THE SHEIKS BRIDE

Chapter Two

Ana

"Do you see yourself? you look so so beautiful" my best friend Ursula exaggerated but sighs... "I still don't understand why you decided to go for a black gown..it's not a funeral you know"

It is a funeral to me, on this day my hopes, dreams and desires are dead and buried,my hope to love,to travel and to be with someone who would move the world just to make me happy is gone.

Of course she's trying to lift my mood because you know it's a culture 'a bride must be happy on her wedding day' but to me...

Permit me to call it my worst day it's not a day to be happy about. I could even picture myself in this loveless marriage, a marriage of what? Convenience? Probably. More like a marriage of pain and sorrows.

In my world arranged marriages are a norm done in order to create a beneficial relationship but in my case I'm being married to pay off a huge debt my uncle owes "my husband".

I hate to hear that word - husband.

Ursula did her best to lighten up my mood. She didn't have to because I knew that I'd never cry - atleast not in front of all these people who won't hesitate to pounce on my tears and use it as a weakness. I refuse to be known as the crying bride.

"Come on let's go , your handsome groom is waiting" Ursula urged me

"Handsome groom I've never seen" I laughed sarcastically "what if he's old like a pig?"

"Of course he's not, everyone around here knows he's a young man in his mid or late twenties"

I bet.

"Anastasia" my uncle said when I came outside "you look beautiful" he added

This is the first and probably the last compliment I'd ever get from my uncle. I forced a tight-lipped smile to go in line with the compliment.

The music began playing inside the cathedral and I took a deep breath Inhaling the smell of my favorite flowers Tulips atleast my uncle was nice enough to grant me that wish of using them as a bouquet.

As I walked down the aisle to a complete stranger a man I have never seen with a bright smile on my face while my insides was in turmoil I knew my life would never remain the same. We came to an abrupt stop in front of a handsome young man probably in his late twenties, whose eyes had been on my uncle the entire time. He didn't even spare me a glance the entire time we walked towards him. He had this crooked and manic grin on his face that had various meanings attached to it. One of them screamed DANGER

"This bullshit ends here Vladimiri, I owe you no f*****g deal" my uncle spat

"fair enough, we'll see to that Guttardo"

"keep your word"

"I never promised peace Guttardo, your brain must be playing tricks on you. You should get going I have a solemnization to do" he dismissed him

My uncle headed back to his seat but not after glaring at him.

The wedding went in a blurr and before I knew it I said 'I do' to a man who looked like he would ruin me for even breathing. The ring was gigantic but I guess it wasn't for love but for his image and reputation.

He won't want people's criticism on the ring he got and he did so to shut them up.

The drive to my new home was very uncomfortable. Aleksi us your typical alpha who dominates every space he find himself in, that's what happened in the car. Even breathing became a very hard thing for me, I sat motionless in the car as the driver drove.

"The shipment is arriving in two hours" Fabiano Dmitri Aleksi's best friend and right hand man said from the passenger seat.

He had been silent the entire drive with his eyes focused on his phone. One thing I noticed is that he is an easy going extrovert but since when we entered the car. the mood had been sour . It was as if they both received a bad news.

"We're here, you can get down and go in" Aleksi said when we reached the house.

What? I got down from the car gently and stood there dumbly as they drove out of the house.

"My God! what sort of human is Aleks. Please do come in dear" a woman in her fourties beckoned to me.

I walked into the house after her and sat on the seat she offered me.

"Please feel free ma'am, you are now the mistress of the house. The sole owner"

"Owner?" I laughed

"Of course. Please forgive my manners, my name is Alice and I'm the house keeper"

"Anastasia. Ana"

"Who in this house doesn't know you" she smiled warmly.

There's this lovely aura around this woman. The feeling of home. Her smile alone relieved me of my pain and I found myself smiling back.