Chapter Four: Groom substitution
906 Words
Chapter 4 Groom substitution
She deviantly stood up and took her time surveying the congregation untill her eyes settled on Kevin and Lilly. While everyone was mesmerized by the happenstance, Kevin and his cheating mate were completely mortified.
"My wedding with Kevin is cancelled. I will marry whoever is willing to marry me today."
"I will."
A man stood out from the crowd, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, tall and straight, with an upright posture.
Roslyn was dumbfounded as recognition dawned on her. This was the man she had met in the bar two nights ago. She had not expected him to come to the wedding. It was incredible that he would jump out and say he wanted to marry her at this time!
"Holly virgin Mary! "Am I dreaming?" She silently exclaimed. Rage and relief coursed through her body simultaneously.
Finding herself sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, she had no otherwise than to accept the consequences of her proclamation. She bowed her head to signify acceptance.
Seeing that their daughter was fine with the new, impromptu groom, Roslyn's parents became jubilant and immediately announced the continuation of the wedding.
Kevin, his mother and Lilly were driven away as the ceremony began afresh.
The master of ceremony who had presided over many weddings was slightly taken aback as this was the first time he had seen a temporary change of groom at a wedding. He started the program with great haste and earnest, lest there arose another impediment.
All the procedures were tailor-made and simplified. It encompassed bowing to heaven and earth, then to the parents to conclude with the husband and wife bowing to each other in that order. And the next thing was feasting!
The wedding banquet was very lively and the guests and hosts were very happy. Soon, the ceremony was over and the guests left at their pleasure.
The bride's parents wanted to take their daughter back to their home. They could not watch their daughter go with a man who did not know where she came from right after she had gotten out of the wolf's den.
They rationalized that they were the only ones best placed to help her in case of any contingency, and meanwhile they could save the family's face by negotiating with her substituted groom. How would their only daughter marry a nobody whose background they had no inkling? They could rather give him a sum of money as a reward in lieu of his marriage to Roslyn.
While Roslyn's father was seized of serious foreboding, the man who had just been declared Roslyn's husband for better or for worse turned towards him.
"Do you want to regret the marriage?" The man sought to know the stand of his father in-law.
His unblinking eyes held some cold light and the aura that emanated from his body made even a person like Brandon who had seen the world tremble in his heart.
Brandon kept his cool and did not say anything against the wedding, though nothing could have pleased him more than declaring it a total nullity.
Dan Panter, the hitherto unknown groom who had just united with his daughter in matrimony, frowned slightly and and turned to Roslyn.
"If you regret it, I can pretend that nothing happened," he lightly inquired of her.
"I don't regret the marriage. Since we have held a wedding, our marriage counts," she affirmed her standing.
"Then, let's go, let's go home," he pursed his lips and smiled.
"Okay," she consented amidst some misgivings about her decision.
There was a Bugatti parked in front of the hotel. Dan walked over and opened the car door. Roslyn's eyes widened in horror and she stood there, rooted to the ground.
She had been to Bugatti's new car launch. Such a car cost an arm and a leg, how could he afford it? Furthermore, one had to place the order a year in advance in addition to meeting some extremely strict conditions.
"Is this your car?" She unbelievably asked.
"Well, I borrowed it," he responded after a moment's hesitation.
"It's okay, it's not stolen by you..." She observed, feeling relieved.
If he was offended, he did not show it. He just raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
"Don't borrow such an expensive car in the future," she continued, oblivious of the effect of her words. "It's not a good thing to be too vain. I have a Mercedes-Benz, you can drive it."
Dan had the illusion of being kept. He simply made the best of a bad situation and agreed.
"Okay."
Her Dad had prepared a villa on the beach for her as a wedding present, but Dan was not used to living in a woman's house and insisted that they go to his home.
"There is no problem if you say so," she agreed.
She had already predetermined that her new house would be small and even shabby, but Dan took her to his home in the city center, which was completely beyond her expectations.
The house was large and spotless, and the decoration could be described in three words: "high-end, fantastic and upscale!"
"The location here is very expensive, and such a large house is conservatively estimated to cost hundreds of millions," Roslyn ruminated in her mind.
"You work in a bar as a waiter, how can you afford a house here?" She finally gave voice to her puzzlement.
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