A Mistaken Marriage Brought Me Mr.Right

Melissa sat on bed, silently staring at the engagement ring on her finger as she clenched her hand around the bouquet of flowers she held. She was nervous, she wouldn't deny that but she was hopeful as well. There was a spark of hope dancing inside her heart making her somewhat excited. Perhaps she would love it after all. Being engaged to Salah was exciting. They never met much, after all they had just been engaged for three months but she knew he was an honorable man, one who cared for her feelings and was quite gente with her as well. And that was something rare in people among her circle. When they first met, it was just an obligation for her to talk to him. There were no sparks that flew around them like she had expected and no butterflies in her stomach. But that was all fiction and she was not a child anymore. Real life was very different. But after some passed, she started liking him. She had to get married to a Loretti, be the Loretti's daughter in law, so she decided to at least give it a go. And it turned out to be great. Her ignorance bloomed in to a pleasant feeling. She liked him as the time passed and she saw the love in his eyes as well even though he never said it. But he wasn't a very expressive man. Her mother was putting the final accessory, a broach on the left side of her gown when she was being called by her husband and now here Melissa was waiting for them to come back and take her along with them. She was very much conscious that her make up won't look fresh if they didn't hurry up. She couldn't sabotage that now, because she had planned this from when she was twelve years old. Salah had also not called her in past three to four weeks and she knew the reason for that, he was just preparing himself for wedding surprise and now she was excited to finally see him. Besides he had been in Texas for a month now, working on a new project their company had undertaken. The knob of the door jiggled and butterflies jumped inside her belly. She looked at the door and smiled in anticipation and nervousness when her mother stepped inside in her elegant green dress with a beautiful silver scarf over her head. Her mother was a very elegant woman and Melissa looked up to her like all the duaghters did. She wished some day she would be like her mother. The woman had it all; a husband who loved her unconditionally, her children who loved her just as much and a beautiful life. "Are they here now?" Melissa asked, inquiring about Salah and his family. Her mom, Yamina had an uneasy look on her face and she looked like she was going to burst in to tears any moment. She took easy steps towards her daughter and carefully sat besides her. "Mom?" Melissa creased her forehead after noticing the look on her mother's face. "Sofie, you have to listen to me carefully, " said the woman who was older version of Melissa. "Mom you have given me that talk for the third time-" "No Melissa it's not that..." Yamina couldn't continue as the door opened and stepped in her father Suleman and her brother Salaar. They both wore the same look as her mother and that got her worried. "What is going on mom?" She faced her mom by fully turning towards her "Salaar? Dad?" She eyed everyone but no one would budge. She was going to panic now, she couldn't understand their reason of worry. Why won't they say anything? And by the glum look in their eyes, she knew it was not a pleasant news. "Sofie, you will have to be strong." Salaar came forward and sat on her other side. Now this was not something her parents would tell her out of blue. Something was very wrong and she was not dumb. She knew that it was related to Salah. "What is wrong Salaar? You're scaring me." Her voice came out shaky and she stood up with trembling legs. The look on her brother's face was pure agony. "Salah is not coming. He didn't want to marry you so that moron ran off like a coward." Spat her father. He wasn't the one to drag on things, he was always straight forward. Melissa just froze. She didn't want to believe her father but she knew he wasn't the one to make jokes. She had to believe him. But what if it was all just a misunderstanding? What if Salah was just nervous or perhaps he was in trouble? "Dad, I am sure there's some misunderstanding." She swallowed the bitter taste that arose in her mouth and gave a pleading look to Salaar. Her brother pressed his lips together and looked anywhere but her. Melissa clenched the bouquet in her hands and willed herself not to hyperventilate. Her eyes were slowly and steadily bubbling with tears. "There's no misunderstanding Melissa, he's nowhere to be found. His family can't trace him anywhere nor can they reach him via cellphone." Her father stated, his eyes still hard as ever. "But dad what if he's in troub-" "Enough." Suleman lifted his hand, telling her to stop, "I wasn't born yesterday Melissa. He left a note in his changing room. He's run off." And at that moment it felt like her world of dreams came crushing down in a second. Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve such thing? "You know people will go crazy if they know the news. People are waiting downstairs and no one knows about the situation. We can't jeopardize the reputation of our family like this, which took us years to build." Salaar stood up and placed his hands on her fragile shoulders. She wasn't even present at that place. Her mind went blank and she didn't know what else to think. It felt like her life was over. "Asher is willing to marry you Melissa, please do it for the family. You know what would happen if anyone outside family got a hint about it." Now that got Melissa's attention. She snapped her head in her brother's direction and all the tears that were threatening to fall were nowhere to be seen, her agony had turned in to anger. Her family was well known among elites and the prominent families of New York because of her father's business and his presence in various charity events and auctions. But Loretti family was a huge deal. They were known among Elites as well as media. Paparazzi hounded them and fished for information because their business was much more vast than Melissa's father's. Due to their money, they were well known so it made them a target for cameras. And that's why Melissa's marriage was so important because she was marrying a Loretti. "Wh..why would he do that to me?" she whispered to herself. "Why is he putting me in this situation? Why I have to marry Asher? He is like a brother to me." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she met the gaze of her brother. "Melissa, I know it's not easy for you but please try and understand. I would kill that bastard with my bare hands if I see him ever again but for now you have to do this." Salaar said, getting angry and then looking at his sister with sympathy. She hated sympathy and now she hated the man of her dreams also. He should have told her if he didn't love her. Why did he say 'yes' to the proposal if he wasn't interested in her? Maybe he wanted to break her, and he was quite successful in that but she was not that naive. She would show him that he could not just break her like that. She won't shed a single tear for him. So she did what she had to do. If everyone was putting her in that situation, she would face it. Not like she had a choice in the matter. The Lorettis were not the people to mess with. They were all very lovely but once you messed with them, it was over for you. Melissa knew it wasn't her fault that this was happening. But she knew she had to do what was asked of her. Her marrying Salah was also the decision of her family and she didn't know him before that. But it was her fault that she had fallen for him along the way. And embarrassing Lorettis? It was out of question. They would have nothing to lose because they had the power rather it would ruin her own family, her father and in business, reputation was all that mattered. "I will marry him." She said and Salaar hugged his sister. Melissa knew her life wouldn't be the same after this because never in her imaginations she had ever thought that the scandals she read about in papers and social media would befall on her. ? Melissa had not looked up at Asher for even once. She didn't know why she felt the embarrassment she did, but she couldn't face him. They sat around a table with her family and the Loretti family whereas all the other people sat in front of them on the chairs. The deed was done. She was now married to a man she had barely spoken to on rare occasions, a man she didn't know and a man that scared her. Her eyes moved behind her veil only to catch a glimpse of his fitted tuxedo accentuating his prominent muscles and the veins that were visible on his hands. She dared not to look at his face. When the question that would bind them together was asked of her, she barely mumbled a small 'yes' whereas Asher's voice held power and authority, like nothing was wrong and he didn't just get forced in to a marriage. The people didn't know which Loretti was getting married, not to mention that they were very prominent figures of business world and some reknowned politicians. None of the close friends and family was invited and her father had liked to keep it that way. The invitations that had went out to those rich people only mentioned that daughter of Suleman Yamani was getting married to Son of Omar Loretti. So everyone was at peace. But inside Melissa, was a storm raging. She took the pen with trembling hands and scribbled down her signatures when it was asked of her. She had practiced doing signatures too many times just in case she would forget to write at the very moment but now she wanted to snort at herself. Wow, what can fate do to you. Everyone stood up to congratulate each other. Melissa stood as well, feeling all the eyes on her while she looked like a dear caught in headlights. People congratulated them and some women even gave her a hug but their voices were the last thing she wanted to hear. She wanted to run away and never look back. Melissa was stuck at her place, she had no such urge to show off that she was happy when from inside, she was broken. Melissa faced the parents of her husband. Asher's mother came forward and gave her a hug along with a kiss on cheek making Melissa smile with sadness. She had a huge lump in her throat and she knew that if she spoke, she would breakdown in front of everyone. Her father in law placed his hand on her head and smiled warmly at her which she returned in the same way. Melissa couldn't bring herself to look at Asher. She had always looked at him as an elder brother and now in a split second, he was her husband. But he remained standing by her side as people came and talked to him or to congratulate her. One of her father's colleague, Mr. Harrison walked over to Melissa with a huge smile and congratulated her. "Melissa, my dear you look very beautiful." He admired, looking at her from head to toe. "Thanks." Melissa mumbled. "And this is for you, a wedding gift." He opened the rectangular velvet box himself and took out a shinning silver bracelet adorned with white stones. "You didn't have to, but thank you." Melissa accepted the gift with a smile. No one else gave her a gift and she was glad because she didn't have the energy to smile and make a small talk with anyone. Gathering her courage, she stole a glance at Asher's face and found nothing but a hard look. He was talking to someone but she could see how tense he looked and that made her guilt increase tenfold. And when the person he was talking to walked away, he looked down at his shoes. His face showed nothing but pure agony. He seemed to be broken, just like her and he was staring at a fixed spot in the room. Suddenly, her dress started to suffocate her and she couldn't breathe. She had ruined this man's life. What if he was in love with someone else? What if he also had dreams like her, for his wife? Tears of guilt stung her eyes. She was not the only one whose life was crushed by a selfish man. There was another man suffering from the same situation or maybe worse. Asher was stuck with her now, and she couldn't help but cry even more with the thought of living with the man who would never love her, who would never be able to forget what had happened to him in such a short time. If Melissa was betrayed by her fiancé then Asher had suffered much more, he was betrayed by his brother, his other half, his blood. The room became less crowded after some time and the only people left over there were Asher and her brother Salaar. While Asher was busy with his phone, Salaar took steps towards his sister. He knew how difficult it was for her and the least he could offer was support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his chest, murmuring soft words like it was going to be okay and he would make sure she never suffered which made Melissa cry. She couldn't hold back tears as they kept falling down her cheeks. "You know whenever you need me, I will be here. I am just a call away Sofie and I am so sorry I couldn't do much for you." Salaar wiped away her tears and she could see that he was also suffering. "Just remember that no matter what happens, no matter where you are I am still your big brother. I will still be there for you Sofie. I promise I will take revenge of every single tear you shed for him, even if I have to drag him out of hell. I will not forgive him Sofie," he squeezed her shoulders and smiled at his sister with love. He hugged her for the last time. Along with the tears of betrayal, tears of agony also spilled down her cheeks. She was leaving her brother, her family. She would terribly miss them. "I will miss you," she sobbed in his chest while he rubbed her back. He was going to brutally miss her. "I will miss you princess but remember... just one call and I'll be there," he kissed her head and leaned back. Melissa grinned while nodding and rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears. "Take care of my sister," Salaar turned around to face Asher who was busy with his phone. He snapped his head upwards and nodded. "I will try my best," he nodded but there was no emotion in his voice. Melissa kissed her brother's cheek and bid her goodbyes with him before going with her husband towards his car. Her bags were already placed on the backseat so she had no choice but to sit with him at the front seat of BMW. He said nothing throughout the whole ride and just kept driving.