A Mistake at the Altar
1535 Words
“Do you, Elena Carter, take Adrian Shaw as your lawfully wedded husband?”The question hung there for a second too long. Elena felt her stomach flip.
Wait. This is really happening. She turned her head just a little toward her mom. “Mom…”
Patricia didn't move closer. Just clenched her jaw and mouthed back, Say yes.
Elena looked at her dad.
Nothing. Not even a blink. He was just staring at the floor as if it were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.
Cool. Thanks, Dad. She turned back around. Adrian stood there like a statue. Not nervous. Not happy. Just… waiting. Like she was at a meeting running two minutes late.
“Elena,” the officiant prompted gently.
“I…” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “I do.”
The words came out small…pathetic, almost.
Someone in the back coughed. And do you, Adrian Shaw, take Elena Carter….”“I do.”
Didn't even let the gentleman finish. Just I do, flat and fast, like he was ordering coffee.
The officiant blinked. “Then, by the authority vested in me…
“We're done.” Adrian cut him off. Murmurs exploded.
“What the hell—”
“Did he just—”
“Oh my God, did you get that on video?”Cameras flash. People were already typing. Elena caught a glimpse of her cousin, Chloe whispering into her phone, eyes wide. She's probably texting everyone we know right now.
Adrian's hand closed around her arm. Not mean. Just… definitive. We're leaving.
“Adrian, Elena tried. Move."“My dress!”“Move faster.”
She stumbled and caught herself. And then she was being half-walked, half-dragged down the aisle, past all those faces, past the roses, past the violinist who'd stopped playing entirely.
Outside, the chaos got worse.
“Adrian! Where's Daniel?”
“Elena! Did you know he ran off?”
“Is this a PR thing? Are you two actually together?”
Someone shoved a microphone in her face. Elena nearly tripped again.
Adrian shoved the car door open. “Get in.”
She got in.
The door slammed.
Silence.
Well, not really silence. Her phone was going nuts in her clutch. Buzzing over and over like an angry bee.
She pulled it out.
Three texts from Mia: Girl, what just happened??? Call me. CALL ME.
A tweet someone had already screencapped: Elena Carter's groom flees, brother steps in. Nothing suspicious here. Forty thousand likes already. Already. She flipped the phone face down on the seat.
I didn't even get a minute.”
Her voice came out sharper than she meant it to.
Adrian didn't look at her. He just stared out the window at the city lights.
“Seriously?” she pressed. “Not one minute to breathe? To think? I don't know, to process that I just married someone I don't even like?”
Nothing.
“Wow.” She laughed…a dry, humorless sound. “You're really committed to this whole ice king thing, huh?”
He turned his head slightly. Just enough to look at her from the corner of his eye. “You had a choice.”
“A choice?” She laughed again, louder this time.
“Adrian, you stood there and said, 'Public humiliation or marry me.' That's not a choice. That's a hostage situation.”
“Life doesn't wait for you to feel ready.”
“Don't give me that motivational-speaker crap.” He turned fully now. His jaw was tight. “Daniel ran but I fixed it.”
“Fixed it?” Her voice cracked upward. “You call dragging me down the aisle like a briefcase fixing it?”
“It's handled.”
“Handled?” She grabbed her phone, and shoved the screen in his face. “Look at this!” Forty thousand likes in ten minutes. We're already a meme, Adrian. We're not handled. We're a disaster.”
He glanced at the screen. Didn't even flinch. “It'll die down.”
“Will it?” She dropped the phone back in her lap. “Because right now, it feels like my life just turned into a reality show, and I didn't sign up for this.”“You signed the license.”
“That's not the same thing, and you know it.”
The car went quiet again.
Then Adrian spoke slower this time. “You'd rather be the abandoned bride? Headlines for weeks? "Elena Carter is left at the altar, and Daniel runs off with the secretary?”
She opened her mouth. Closed it.
Because he wasn't wrong. God, she hated that he wasn't wrong. That doesn't make this okay,” she said finally. Quieter now.
"I'm not asking for okay.” He turned back to the window. “I'm asking for cooperation.”They pulled up to the house.
Mansion, she corrected herself. Call it what it is.
It was huge and cold. And quiet in that way that rich people's houses always seem like no one actually lives there, just visits occasionally.
Adrian got out first. He didn't hold the door for her. Didn't look back. Of course not. Elena gathered her dress and climbed out carefully.
Her heels clicked on the stone driveway. The front doors opened automatically, there are staff inside, all lined up like they were waiting for a funeral. Maybe they are.
“Your room is upstairs,” Adrian said, already loosening his tie. “Third door on the left. We won't be sharing.”
Elena scoffed. “Trust me, I wasn't planning on climbing into your bed.”He ignored that completely.
He just kept walking, pulling off his jacket, heading toward the stairs.“We'll talk tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder. “Get some rest.”Something in her chest snapped.
Get some rest? Get some rest?" You don't get to do that! He paused. Barely.
“You don't get to just…talk to me tomorrow!" She was shaking now, not from cold but from everything. “You forced me into this! You stood there and backed me into a corner in front of two hundred people, and now you're just going to walk away like you ordered takeout?
He turned his head. Just enough.
"Are you done?”"No! I'm not done! She stepped forward, dress dragging behind her. “I'm your wife now, apparently. That means something. It has to mean something. Even if you don't give a damn about me, you don't get to treat me like furniture.”Adrian was quiet for a long second. Then his mouth twitched, barely. “You're not furniture.”
“Wow. High praise.”“You're loud.”
“Good. I hope I keep you up at night.”He turned fully now, tie hanging loose around his neck.
For a second, just a second…something flickered in his eyes. Not warmth. Not kindness. But so something.“You want honesty?”“I want many things. Right now I'll settle for honesty.”
“This marriage is a contract.” His voice was flat. “Nothing more. You play your part. Stay out of trouble. Don't make things worse. That's it.”
Elena's throat tightened. “And what if I want more than that?”
“Don't.”
Don't what?"
Don't expect more." He turned back toward the stairs. “You'll be disappointed.”
She watched him walk away. Watched him take the steps two at a time. Watched him disappear into the dark hallway.
And then she was alone.
Massive hall. High ceilings. Chandelier that probably cost more than her first car.
And absolutely no one.
Elena let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Her phone buzzed again.
Mia: I'm coming over tomorrow. We're drinking wine, and you're telling me EVERYTHING.
She smiled. Just a little.
Then she looked up the stairs, toward the room Adrian had pointed out.
Third door on the left.
“Perfect,” she muttered to herself, picking up her dress again. "Just freaking perfect."
She started climbing and murmured. What a day!
- Writer
