HIS SUBSTITUTE WIFE

Chapter 2

However, on the other side of the city there was something else happening entirely. The sound of loud punches echoed throughout the room. It was Arthur Marcell, the self made billionaire. The most powerful man in the world and right now on the morning of his wedding he was destroying everything that punching bag held in itself. Moreover, his hands had started to go red, as he continued to punch through it right and left, letting out all of his stress out of his body, and he had more and more coming. Sweating through his body as the muffled sound started to spread from his mouth and was going everywhere. His large body was doing this mercilessly.

Quickly, the door of his gym room opened and walked in his brother Anthony. He was just very similar as Arthur. A large man, muscular, but Arthur was much more sharp, smarter and great of a fighter. He was nothing like his brother.

"I can see you are quite ready for your wedding." Anthony said, taunting him.

"Don't start with me right now." Arthur said, which made his brother laugh.

"It's about time. And you need to go take a shower, a long shower and go change. Your bride is waiting for you." Anthony let out and right then came another slam. Arthur lost his mind and the madness was seen very clearly on his face and the man's hand went on the punching bag so hard that this time the punching bag lost anything it had in it, and the sand started to pour out of it very quickly.

Anthony's eyes went wide.

"Woah.." he let out, as he had never seen that before, but was fascinated by his strength.

"I can see you are very excited for today." He said, walking up to his brother patting Arthur on the shoulder and looking at the sand everywhere. Arthur was very busy taking off the cloth from his hand, his knuckles bleeding, which was not something new for the family to see.

"You might want to cover it up before father sees it." Anthony let out.

"Did she arrive too?" Arthur asked, talking about his stepmother, the woman he hated. She loved him as his own son.

"Dad brought her from Rome. She was very excited because she had only seen your bride two times. But Arthur, don't you think this is a bit hurried?" He asked, sitting right in front of his brother.

"You do understand this is not out of love, right? I have no intention on marrying her, but if it brings two companies together, it's important. They need us more than we need them." Arthur said, and Anthony knew that, but it hurt him to know that his brother knew very little about love. And what he was doing was wrong.

However, Arthur walked away from there and Anthony followed.

"I'm just saying marriage is very important, it's not a game and not a contract for business. She will be a life partner, is that whom you would want on your death bed. Ruth?. This is the worst kind of arranged marriage I have ever seen." Anthony said what concerned him.

"Don't overdo it, you know how important my work is for me." Arthur said, walking out of the gym room and back into his house to his living room. Anthony followed him everywhere. Everything in this house looked so dull and dark, just like Arthur. Nevertheless, Arthur stopped on his track and turned around.

"I want you to understand Anthony, marriage doesn't mean anything to me. She will come here to this house.

This marriage is important, even father knows that. It has nothing to do with me or her, it's just work." He said like this was nothing, and walked back to his room, as if he had not said something very brutal and mean. But for Anthony it was difficult. He could clearly understand why Arthur believed so little in marriage, how he thought it was a big fraud and good business. His history and trauma had not left him, but he was forgetting the beautiful marriage, the good day and it hurt Anthony to think that Arthur could never understand that.

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Within no time, it was 5 in the evening. Everything had settled down, everything had calmed down as well. As the night had started to fall, the guests started to come. The entire house was lit with light, shining for the wedding. And for the first daughter. Some of the biggest names, and the most powerful people were a part of this wedding. Clearly, all of them understood this wedding was more of a business than anything else. This was a very common trade amongst many people here. Nobody was surprised and nobody was shocked.

The bride was getting ready and the groom was ready there, everything was set.

"Anna." her mother called out, making her turn around. Anna was dressed in her beautiful light blue bright gown, completely filled with sequences showing of her beautiful shoulders and net covering up her shoulders which went up to her hand as sleeves and gloves. Her hair straightened and pushed back behind her shoulder.

"I will be right back." She said to her friends, walking up to her mother.

"What happened?" She asked.

"All the guest have arrived." Rebbeca said, little scared. This was the first wedding of the house.

"How about your sister ?

"I don't know, she told everyone not to come to her room and just call. I did not want to make her mad, she might hurt me." Anna said, joking about it. However, right at that moment she looked away from her mother and behind, at the open garden where she saw her Arthur. This was not the first time she had seen him, and many times on social media, magazines and on events, but she never talked to him. This wedding happened so fast, she never even spoke to him once and by seeing his strictness, she was so glad that she never communicated. That man scared her, and even now his expression was so strict. Her sister was perfect for him, everything about him scared her, especially the fact that he was such a strong looking man, also very powerful financially. He was just this big lion. Arthur could eat anyone up.

"Well, it is not the time to think about your sister, because it's time for Ruth to come down." Rebecca instructed.

"Okay, you go. I will bring her."Anna said, quickly grabbing her dress and walking up to stairs. Smiling softly at a few guests who were heading back to the garden. She eventually reached her sister's room, and started knocking at her double door.

"Ruth, it's time. Come on, get out. Everyone is waiting for you." Anna said, backing away, fixing her gloves. But her distraction to her dress did not last long.

"Ruth." She said, staring at the door which never opened. Once again she knocked on the door, and louder.

"Ruth, come out or do I come in?" She asked, hoping her sister would scream something from the other side. She was ready for it, but nothing.

Right then Anna opened the door, and walked in to see a very cold room. Everything was in its place and she just couldn't understand where Ruth went. She never left her room and this was confusing. Anna walked in and pushed the washroom open and there was an empty white washroom.

"Ruth...........Ruth...? She said, looking around when Anna suddenly stopped. There she saw her wedding dress on her bed and a frown fell on Anna's face. Anna took in her hand Ruth's custom-made wedding dress, only for something to fall from the dress, and this alarmed her.

"What?"..... Anna let out, when she saw a paper.

"What did you do?" Anna whispered, knowing Ruth had done something she shouldn't have.

Anna's heart was beating so fast, Anna was slightly shaking as she opened the paper, and there was the handwriting of her sister.

"I can't do this. I know this is what I wanted and I know I even fought with you about this mom. You wanted me to marry for love, but I knew I wanted Arthur from the very beginning, the time I saw him. He was good for our company and I get that, but I just realised that we are both very similar. He is too powerful and I can't have that in my life, I want freedom, and not this."Anna read, while she was oblivious that Arthur was right behind her, walking into the room. The man looked like a demon, staring at Anna, listening to all that Ruth had written. However, with him was Rebecca as well. And all she could do was gasp, placing her hand on her chest.

Even for Anna it was difficult. Slowly, she sat down on the bed right next to the wedding dress. Anna was losing her breath, even her sanity as well. But she continued to read.

"I know I have hid this inside of me for so long, but I want a love like you and dad had. And I cannot do this. I know what I am doing will not be a big deal. You, Nana, and Anna will solve it. So until then I am going with my friends. I cannot tell you where but I will be fine. And when all of this is settled down and calmed down, then I will be back home.

I just hope everything will work out, and I know you both will do this for me because you love me and I love you too. I don't mean to hurt you all in any way mom, but I can't do this." Anna read it out loud and sat there quiet, not saying anything.

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Right then, slowly, Anna looked up from the paper, numb now. And her eyes went right to the open door, and Arthur standing there. And the man's eyes were on her. Anna gulped in horror at the way he stared into her soul. She could see his roughness, his anger, disappointment as well. She was not moving a muscle, and a shiver ran down her body. He and his eyes were killing her, scaring her. Although, her mother walked up from behind him. She did not know whether to cry or just stand.

"She ran away ?" Rebecca asked Anna and Anna looked away and gradually nodded her head.

However, right then Anna's grandfather and Arthur's parents walked in, all of them heard everything and all of them were shocked.

"I'm going to tell everyone the wedding is off." Rebecca whispered, disappointed in her daughter, upset, betrayed.

"This marriage isn't off." Arhtur spoke up for the first time. Surprising everyone, as both the families looked each other and then at the man who had that anger filled in his eyes. However, he never once looked away from Anna, and this stunned her.

"If you are going to wait for Ruth to come, don't. She will never be invited back into this house." Rebecca spoke.

"Mom ." Anna said, upset about all this.

"No, she is not coming back here." Her mother spoke the truth.

"And I did not want her either. She is never going to come to my life either." He said, and this confused everyone.

"What do you mean?" Arthur's father asked.

"This marriage is for us two families to come together in business, and this is important. And for this and the respect for both families, I will still marry from the same house." Arthur spoke up, making Anna gasp softly in horror. She felt a stab in her chest that went too deep in, and it hurt.

"If Anna would want this.......................... I will marry her tonight." Arthur let out, surprising everyone in that room.