smile.
“Uh...h-hey Mary,” Crystal stammered, flustered by the number of people working at every corner of the mansion on that day and the attention she got. “It's nice to meet you, Mary.”
“Just come with me, we have a lot to do,” Mary said and led her to her very own bedroom, which looked like something out of a movie scene. As the doors shut behind her, the different maids began to do different aspects of the makeover works they were assigned, and in almost no time, she was all dressed up.
She took a look at herself in the mirror and took a breath of astonishment. The dress was like nothing she had seen before, designed, sewn, and crafted with skill and precision down to every detail. Now it was time to go for the ceremony.
***
On arriving at the church, a suited guard opened the door for her. He was the one who was going to walk her down the aisle.
“I’d be walking you down the aisle,” he said.
“Oh, uhh, okay,” Crystal replied, pretty much short of words because she was too busy taking it all in.
It was now time for the wedding to commence. At the altar stood Mr. Sinclair and the priest, with guests filling the hall. The church doors swung open to reveal Crystal and the guard who accompanied her, their arms interlocked.
They walked down the aisle until she came to stand opposite Mr. Sinclair before the priest.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of family and friends to witness and celebrate the union of Crystal and Dominic in holy matrimony," the priest began. “Let us bow our heads in prayer, seeking blessings for this couple as they embark on this sacred journey together."
The congregation then bowed and murmured prayers as the priest instructed.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud..." he added.
"Do you, Dominic Sinclair, take Crystal Rivera to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do." Mr Sinclair replied with a stoic tone while his gaze remained fixed on Crystal
Crystal’s legs were starting to fail her, she suddenly came to the realization that she was really getting married. ‘Till death do us part?” she thought. The words of the vows reverberated in her mind and echoed like an ominous threat. Her faith began to fade and she began to lose strength.
“And do you, Crystal, take Dominic to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
As the priest repeated the words fear paralyzed her even more, she could feel the air around her thicken
“I-I…”She stammered trying to find her words but her eloquence failed her. She looked around at everyone in the audience with their eyes fixed on her. She began to grow dizzy, she was giving in until
“Crystal” Mr Sinclair called to her loud enough for her to hear but low enough for no one but the priest to hear.
Crystal immediately snapped back and tried her best to put herself together. It was the first time she heard him call her by her name, she didn’t know how to feel but it sounded right, it felt right, she felt right
“I-I do” she replied suddenly forcing the words out of her mouth, she was already visibly in discomfort as she started to sweat off her face. The dress suddenly became too tight for her
And after the priest instructed that the wedding bands be be worn and they did.
“You are now proclaimed Husband and Wife” The priest pronounced
Crystal’s knees immediately failed her and she collapsed.
- Writer
