Sun Upon Dark Clouds

1: Wedding Day

The background was noisy with voices clashing on each other as if there was a debate going on, accompanied by the sound of the hair blower and footsteps that were coming continuously around the room and from outside. Despite the messy situation that was happening, she was still thankful that the room was still cold because of the high-quality air conditioner that the room had. Everyone did not take a moment to take a break from working while she just stayed sitting on a comfortable black makeup chair in silence as her eyes stared blankly on her own reflection from the mirror across her.

“You’re finally getting married, Miss Pylee—or should I say, Mrs. Hazien?” The hairstylist joked to lift the mood between them as she began to curl the bride’s hair.

“Yeah,” she replied with no emotion evident in her tone as she patiently waited for the stylist to finish styling her hair.

The cold response made the hairstylist decide to shut her mouth and stop trying to create a friendship with the chairman’s daughter in her work. The thought of her job with a good amount of salary stayed in her head as she continued to do her job with a dejected look on her face.

“Check everything needed for the wedding,” The muffled honeyed voice of a well-known woman could be heard outside the hotel room.

“Mrs. Pylee, we just double-checked everything a minute ago,” The polite tone of a male was heard as well.

“So? Now and a minute ago are different! Go and double-check everything again if you want to keep your job,” Addie Pylee, the wife of the chairman of PYL Holdings, ordered. “This wedding must be perfect at all costs!”

Ghrae turned her gaze to the woman who just entered her hotel room on the mirror as she heard the door creak open and close after. The corners of Addie’s lips lifted to a proud smile as they met eyes while she excitedly walked to her side. The younger greeted her with a silent nod as her eyes returned to her own reflection on the mirror.

“O to the M to the G! Baby, you look so lovely!” The cringey voice of the 40-year-old filled the space in the room though none of them could even dare to let out a snicker since she was the one who was paying them. “Leave, all of you. I’ll call you when you’re needed here.”

Without wasting a second, the people who were preparing for the wedding that were in the hotel room rushed out of the room with their stuff, leaving the bride, her mother, and the stylist alone in the room. The noise lessened as the steady blowing sound from the air conditioner filled the silence in the room.

“Look at you, you used to be so adorable and small! You’ve grown to be an elegant woman now,” With too much sweetness in her voice, Addie spoke while her eyes fixated on her daughter’s reflection on the mirror.

“Is Miss Aria Pylee not adorable anymore, Mrs. Pylee?” The hairstylist had enough guts to spit out a joke followed by a chuckle, feeling amused by her own joke.

“My daughter is adorable, beautiful, gorgeous, pretty, charming, stunning!” Addie confidently responded with her voice raising dramatically as if she was speaking in a play.

The hairstylist paused on what she was doing as she let out a light laugh to support her boss when she suddenly received a glare from the older one, making her smile drop while her eyes began to be filled with panic. Just when she thought that she was starting to get on the good side of her boss.

“Who told you to stop working?” The hairstylist immediately returned her attention to Ghrae’s hair as she gulped in fear.

With a roll of eyes, Addie turned her eyes back to Ghrae, who had no interest on what was happening, as her face switched back to a bright one. She reached for her daughter’s soft hand that was resting on her lap as she caressed it with her other hand while looking at Ghrae from the mirror.

“Remember that you’re going to get married. Not just to anyone, but to Wyatt Hazien, the son of the chairman of HZ Group,” Addie spoke while slowly rubbing her thumb on her daughter’s hand. “The result of this wedding would make our life and power better, so I want you to keep in mind that you must stay professional and in love with Wyatt.”

“Yes, Mother,” Ghrae quietly responded, making her mother lift the corners of her lips in satisfaction that her daughter was always obedient to all of her orders up until now.

“Also, keep in mind to always put a smile on your face at the wedding. Show that you’re awfully in love with Wyatt. You may or may not romantically like Wyatt right now, but you will learn to love him once you both get married,” Addie said before she put Ghrae’s hand back on her lap as she stared at her daughter on the mirror.

“Understood,” The bride had no choice but to respond with respect.

The wedding was not a special event even though she was the one who was going to get married; it only was for her parents and Wyatt’s parents. Ghrae was not sure about Wyatt’s true feelings about the wedding though she did not really care whatever feelings he had since it was just a marriage that was arranged by their parents for the benefit of their companies. Another fact that she knew about her future husband was that he was a playboy, which was why their parents had troubles in cleaning up his mess before they announced their marriage.

“I’ll sit on the couch until you’re finished,” Addie flashed a bright smile on her face, though Ghrae knew that it was not a genuine one.

After giving her mother a nod in response, the older woman turned her heel to approach the white couch on the corner of the room as she slumped down on it and brought her phone out to play Candy Crush, which Ghrae assumed after hearing the familiar opening sound.

After a few minutes of staring at her reflection with the sound of Candy Crush from her mother’s phone filling the silence in the hotel room, the hairstylist was finally done styling her hair. The upper part of Ghrae’s hair was braided beautifully with shiny white clips that looked like white flowers while the rest was curled well and freed down. Ghrae’s hairstyle matched with her light makeup to show off her innocent vibe for the wedding, which was requested by her mother, of course.

“Mrs. Pylee,” The said name immediately raised her head from her phone with an eyebrow lifted. The hairstylist smiled as she took a step aside for her to see that her daughter was done with styling.

“Oh my!” Addie widened her eyes in awe as she dropped her phone on the couch and walked closer to her daughter while keeping her eyes on Ghrae through the mirror.

“What do you think, ma’am?” the hairstylist politely asked with a proud smile on her face.

“Honey, you look like an angel!” Addie spoke with delight while admiring her daughter’s beauty. That response was enough to answer the hairstylist’s question. “My daughter certainly took her good looks from me!”

Ghrae threw a quick glance to her mother, who was laughing in amusement at her own statement, before landing her eyes back on her face. The bride and her mother knew well that it was not true since her good looks were basically given by another woman who they both had never met, though she also knew that her mother could say that considering that another person was in the room with them. Nobody knew that Ghrae was adopted but her and her parents.

Nobody also knew that Ghrae’s birth name was not Aria Pylee.

“Aria,” The bride looked at her mother’s smiling face on the mirror with questioning eyes. “I’ll call in the photographers now. Remember to keep professional, alright?”

“Yes, Mother,” Ghrae softly responded.

Addie gave her one last smile as she gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder before heading to the door. Ghrae watched her leave the room before she went back to staring at her own reflection on the mirror while waiting for the next thing to do. The hairstylist, on the other hand, took a seat on the corner of her room to take a break as she fished her phone out to post numerous tweets, bragging about how she styled the daughter of the chairman of PYL Holdings.

Addie came back to the hotel room shortly with the professional photographers as they began on taking photos of Ghrae. They moved to different locations around the huge five-star hotel for different shots. A little later, the bridesmaids were called to join the bride in the photos. Ghrae briefly glanced on each bridesmaid who leaned on her casually as if they were close friends; she recognized them as the daughters of her father’s close friends who were also successful businessmen. The bride, well, did not have any friends for her whole life that having people that she had seen less than thrice to pretend to be her friend was always the solution in every event.

“Congrats, girl!” Ghrae flashed a small smile on her face.

“Thank you,” Ghrae responded politely.

“You are so lucky to be marrying Wyatt Hazien!” The tallest girl among them spoke with a high-pitched voice.

“So true,” The blonde-haired girl nodded in agreement.

All Ghrae could do was put on a kind smile on her face to everyone she meets without the need to utter a word in response like how her mother wanted her to do. After taking different shots with the bridesmaids, they were given a break for twenty minutes before the bride would finally go to the venue where the wedding was held. The bride naturally walked away from the group of girls who were chatting about random topics that she could not relate to as she took a seat on the bench.

“Seriously, she’s so rude. I’m so confused on why Wyatt agreed to marry her when he was never interested in marriage,” The brunette with heavy makeup spoke as she sent secret glares toward the bride from a distance.

“Is it because of money? I mean, I might would too,” The tallest girl joked.

As the bridesmaids turned to look at Ghrae once again, they were surprised to see a vacant bench as if the bride just disappeared magically while they were not looking. They looked around as they decided to move on from her and began to talk about the groom once again.

The bride that they were looking for stood in front of the tall white wedding cake that was baked by the best bakers in the whole world. It was not that difficult for Ghrae to disappear from everyone’s sight since they were all busy preparing for the event. She looked around the restaurant inside the hotel to make sure that no one was around until it was clear.

Ghrae held tightly on her long gown up before slowly pushing the cake plate with a silver dinner knife that was on a table. Before her emotionless eyes was the sight of an expensive tall cake falling down from the table.