Sun Upon Dark Clouds

4: Perfect Night?

Like any regular wedding, the wedding reception took more than an hour; though it was not literally a regular wedding since everything about the wedding was classy, including the hospitality and venue. The famous musical ensemble in the country was also invited in the wedding to perform some songs during the dance, but they were not exactly under the spotlight for the night.

Some were not contented with their first servings that they would often stand up from their table and head to the buffet for more servings; they were not to be blamed anyway since it was an opportunity to be able to eat different dishes that were cooked by the best cook in the world for free. The other guests, who were business persons, took the chance to have conversations with other business persons that were above their level. As for the other guests, who only attended to see Ghrae in a wedding dress and Wyatt in a tuxedo, they basically got to use the excuse of the special occasion to interact with them.

“Wyatt, Aria, congratulations! I’m so happy to celebrate this special day with you both,” a young woman with wavy blonde hair spoke with a big smile on her face.

“Thank you,” Ghrae replied with a small smile on her face. She was unsure whether it was the first time for her to see the woman or it was her lack of attention to people for her to not recognize the blonde woman.

“Hmm, are you sure you’re not jealous instead of happy?” Wyatt spoke in a teasing tone as the corners of his lips lifted to a smirk.

“And why would I be jealous?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

“Because you’re not the one I got married to,” Wyatt flashed an annoying grin on his face.

“Gosh, you arrogant prick!” The blonde woman slapped the groom’s shoulder as she stared at him with wide eyes in disbelief. “I only liked you for a year in college, Wyatt.”

Ghrae finally realized that the blonde woman was one of their college peers. She went to the same university and studied the same course as her and Wyatt; in conclusion, Ghrae’s lack of attention to people was the reason why she did not recognize her at first.

Seeing how the blonde and the groom were teasing each other, the bride assumed that she was a part of Wyatt’s circle of friends back in college. Even though Ghrae and Wyatt knew each other, they did not share the same circle of friends—nodding and smiling at each other whenever they passed by each other was the only interaction the two of them only had back in university. If they did not get married because of business, it would have been a huge surprise to their fellow alumni.

“Nah, it’s okay to be honest, Betty,” Wyatt wore a fake kind face as he gently patted the blonde woman’s shoulder, making her even more annoyed as she slapped his hand away.

“You seriously still haven’t changed even after getting married. Aria,” Betty suddenly turned to face the bride who gave her a questioning look with a kind smile. “Teach your husband here a good lesson for me, will you? If only I can strangle him right now.”

“I will. I know he’s always annoying,” Ghrae replied with a smile on her face, making Betty stunned by her beauty for a while.

“You’re so beautiful. I just don’t get why you fell for this ugly assface,” The blonde shook her head in disbelief.

“Excuse me?” Wyatt reacted dramatically as he placed his hand on his chest.

“Anyway, I’ll get back to my table,” The blonde flashed a bright smile at Ghrae. “Good luck in handling this jackass.”

Wyatt let out a scoff in disbelief as he watched the blonde walk away from them without throwing him a glance. He immediately turned to face his wife with a shocked facial expression. Ghrae raised an eyebrow, asking why he was looking at her like that.

“How could you say that I’m always annoying? I’m your husband, babe!” Wyatt spoke as if he had been betrayed heavily.

“That’s what she thinks,” Ghrae shrugged as she put a small piece of cake to her mouth with a fork. The taste was perfectly balanced as expected. “Also, you don’t have to try so hard. We’re only married for our families’ companies.”

“Like you said, we’re married. I think that it would be nice to try, you know,” he grinned.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

The groom pouted as he leaned back heavily on his chair and continued to eat his cake while squinting at his wife, who did not bother giving him attention and just continued to eat. A sigh was released after a minute as he remembered that the woman whom he got married to was an emotionless person. If not for his pride, he would have given up in trying to win her heart; the pride of being able to make anyone fall head over heels to him was the only thing that he had been keeping for a long time that he could not accept the fact that there was one person who had no interest in him.

Time was indeed fast as it flew like a piece of paper being blown by the wind. The end was nearing to the end as everyone was finally up from their seats to watch the newlywed couple make their exit. The blasting music was still playing while the other guests, who did not mind watching the couple leave, continued to dance on the dance floor with cocktails in their hands as if they were in a nightclub.

Everyone was all smiles as they greeted the couple on their way out of the hotel. Ghrae’s cousin and their parents joined them as they headed to the parking lot. They could not just let them leave without striking up a conversation with them.

“Why not stay for a bit? This is your party! It’ll be boring without the main characters!” Ghrae’s 29-year-old doctor cousin said as he placed his hand on Wyatt’s shoulder.

“We’d love to, but our flight to our honeymoon is tonight,” Wyatt replied as he patted his back. The answer made the curiosity of the doctor soar as he stood in front of them with squinting eyes and a smirk on his face.

“Ooh, where are you two headed? To a private island?” Wyatt let out a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head.

“Why did I not think of that?” Wyatt joked, making the doctor let out a hearty laugh that filled the silence in the parking lot.

“So, where to?” He turned to Ghrae while wiggling his eyes.

“To Paris,” Ghrae simply answered.

“Aw, ain’t that pretty common?” Suddenly, he received a slap on his arm. “Ow! Aunt Addie!”

“No place is common if it’s love!” Ghrae’s mom spoke from behind as she pushed her hair back from her shoulder. “You’ll never understand since you’ve been single for more than a decade.”

“Aunt Addie, you’re so mean,” He pouted.

Laughter filled the space as they walked toward the limousine that was waiting for the couple. The chauffeur was already standing by the door. Since it was a five-star hotel, even the parking lot was wide and filled with expensive cars being parked. Everyone in the hotel was either minding their own business upstairs or enjoying the special occasion of the newlywed couple with free liquor and food even though the both of them had already left the party—well, the party must go on.

“Aria,” The called person turned to give the 49-year-old chairman of HZ Group a polite smile. “I am so happy that you’re the one who got married to my son. Not only are you smart, but also beautiful!”

“Thank you, Sir—”

“Oh, no! Call me Father for now on!” Wyatt’s father let out a loud laugh as he gently patted her shoulder.

A small smile appeared on Ghrae’s face. It was what she was expecting for—to receive fake fatherly love from her now father-in-law. They all knew that it was all an act—they could not care less whether she and Wyatt would be genuinely in love or not anyway. As she was used to with, the raven-haired woman nodded with a smile of politeness.

“Okay, Father,” The response made the 49-year-old grin in amusement.

“Aria, Wyatt,” Addie called. Wyatt and Ghrae immediately turned to her this time. “The both of you should take care of each other in Paris, okay?”

“Yes, Mother,” Wyatt smiled as he glanced at Ghrae and her hand that was holding onto his arm.

“Don’t worry, we’ll send immediate help straight to Paris if ever something goes wrong,” Wyatt’s father joked—though it did not really seem like a joke.

All they could do was laugh as a response since they did not necessarily have to utter a word in reply.

“Let them go already, aunts and uncles. I bet Wyatt’s itching to go and have some alone time with Ghrae already,” Ghrae’s doctor cousin gave her a wink with a teasing smirk on his face.

“You got me,” Wyatt joked, causing laughter.

“Take care,” Ghrae’s father said in a deep voice.

The sound of heels clacking on the concrete floor filled the whole lot, making the two families divert their attention from the couple. From the distance, a young woman that looked like the same age as the newlywed couple was in a black tube dress. She was walking toward them, wearing a straight face, with a tub of chocolate pudding. Her eyes were fixated on the newlywed couple who were looking at her with questioning eyes as they had never seen her before.

None of them did not bother uttering a word since they were basically just waiting for the strange woman to leave because she was clearly grabbing their attention for some unknown reason. To their surprise and curiosity, the woman with all eyes on her stopped in front of the newlywed couple. The doctor was about to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly spoke.

“Wyatt, my darling! I’m so happy that you’re happily married!” she spoke with a high-pitched voice like she was acting cute as she pouted. “Which is why, I got a gift for your happy marriage!”

Everyone widened their eyes as their jaws dropped in shock. None of them, not even Wyatt, could even put on a different reaction as they did not know what to do after witnessing what just happened in a split second. With the chocolate pudding dripping from the tub down the ground after throwing all of its content, the woman in the yellow tube dress flashed an innocent grin as she stared at Ghrae, who was looking with slightly wide eyes at her now brown dress.