Sun Upon Dark Clouds

3: Congratulations

The wedding ceremony had begun. Everyone fell into silence as they either concentrated on the occasion that was starting or stared intently at the couple who had the perfect visuals that made the wedding seem to be the most expensive wedding, not because of the reputation and money spent into it, but because of the two beautiful human beings that looked like they had fallen from heaven.

Even though it was nearly six in the evening, the sun still had not set as if it wanted the ceremony to end first before it would climb down the horizon to get its rest. Some would even think that the Pylees and Haziens probably paid the sun as well to make the wedding completely perfect because, how is the star at the center of the Solar System also cooperating? The smiles of success stuck on the faces of the couple’s parents confirmed that they knew about that.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Wyatt Hazien and Aria Pylee in matrimony,” the officiant started in a gentle tone through the wireless microphone.

The people seated turned their attention to the officiant for a second and returned it to either the bride or the groom. The bridesmaids were secretly exchanging whispers, passing the message to each other about how good-looking Wyatt was in a tuxedo and how Ghrae annoyingly looked like an angel standing next to another angel; whether they hated her or not, they could not deny the fact that Ghrae indeed had a flawless and charming face.

Ghrae stood next to Wyatt as she listened attentively to the priest speaking when she felt a soft nudge on her right arm, making her slightly turn her head to the groom’s direction to look at him with questioning eyes, which he responded with a playful grin and a wink. She could tell that her groom was obviously getting bored from the long introduction, though she did not mind giving attention to him as she put her attention back to the priest. The groom blinked his eyes thrice in disbelief with his lips tightening in a thin line as he let out a silent chuckle; the lack of attention that he received from the shorter woman made him want to bother her even more.

“In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife.”

Ghrae, Wyatt, and their parents were the only ones who knew that the statement was certainly false since they never even meet each other if it was not related to work. Of course, to make both families’ reputations even better, Addie (the best speaker for both sides) had to make up their children’s romantic love story with their ‘secret’ relationship being exposed to the public only when they were going to get married. At this point, Ghrae’s adoptive mother could have been a best-selling author if she did not get married to Ryan Pylee.

The bride could feel the taller guy next to her shift closer to her in an unnoticeable way. With a small playful smile on his face, Wyatt lowered his head a bit.

“Knock knock,” he whispered.

Knowing that he would not stop bugging her until she responds, Ghrae decided to join her groom’s little joke.

“Who’s there?” No emotion was evident in her tone as she whispered back while she kept her straight face front.

“Boo,” The smile on Wyatt’s face grew wider in excitement as he thought of using the joke from one of the popular women that he followed on i********:.

“Boo who?”

“Aw, don’t cry,” With that, Wyatt let out a low laugh—not loud enough since he was still thoughtful about the current event that was ongoing.

But that did not stop the officiant in front of them from noticing.

“Mr. Hazien, I get that you’re excited to marry Ms. Pylee and take her to your honeymoon already, but we got to be patient a little more, okay?” the officiant spoke through the microphone with a calm smile on his face. Ghrae was curious whether it was a threatening smile or it was just his natural smile.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, man—I mean, Father!” The officiant and the guests let out a hearty laugh at the groom who just flashed his charming smile in apology.

Wyatt pouted when he noticed that the woman that he said a joke to did not even give him a reaction. He then decided to stand still without being annoying for more than a minute.

The ceremony then went on from long introductions to exchange of vows. Ghrae and Wyatt had already memorized the vows that their parents made for them a week ago, so there were no difficulties and mistakes in delivering them. During the whole ceremony, what Wyatt only had in mind was that he was supposed to be partying with women and liquor right now and not standing at the front of the aisle, listening to the priest speak about marriage as if he had experienced marriage himself. If it was not for Ghrae being pretty and intriguing to him, he would have ditched the wedding without caring about what could happen to his family’s reputation.

Finally, it was the moment of the occasion that everyone had been waiting for. Wyatt wore a smile in excitement as he faced Ghrae and slowly lifted the veil off her face—it was as if he was seeing an angel up close as he instantly remembered the main reason why he agreed to be here.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

The groom gently cupped the bride’s cheeks as she closed her eyes and waited for him to close the gap between their faces. The applause and cheer of the guests could be heard from the background as Wyatt lowered his head to have his lips meet the latter’s. Ghrae’s lips were soft that Wyatt could not help but gently suck on her bottom lip, suddenly forgetting that he was not supposed to make out with her at that moment, but he did not care as he imagined being there with only her.

“Mr. Hazien, you can have her all to yourself later, you know?” the priest suddenly spoke, making Wyatt open his eyes. “I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Hazien!”

The guests let out a laugh as the groom finally let go of his bride. He flashed a sheepish smile as he held her hand and faced the people. Everyone was standing up from their seats and cheering for them as they began to walk down the aisle together. It was finally time for the wedding reception.

Everybody immediately went to the restaurant for the wedding reception. Just like any ordinary wedding, everyone settled on their tables with the people they were related to as they wait for the newlywed couple to join them. The restaurant was filled with mixed voices from different tables having different topics: business, family, or sports. The executives from different companies that attended the wedding ceremony were with the newlywed couple’s parents for typical business talk.

Finally, it was time for the newlywed couple to join them as everyone applauded at them. The photographers quickly did their job in capturing them with their cameras as the couple walked up to the front with smiles plastered on their faces. Some who only got the chance to see their faces up close were in awe as if they were seeing celebrities.

The emcee introduced the couple once again as they went to the dance floor to have their first dance. Wyatt immediately placed his hands on Ghrae’s waist while her hands latched on his shoulders. With the romantic background music playing, it was a sweet sight as everyone watched the couple dance like a happy newlywed couple.

After the dance, the two of them went to the head table to finally be seated while everyone applauded for them. It was then time for everyone to stand up from their seats and go to the buffet to start eating. Wyatt stared intently at the emcee on the other side of the corner until they met eye contact as if his telepathy worked.

“Would you like me to serve you, Mr. and Mrs. Hazien?” the emcee asked in a polite tone as he arrived in front of him.

“Glad you asked,” Wyatt smiled cockily with his left dimple appearing.

“I’ll go get them now, Mr. Hazien!” the emcee smiled back.

“Two fruit salads for me, okay?” The emcee gave him a thumbs up before running to the buffet. Wyatt then turned to Ghrae. “Are you having fun so far?”

“Yes,” Ghrae answered with a straight face.

“I see. You look like you’re really having a blast,” he sarcastically responded as he smirked after.

“How about you?” She leaned back on her seat and turned to meet his eyes.

“Well, you’re my wife now, so of course I am,” He gave her a wink.

“Congrats.”

Wyatt scoffed at the response. His attention was diverted from her when he noticed a bunch of middle-aged men coming to their direction with glasses of champagne in their hands. They looked familiar but neither Ghrae nor Wyatt could remember who they were.

“Congratulations on your wedding, Hazien!” The man with a pompadour hairstyle said as he and the guys with him let out a hearty laugh. Ghrae and Wyatt could only smile in response.

“Thank you,” Wyatt politely responded.

“God definitely has favorites! A handsome young man for a beautiful young woman! I don’t even remember if my wife was this pretty when we got married,” The guy with his face covered in white beard laughed at his own joke—was it really a joke?

“Nah, I bet your wife was beautiful too,” Wyatt spoke. “But of course, my wife is more beautiful.”

“You’re a true man!” Wyatt received heavy pats on his shoulder as he forced out a laugh to not show how he was in pain under their big hands.

“Everyone, may I have your attention?”

Everyone turned to the direction where Ghrae’s parents and Wyatt’s parents were at as Addie tapped her flute glass with a spoon. The middle-aged men went back to their tables as everyone gave all of their attention to the Ghrae’s mother. A smile appeared on her face before she spoke.

“First of all, I would like to thank you all for attending this special occasion. I remember when they used to just date secretly at home. Now, they are going to live one life together,” Addie dramatically faked a sniffle, making the guests touched. “Anyway, another good news is that HZ Group and PYL Holdings are now officially merged to one!”

The announcement made everyone cheer as Wyatt and Ghrae just joined them in clapping. Wyatt felt a bit bitter with the fact that he had to be used for the benefit of their companies, though it was not like he had any other choice. As for Ghrae, she did not really care as she knew from the beginning that their official partnership was what their parents were only looking forward to. Anyway, it would all be over after that.

“Again, congratulations to the newlywed couple!”

Wyatt forced out a smile when everyone turned to them while clapping as their food finally came. Ghrae and Wyatt clinked their glasses together for the toast when Addie was done with her touching announcement.