Married to the Mafia Heir

Chapter 2

The soft melody echoed throughout the ballroom, which was very luxuriously designed with gold decorations. The rows of round tables, decorated with beautiful flower arrangements, were full of guests from all walks of life. How could it not be? The Vanderbilt family, known for its immense wealth for several generations, had invited numerous guests to the wedding of Diana Claudine, the family's granddaughter. Officials, conglomerates, and celebrities—all were present at this grand wedding.

"What happened? Why hasn't the bride appeared yet?"

"Where are they? The event should have started fifteen minutes ago!"

"Did something go wrong? The bride has a bad image! I wouldn't be surprised if this event fell apart!"

The eagerly anticipated wedding event had sparked various expressions of displeasure from the guests. The wedding hall was filled with the whispers of attendees.

A series of gossip news surrounding Diana, known as 'the spoiled princess and a celebrity often hit by scandals,' was once again linked to this marriage.

The guests had been sitting, waiting for almost 30 minutes, without any sign of the bride and groom. This left them with big questions about what had happened. Some people shook their heads, attributing the delay to Diana, known for being a troublemaker—even on her wedding day, she was still acting up.

"I heard a designer had to redesign her wedding dress ten times before she finally agreed," sneered one woman dressed in red, sitting in the corner of the room with a loud voice that drew several glances.

"Oh! I think the chaos at this event is the result of her chattiness," chuckled her friend.

After a while, the main door of the hall creaked open, causing everyone to turn their heads at the same time, focusing their gazes toward the two-leaf door.

"Everyone, forgive my delay, which has wasted your time," Diana said in a soft voice. She smiled as she observed the various expressions on the guests' faces, expecting this to create a stir, especially with journalists and reporters covering the wedding of the grandson of the country's number one richest man, Samuel Vanderbilt. But who would have thought she would bring a different groom?

After speaking those words, silence enveloped the crowd as everyone's eyes focused on Diana, standing in the middle of the hall door with messy hair and makeup. Yet, that wasn't the main focus of the guests. Instead, they were captivated by a handsome man holding hands with her.

Then, the silence exploded into commotion a few seconds after Diana stepped into the hall with her new companion.

One woman opened her mouth wide while pointing at Diana, who had reached the stage. "Is that...Liam?"

"Of course not, then who is with him? Where is Liam?" Another woman responded.

"What kind of change is this? Why did the groom suddenly change?"

"What happened to Diana's face? Oh! She looks like a clown!" One of the women mocked, making those around her laugh.

"She is indeed the queen of making noise. Should she make a scene on her wedding day?" The beautiful woman with a face similar to Liam's, sitting in the front row, chuckled.

"What joke is this? Where is my son?" The woman with the high bun's face turned red with anger when she saw that it was not her son standing by Diana's side.

"I knew something was wrong. We can't let this ruin our plans." The bald-headed man beside the woman replied with suppressed emotions. Winata Arnold, Liam's father, almost slammed his cellphone when he couldn't contact Liam.

Not far from where Winata was sitting, a woman in elegant clothes had strange wrinkles on her face.

"What happened?" Eva, a woman with a striking appearance who was Diana's aunt, looked at Diana and the man with wide eyes.

"This wasn't part of the plan," Louise answered. Then he looked at his father who was beside him.

"Dad, is this some kind of surprise designed by your favorite grandson? This is interesting." Louise chuckled, looking at her niece on stage with a strange look.

"Dad, the Arnold family won't just keep quiet, this is quite a serious mess that Diana has caused. This is embarrassing..." Eva sneered as she continued to watch Diana, who was smiling in the midst of this chaos.

"Diana had a reason why she had to do this. I believe her," answered Samuel.

The old man with silver hair in a white coat didn't seem affected in the slightest by people's whispers. He just stared at his grandson in front of him calmly. Diana is his wise granddaughter; she will not act carelessly, especially since this is her wedding day to the one she has always dreamed of. Samuel is sure that Diana has a reason for this sudden change in the bride-to-be.

"What is that kid thinking?" thought Samuel, feeling something had happened. Everything that is happening now is very unexpected. Diana should have married the man she loved, Liam Arnold, the son of Winata Arnold, her confidant, with whom she has run the business for the past 40 years. Without saying much, the old man just watched everything in silence while feeling worry for his grandson starting to grow in his mind.

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"Pastor, can we start the event now?" Under the eyes of the people, with her palms intertwined with the foreign man, Diana urged the priest who had been silently looking at them with his mouth slightly open. The priest was still confused about what had just happened.

The priest turned his gaze toward Liam's family, who looked angry, then turned toward Diana's family. After getting a small nod from Samuel, he finally started.

"With deep joy, we will witness the vows of the bride and groom." The priest's words made the room suddenly quiet, dazzling camera shots never stopped raining on them.

The priest pointed at Diana. "Diana, are you willing to accept the groom as your legal husband?"

Diana replied, "I do."

The pastor turned to the groom whose name he didn't even know. "And are you willing to accept Diana as your legal wife?" The man with an expressionless face nodded briefly. "I am willing."

The priest continued with the reading of the wedding vows, and the exchange of rings was carried out quickly, while the hall was again filled with the whispers of the guests who were still confused because the groom was different from their expectations.

"I hereby declare the bride and groom legally husband and wife. You can mark this moment with a binding kiss," said the priest, looking at the man.

When finally the time came to kiss, for some reason Diana felt a tremor in her heart as the man brought his face closer, making Diana slowly close her eyes.

However, instead of kissing Diana's lips, the man nimbly slipped his ring finger across Diana's lips and kissed his own ring finger. Diana, feeling the soft touch on her lips, immediately opened her eyes when she realized it was just the man's fingers playing around.

"What is going on here!"

Suddenly, the whispers that initially filled the room stopped, and the room fell silent again as everyone stared towards the main door where the scream had come from.

Liam, the man who was supposed to be the groom, stood in the middle of the door with his face red because he was so angry. How could it not be? When he saw Diana standing at the altar with a mysterious man by her side, Liam initially didn't believe his eyes.

Diana, when she saw Liam, a cold smile appeared on her lips. While the man by her side remained calm, a hint of interest appeared in his eyes when he saw Liam.

"What is this, Diana? What are you doing!" his scream echoed throughout the hall.

Diana's calm demeanor only fueled the fire within Liam. Liam walked with wide strides towards the stage. However, the security guard assigned by Diana immediately intervened, preventing Liam from approaching the stage.

"Diana! I demand an explanation! This is my wedding." He screamed again while the guards tried to restrain his body which was struggling to reach Diana.

After two minutes of silence, the guests became excited again, whispering and commenting on what had happened.

"Is that Liam? I thought he was the groom. What happened?"

"I heard they had a big fight. This is like the drama I watched."

"If this was a publicity stunt that Diana planned, then it worked. I can't take my eyes off this; it's too exciting."

The excitement returned again. Without paying attention to what people were saying, Diana just stared straight ahead. She knew what she was doing would make people gossip even more, maybe she would become a hot topic for the next week, but she didn't care. This was much better than living with a person like Liam.

"Get out of my way! This is my wedding day; why are you blocking me! If I don't marry her now, my plans will fail!"

Liam hoped someone would slap him and wake him up from this ridiculous dream. He couldn't believe that Diana, who loved him to death and begged for his love, was now married to another man!

"This must be a dream!" Liam growled, clenching his fists tightly.

"He could mess things up! Quickly stop him before he says anything wrong!" Lidya whispered to her husband when she saw their son who was out of control.

Winata gritted his teeth at once. "I'll handle it. Keep your cool," he said to his wife.

"Plan? What did Liam say?" whispered a young man sitting right behind Liam's parents

"This makes me curious, something did happen between them!"

"Control him before he makes more mistakes!" Winata ordered her assistant when she felt everyone looking at Liam suspiciously.

The commotion that Liam caused finally subsided when Winata's assistant intervened and took Liam to the guest chair.

"This is the most ridiculous dream of my life hahaha," chuckled Liam, wanting to wake up from that dream immediately and marry Diana.

Liam sat in a daze by his father's side. He still hoped this was all a dream until a blow to the head from his younger brother woke him up.

"This isn't a dream! Stop hoping this is a dream. He's definitely cheating on you!"

"So this... Isn't it a dream? Impossible." Liam could only look hatefully at the two people who had just legally married up there.

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As the tense wedding ceremony ended, the guests slowly dispersed, leaving the two families visibly tense in the hall. Liam, who could no longer contain his anger, immediately rushed towards Diana and her husband impatiently.

"Diana! What does all this mean!" Liam, who could no longer control his anger, shouted when he arrived in front of Diana. He looked at Diana's husband with disdain before looking back at Diana with a look asking for an explanation.

Diana looked at Liam with a sharp gaze and then a thin smile appeared on her lips.

"As you can see Liam, I just got married." Diana tried to stabilize her slightly trembling voice. Secretly she gripped her dress tightly with her hands.

"Oh Diana, I didn't expect you to cheat on my sister!" Emiliy, a woman with a face similar to Liam's, arrogantly looked at Diana and her husband alternately. The man was clearly very handsome and had an unusually elegant aura, but Emiliy knew almost all the famous conglomerates, and this man was not among them, which meant he was just an ordinary person who was lower in rank than her family.

Hearing that, Diana sneered deeply in her heart. This nonsense! It was clear that Liam was having an affair with Vania, and perhaps Liam's family had known for a long time that Liam was having an affair but they just let it go.

"You! I don't know where you come from! You have stolen my woman, and you will know the consequences! I will destroy your career, your family, and your life!" Liam threatened Diana's husband.

Liam had only seen this man once. And his father's assistant some time ago had looked for data about this man but didn't find anything, and clearly... he wasn't a person with a name.

"Oh..." replied the man without emotion. Amusement appeared in the corner of his eyes without anyone realizing.

Liam pointed at the man beside Diana with bulging eyes. "Diana is mine! Divorce her now, or I will ruin your life!"

Diana took a step forward to face Liam, the corners of her lips trembled, disappointment filled her eyes when she looked at Liam, the man she had loved for so long.

"We're not getting a divorce, Liam... we don't have any relationship anymore, stop interfering in my business!"

Liam's hands moved to touch Diana's shoulders and shook her. "Diana, what are you thinking? You've loved me all this time, but is this... is what Emily said true that you cheated on me?"

Diana then gritted her teeth, her face reddened when she heard the accusation that she was having an affair.

"Liam...You shameless bastard! You're the one who cheated... You took advantage of me! I want you to die and never appear in front of me again!" Diana thought angrily. He really wanted to shout at Liam with those words, but for some reason, her lips suddenly stiffened at this moment.

When Diana was about to open her mouth, the man beside her spoke first.

"Then just do whatever you want." The man at Diana's side spoke again without showing any expression on his face, only a flash of disgust flashed in his eyes as he looked at Liam. He took Diana's wrist and pulled her to his side.

"A commoner like you dares to go against me!" At the same time as those words finished, Liam's fist flew towards the man, but before it could reach the man, his fist suddenly stopped in the air as the man's strong hand held it so that his hand couldn't move.

"Whoever you are, I don't have time to take care of a barking dog like you." The man beside Diana looked at Liam contemptuously when he said that. For the first time in his life, he was cursed at by someone so lowly. Even scattered dust was more valuable in that man's eyes than this man named Liam!

After he let go of Liam's hand roughly, he took Diana's wrist. Then, after giving a cold glance at Liam and Emily, he turned around and took Diana to walk away from the two people he considered to be annoying dogs.

"Wait! I'm not done with you guys yet!" Liam screamed again as he watched the two people take a few steps away from him. With a quick movement, Liam took the chair next to him and threw it at them.

Brakk!

The sound of the chair hitting the floor made everyone in the room startle and look at them.

"Liam... Is he crazy?" Eva, who had just stood up from her seat to leave the hall, was very surprised.

"Good, I'm glad at least Diana didn't marry that rude man!" Samuel said with a slight growl, then stood up from his seat. Before turning to leave, Samuel stared for a few moments at his grandson, who was still in his husband's arms while holding his cell phone to his ear talking to someone.

"Take Diana to the mansion after this is over. Make sure Liam doesn't disturb her!"