Bound by Deception

Chapter 3: The Wedding From Hell

Elena looked at the wedding venue from the lens of her eyes. She was shocked. Ironically, the wedding was the exact type she wanted. From the flowers to the aura to the table pieces, everything was exactly how she imagined her actual wedding would be.

But she knew better than to believe a lie and that's exactly what this wedding was. After all, she had watched as those two kissed each other. Rubbing her temples, she removed her eyes from the view.

What exactly were they planning? Was this just some sort of game to them? Was she just a pawn in their chess game? What was the bigger picture here?

Questions upon questions raced through her mind as she tried to understand exactly what was going on. She blinked twice, hoping to get rid of the gut wrenching feeling she had. She knew she was walking into a trap.

Around the Hawthorne estate, word had gotten out that the legendary Alexander Hawthorne was about to get married and the media rushed to witness the spectacle and be the first to publish it. Around the estate, cameras were flashing, voices were chattering and a lot of speculations were running wild.

Every glossy tabloids and financial columns had already built anticipation in the hearts of the people by writing about the proposal. The headlines read "Alexander Hawthorne Marries Mysterious Architect—A Love Story or a Business Deal?"

Every single person was eager to know exactly what his plan was and so the streets of the estate was lined with Paparazzi as they desperately tried to get the exact moment that the billionaire bound himself to a woman no one had ever heard of.

While inside the ballroom, Elena Moreau stood awfully still. She was the kind of bride that every woman wished to be but only a few knew the devastating truth that glared at her. She wasn't a willing bride but she was backed into a corner, forced to play a game where she had no power.

Suddenly, she heard a soft knock on the door and she moved to open in. Victoria walked in with a smirk on her face. She was alone.

"What do you want?" Elena asked her.

"Well before you get so excited, I just wanted to inform you of something," she still had that smirked on her face as she spoke.

"Yeah, what's that?" Elena asked

"Alexander maybe getting married to you now but I need you to constantly remember that he belongs to me and me alone."

Elena was not going to be pushed around by this woman. Taking a stiff stance, she smiled as she crossed her arms around her chest.

"You know, its so funny cause you made only one true statement there and that is that Alexander is getting married to me."

"You don't know anything. He loves me." Victoria argued back.

"Really? Well if he loves you so much, why then is he getting married to me and not you? Have you ever thought about that?"

Elena knew she had hit a nerve cause Victoria stopped talking.

"Well let me explain this to you. You are the big heiress, so the way I see it, getting married to you the person he claims to love will not only get his father off his back but will also enrich his pockets. So for him to go out of his way to set me up just to get married to me, shouldn't that mean something? I think it means that he doesn't really love you but the s*x is just good and he wants to keep having it, hence his perpetual lies about being in love with you."

When Elena was done, Victoria stood cold, unable to say a word and Elena just smiled.

Before she knew it, Victoria lurched at her with a slap across the face. Elena did not let a minute to go by before she returned the slap to her.

"Now I am not the type of woman to be fighting over a man but if you touch me again, I promise you I will multilate your face!" Elena screamed, attracting the presence of James as he rushed in to see what was happening. Alexander also rushed in as well.

"Whats going on?" Alexander asked

"Don't you know its bad omen to see your bride to be before the wedding? But I guess the wedding is already ruined seeing as your mistress here had the audacity to slap me."

"You b***ch!!" Victoria screamed as she tried to push Elena. She was held back by Alexander

"Alex, baby, don't listen to a word she is saying. I only came in here to wish her a happy married life and she slapped me for no reason. She is a violent person," Victoria said, clinging on to Alex for dear life and forcing a tear to come down.

"Did you slap her?!" Alexander glared at Elena.

"And what if I did?" Elena asked, not shocked that he was taking his mistress side. "What are you going to do about it? Stop the marriage?"

"You maybe pressing every button you can just to get this marriage to end but trust me that will never happen cause you signed a contract. What I will do is make this entire process to seem like hell for you," Alexander threatened and Victoria hid her smile against his chest.

Elena did not say a single word again and they walked away in anger.

"That bastard!" Elena sneered as she went to the pantry to get a drink.

"You need to calm down," James, her best friend, tried to console her.

"Calm down?! Did you not here a word he said?" She asked, visibly angry.

"Yeah, I did but you can't do anything about it. Look right now, you cant run. You signed a contract," his voice was slightly above a whisper but it carried so much weight.

Elena swallowed and for a fleeting second, she allowed herself to imagine how joyful it would be to just leave. Rip of the veil, run out the back door and just disappear into the night. It would be so peaceful, so serene, so beautiful.

But just before she could talk herself into doing what she wanted, the doorway opened and Alexander stood before her. As he entered, the air became a sharpened blade. He didn’t say a single word, he just opened his hand and held it out for her.

In that moment, Elena looked at him and saw the life of sorrows that waited for her. Immediately she turned to James and whispered, "I cant" before running away.