THE CEO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE

1. FLEEING MY WEDDING DAY Rosa felt nothing, not anger, not sadness, certainly not happiness. Feeling nothing was not normal on your wedding day. Most people were happy, tired, exhausted, and a few sad, but nothing? It was very rare. If Rosa had been asked just a day before how she would feel on her wedding day, her answer would have been colourful. Rosa might have said how happy, how relived, how joyous she would be feeling to finally marry the love of her life. She might have even said she would be tired, from walking in heels day or smiling at guests. Rosa might have said she would be anxious or nervous that things wouldn't go the exact way she needed them to go, but never in a million years would she have guessed that she would feel, nothing, nothing at all. The entire room smelled of flowers, and she could vaguely hear her mother and her sisters touching her, whispering into her ear, taking her hair back and touching her skin. Rosa wasn't really there, though. She was far, far away. "You look beautiful, darling," Rosa's mother, Isabella, told her. Rosa smiled at the woman who could pass as her sister. Isabella was just forty years old, a few years older than Rosa's twenty. She was her mother's first child, her father's second child. Isabella could pass as thirty, and they could walk together as sisters rather than mother and daughter. She truly was a belle. Her black hair that Rosa inherited styled to the back, her smooth, milky skin. Rosa managed to force a smile then. "Thank you, Mama," she told her. "You are too modest Rosa, you look perfect. I almost want to get married right now," Lily, her younger sister at eighteen, said. Rosa chuckled then, even though she felt dull and empty inside. Rosa looked at herself in the mirror. She could admit that she did look beautiful. Her dark hair had been styled in curls atop her head. Little ringlets framed her face, and small tiara was atop her head. Diamond studs were on her ears, and a beautiful diamond choker graced her neck. Rosa put her hand on her neck and felt the cool jewels. Sebastian gave her this necklace. She closed her eyes in the first feeling of pain that came to her. She savoured the feeling. It was much better than feeling nothing at all. She looked at her dress, down at her jewelled hands. So much doubt was clouding her senses. Could she really do it? Could she get married to a man who didn't love her? Rosa was never really sure that Sebastian ever loved her. She couldn't fool herself to say that he did. She could only be sure of her own love, and she did love him. When her father first told her about the arranged marriage, she was going to rebel, but then he told her that it was Sebastian Kanatas she was to marry, the friend of her elder brother, Matteo her crush ever since she was young. Sebastian left the Ilias, the small town that they grew up in, and moved to New York City. Later on, Rosa heard from Matteo that Sebastian went abroad to study. He came back to the US just a few years back and overtook his father's company. He was now known as one of the most ruthless people in the business space. Many people feared him, but Rosa was not afraid of him. He was Sebby, after all. The few weeks before their wedding, they spent some time together. He was quite sweet and all that she imagined. Rosa even hoped that they would fall in love with each other after marriage. All the hope that Rosa had was dashed to the ground when she saw the picture. She had no idea who dropped the picture on the table, but it had to be someone who was close to her, someone who could easily enter into her dressing room. A few moments ago, Rosa had excused herself to the bathroom. On top of the envelope, open in secret was written. Just that made her intrigued. She didn't know what she wanted to find when she opened it, but certainly, she wasn't expecting to see a picture of a girl who looked so much like her. If Rosa was being realistic, the girl didn't look that much like her. She was certainly older, but the black hair was the same, even to the shade. She would have the same colour of eyes with Rosa. That was not what shocked Rosa most about the picture. It was the fact that it was taken with Sebastian. The man who was supposed to be her husband. He was looking so handsome that Rosa nearly cried. The look in his eyes was something that she had never seen. He was looking at her in love. He loved the lady in the picture, and she loved him. Even from the piece of physical paper, she could see it. Why was he getting married to her then? Rosa asked herself if he clearly loved this woman. She hoped that he would fall in love with her as time went by, but she didn't know now, she wasn't sure. How could he love her when he was in love with another? Rosa had turned the back of the picture, and she saw a name, Eloise Trent. She took out her phone immediately and began to browse. It didn't take so long to find her on the Internet. She was Sebastian's girlfriend. His pictures were all over her media, even recent pictures. The betrayal stung her much more than she could ever imagine. How could he do that to her? He was going to marry her when he loved when he was still with another? It was a knock from her sister, which made her come out of the bathroom then. The more she went through Eloise's profile, the similarities became more apparent. What was she doing? Was she marrying a man who was trying to use her as a replacement for his ex? Rosa couldn't even stomach that. She allowed the makeup artiste to touch up her face and was as quiet as she could be when they worked. She knew that she had to act fast. She couldn't marry him after that realisation, that much she was sure of. Rosa also couldn't just stand up and say that she doesn't want to get married to Sebastian anymore, Rosa was sure that her brother and father would walk into the dressing room and ensure that she got married to Sebastian. She was promised to him. They had to follow through with the contract. If she couldn't just stand up and leave? Where on earth would she go? Rosa was still thinking when her friend burst into the room. "Rosa, you look exquisite, like a rose," Bianca said as she sauntered into the room. It was almost like Rosa's saving grace was walking to her. Bianca was Rosa's closest friend for as long as she could remember. They were children together in Ilias. Bianca also knew Sebastian from when they were children. Bianca had been so excited about the wedding so far, but so had Rosa. It wasn't until now that she had doubts about getting married to her childhood crush. "Thank you, Bianca, you look beautiful too. It is almost like you are competing with the bride," Rosa said, and Bianca laughed softly. Her friend was dressed in a royal blue gown that brought out her complexion. Her black hair looked wonderful against the colour of the gown, and the gown stuck to her skin, accentuating her curves. "I could never. How are you feeling?" Bianca asked. She held Rosa's hands. Rosa felt like all the weight in the world was lifted off her shoulders then. "I am not okay, Bianca," she whispered to her friend. Rosa looked to her mother then. She usually confided in her mother, but this was not something that she could tell her. Her mother would not take it lightly. She would want to tell her father, maybe after she was gone. If she could go. "I need to see the guests," Isabella said, dragging Lily with her. "I don't want to see to the guests, Mom," Lily whined, but their mother did not listen to her. She was out of the room in no time. Rosa smiled. Her mother knew that she needed privacy and removed her sister from the room. "Can you give a few minutes with my friend," Rosa said to the makeup artiste, who smiled and immediately began to move out with her assistants. "Okay, so what is it?" Bianca asked, and Rosa sighed. She had no idea how to start. What was she going to say? She didn't know how she would start. "I don't want to get married to Sebastian," Rosa blurted. It wasn't all like that, she said in her head. "What?" Bianca shouted. She was definitely shocked. "What do you mean you don't want to marry Sebastian? It is your wedding day!" This was the type of reaction she expected from her mother. It told Rosa how unusual what she wanted to do was. "I am pretty sure that right up until this morning, you were singing Sebastian's praises, talking all about the night you had together, and you couldn't wait till after you were married," Bianca pointed out, and Rosa sighed. There was a steamy night between them. It was one of the reasons why she believed that Sebastian actually loved her. Rosa closed her eyes as she remembered how he kissed her, how he touched her skin, how he loved her. A chill passed over her body as she realized that she may not have been the one he was touching. He may have been thinking of Eloise. She might have been the one there, but she was only a substitute for his real lover. What would happen after they were married? Would he bring her into their lives? Would she be on the sidelines as he showed Eloise what love truly was? Whatever it may be, Rosa couldn't stomach it. If she didn't love him, if she didn't care for him so, then maybe, maybe it would have been easy to ignore the picture, to just say it was the past, but it hurt so much already. It hurt so much because she loved him, and she wanted, no needed him to love her back. That seemed out of reach now. She was a fool to dream. "I can't marry him anymore, Bianca. It will be too painful. Help me, tell me what to do so that I can leave. I can't marry him," Rosa said, pleaded with Bianca. At twenty-five, Bianca was like a cooler, older sister to Rosa, who always knew what was best for her. Bianca looked like she was making a difficult decision. On her own part, Rosa was struggling to be calm while the decision was being made. It was very hard to remain calm. "What did he do?" Bianca asked then. Rosa didn't know what to say, she almost wanted to lie that he was terrible to her and that he hurt her or something odd like that, but she didn't, she restricted herself. "He is with someone else. He doesn't love her. I cannot marry him. I love him too much," Rosa simply said. It didn't sound very reasonable when she said it out loud, but it was what she felt. Bianca's eyes softened. She could relate with what Rosa said and this made Rosa smile. Her friend would help her. "It is okay Rosa, it is alright," Bianca said. "What should I do?" Rosa asked. "Well of course you do not have to marry a man that doesn't love you," Bianca said and Rosa smiled. "We will leave together. You have to lay low for some time, I will drive you downtown my aunt is there, after a while you can go abroad," Bianca said and Rosa nodded her head. She was so grateful for her friend's fast thinking then, later she began to question it. "What we need to do now is to get out of this building." They were in a small dressing room in the church where she was about to be married. Well, she was getting married there or anywhere else. "We do." Rosa said. Bianca looked out the window, and Rosa smiled. That was it, in her wedding dress and all, Rosa escaped her wedding day and went as far as she could from Sebastian Kanatas as possible. Little did she know she would be coming back.