Chapter seven
854 Words
The heavy doors groaned open, and I took a final breath, adjusting the layers of my dress and positioning my bouquet properly. Walking down the aisle in absolute style, I kept my eyes forward as cameras flashed from every angle, the paparazzi capturing every single step.
The estate garden was packed with men in tailored black suits and elite high-society figures, but my eyes scanned the crowd—there was no immediate trace of Xavier or his men. Looking toward the altar, I sighted the fake clergy standing ready, and Alexander waiting in his suit, beaming with a sharp, victorious pride.
When I approached the altar, Alexander extended his hand to me. I placed mine in his firm grip as he led me up the steps, and the ceremony officially started.
"We are gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony between Alexander Sterling and Elena Williams," the clergy began. We exchanged our vows, our voices steady, and slid the rings onto each other's fingers. The ring he had bought for me was breathtaking—far too expensive for a fake wedding.
"If there's anyone who objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace," the clergy announced. Of course, no one in the crowd would ever dare to utter a word, but we all knew that question was asked solely for Xavier.
Just when we began to think he wasn't attending, the massive glass windows behind the pavilion violently blew inward. A deafening series of gunshots erupted into the air, shattering the glass into thousands of flying shards. Panic threw the crowd into chaos; some of the high-society guests and paparazzi scrambled to take cover on the floor, while Alexander’s tactical guards instantly moved into defensive formations.
Alexander reacted in a fraction of a second, fiercely dragging me behind his towering frame as he drew his own weapons. His men rushed to the altar, forming an impenetrable wall of steel around us.
"I object!"
Through the settling smoke, Xavier appeared in the middle of the aisle, his face twisted in a volatile rage, flanked by a heavy artillery squad of his remaining loyal soldiers.
"What's the meaning of this nonsense, Vance?" Alexander shouted from the altar, his deep voice booming over the chaos. "How dare you interrupt my wedding ceremony?"
"Your wedding ceremony?" Xavier spat, glaring up at the altar with venomous eyes. "You have what belongs to me, and I want it back. Did you really think I'll let you do a peaceful ceremony?"
"Well, you didn't object in time, and you're too late," Alexander responded, a dark, mocking smirk cutting across his face. "We're married."
"You're wrong. I'm just in time," Xavier said, his focus shifting past Alexander to lock onto me. "Elena! I'm giving you exactly two minutes to walk down those steps and come back to me, or you perish here with him."
Before I could even respond, the clergy stepped down from the altar, facing Xavier’s barrels without a single trace of fear.
"You object?" the clergy asked calmly.
"Yes, I do," Xavier snarled.
"On what grounds?"
"That woman is my wife!"
"Ex-wife!" Alexander countered fiercely, though I remained silent, letting the anger boil in my chest.
"According to the couple, she is legally divorced from you," the clergy noted coldly.
"Come on! We got divorced less than a week ago, and now she's already getting married?" Xavier spat, gesturing wildly toward us. "This proves that she was already having an affair with him behind my back! Why do you want to officiate such a corrupt wedding?"
The sheer audacity of his words made a sudden, blinding rage fill my entire body. I couldn't just stand back anymore. Pushing Alexander's guards aside, I marched down the altar steps, exposing myself to the crowd.
"How dare you, Xavier!" I screamed at the top of my voice, my words echoing through the pavilion. "You have absolutely no right to question my marriage! I love Alexander, and that is final! Besides, we have undeniable proof to show your disgusting relationship with Mia. You hypocritical man-w***e!"
The entire room gasped at the public humiliation, but Xavier's expression suddenly shifted. Looking at me in the designer wedding dress, his bloodshot eyes softened into a desperate, unhinged plea.
"I'm still willing to forgive you after all you've said... because I love you, Elena," his voice lowered, cracking with an unstable vulnerability. "Please, just come back to me."
I stared at the man who had thrown me out into the storm, my heart completely cold. "I will never do such a thing."
Xavier’s face went instantly dead, the warmth vanishing as a terrifying, psychotic expression took over. "Then you leave me with no choice."
BANG!
The gun went off, a sharp ring echoing through the tent. Shock paralyzed my body as my hand instinctively dropped. When I lifted it back up into the light, my eyes widened in horror.
There was blood everywhere.
- Writer
