HIS BILLIONAIRE PROXY BRIDE

CH.10

"You do have a way with words, don't

you?" He asked, in what sounded

suspiciously like a mocking tone.

"I'm sorry.

"You don't have to be. My uncle is an

asshole, even though I do love him. So,

why on earth are you married to me

instead of your sister?"

"Um, well. She..she ran away... I mean, we cant

find her. We don't know where she is." We don't have a choice,this called off I'm the substitute bride of yours.

Elise said, hating herself for the way her

voice sounded so high and squeaky and

the way she stammered. Bryce wasn't

even looking at her. Instead, he was busy

on his phone as he talked to her. What if

he looked at her? She would no doubt curl

up into a ball and die. The man-made her

nervous for reasons she could not

identify.

"I can't say that I blame her. I had the urge to do the same thing too." Bryce said

in a sardonic voice. He did not seem to be

particularly concerned, pained, or

offended. Now that they were alone, a

sudden thought that made her suddenly

sit up ramrod straight sprung up in

Elise's mind.

Sex! What about s*x? They were married

for crying out loud. Did that mean that he

would expect her to have s*x with him?

The thought of that caused her cheeks to

burn red. She would never allow that to

happen. She was not ready for s*x yet and did not think that she would be ready for it anytime soon. She wondered what

Bryce would say when he learned that

his new wife was a virgin who did not

know the first thing about pleasing a man

in bed. Besides, she still needed time to

process all that had happened in the space

of a few hours. She looked up to see that

Bryce was staring at her with

curiosity.

"Is anything the matter? He asked in a

polite tone that told her that he was trying

his very best to be nice to her. However, it

was very obvious that he did not like her

one bit despite the polite tone he adopted.

It was a good thing she did not like him

too.

"Um, everything happened so fast, so I

don't really know what all this is about."

"Well, neither do I," Bryce said shortly.

He was still glued to his phone and Elise

wondered spitefully if he could not live

without it.

You don't know?Well, why did you agree then?

Like, why would you allow someone to

force you to marry someone you do not

know at all and so quickly too?

"How about this? I'll not ask you the

reason why you agreed to marry me when

you don't even know me from Adam

because frankly, I don't care in the least

bit and don't want to know. In return,

you'll not ask me my reasons for doing

whatever I do. I don't know you, and you

don't know me. We re just strangers who

have been unfortunate enough to get

lumped together in this embarrassing

shame of a marriage. Hopefully, we would

both be able to wade through it together

until the contract comes to an end. I take

it you've acquainted yourself with the

terms of the contract?" Bryce said,

still in the same polite and bored tone that

she was fast coming to hate. It was the

most she had heard him say at once since she met him.

"Contract?"

"The marriage is to last for only one year

and six months. After that, Ill be free to

walk and so would you. I can't wait, to be

honest."

"Wow. What a great thing to say barely an

hour after your wedding. You could at

least wait till the wedding is a day old.

Elise spat, feeling hurt for some strange

reason, although why she should be hurt

was beyond her.

Bryce gave a short, humorless laugh,

but before he could say anything else, the

car stopped. They had gotten to the

reception venue. Mr. Ralph met them at

the car, beaming proudly and looking

every inch the proud uncle or even father.

He embraced Bryce fondly and the

latter pounded him on the back

affectionately. Elise stared at both men in

shock, totally surprised. She had thought

that her new husband would resent his

uncle for forcing him to get married to a

strange woman, but apparently, he did

not mind. In fact, now that she thought

about it, Bryce did not look like a man

who could be forced to do anything that

he did not want to do. Besides, there was

also the fact that he was a billionaire and

nobody forced people like him to do

anything. Rather, people bent over

backward to please them.

You look good, my dear. I sure hope you all make your husband happy. I have no

doubts as to the fact that he will make you

very happy. My Bryce he's a good

boy."

"I think you meant man, not boy, uncle.

Mr. Ralph burst out laughing at this as

though it was the funniest thing on earth.

"You'll always be my little boy, Bryce,

even if you grow as tall as the skies."

Elise stood by observing this exchange in

surprise. So Bryce was capable of

laughing? He usually acted so seriously,

as though he was carved from marble. She

stood by while they bantered with

themselves, feeling left out, so she was

somewhat grateful to see her mother

hurrying over to meet her with a younger

Woman in tow.

"This is Ashley " Carolina said breathlessly.

"She was supposed to be Sandra's

makeup artist and we've already paid for

her services, so she'll just do your

makeup. You're looking too pale, dear. Let her make you look beautiful so that you

can take nice pictures. A wedding day is a day to want to remember, even if the

circumstances surrounding the wedding

are strange ones."

"Sure. I don't see why not. If only there

was a tailor to adjust the dress too so

you'll not trip and fall flat on your face."

Bryce told Elise, smirking. She

ignored him and followed her mother and

the makeup artist who made quick work

of doing her makeup and then she

followed her husband to the reception

hall.

The reception venue, a hall in one of the

most expensive and classy hotels in the

city was tastefully decorated and so

beautiful that Elise momentarily forgot

that she was supposed to be sad and

angry at her circumstances and looked

around in delight and awe. Now, this was

something like what she had imagined

her wedding reception would look like,

even though the wedding itself was

nothing like it.

There was an abundance of exotic and

tasty looking dishes everywhere and the

atmosphere looked festive enough to wipe away some of her melancholy and

uncertainty about what the future held for her. She allowed herself to relax a little, and even though she could never eat when

she was stressed, surprisingly, she was

able to force some food down her throat.

The reception was a success, a little bit

strange, but people did not seem to mind.

In fact, most people seemed to have fun

there. There was a lot of dancing between the people who attended the wedding,

except for the bride and groom. Elise was

embarrassed whenever she thought about

how stiff she and Bryce must have

looked when they had their dance. She

also wondered what her parents old their

friends who would no doubt be wondering

about where Sandra was and why Elise

was the one getting married to her fiancé,

but she did not care one bit. It was their

cross. Let them carry it. By some miracle,

she was able to get through the rest of the

reception, and then she was saying

goodbye to her parents and being bundled

yet again into a vehicle with her husband

to start her new life.