Never meant to be

Chapter 2

Approximately two hours later, I was taken into the church followed closely by my mother, my aunt and the few cousins who had been told the truth. A long veil covered my face and the corset I wore under the dress modled my shape to fit into the dress. My sister's wedding dress.

The music began to play as I fixed my gaze firmly on the ground, begging myself to not let the tears drop. My father came to hold me as he linked his arms with mine as everyone else stood aside.

“Ami, darling you have no idea what this means to us,” he whispered and I nodded my head slightly not trusting myself to utter a word.

It was to the beat of the traditional wedding march that I walked towards the altar, my father gripping my arm tightly, comforting me but suffocating me at the same time. He let go of me when we reach the altar where Zayn and his best man stood and after completing his duty of giving me away, he left me all alone to take the biggest step of my life.

The vows were said, the lies concealed as I took Zayn Lyon to be my lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. My actions were mechanical, my tone robotic. I had always dreamt of the day I would get married but now I know better. Those hasn't been dreams but nightmares that are yet to unfold.

One sentence, I whispered one sentence as the priest pronounced us husband and wife, hoping the words would somehow reach him.

“I love you Mark, please forgive me.”

************

Fifty times, those were the numbers of times Mark had called me in the past hour and also the number of times I've hit the red button and cancelled his calls. A part of me was dying as I did this to him but even a larger part was already dead inside of me. A kind of emptiness has crept inside of me as a result of that. I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. The shock had been so much that I've been rendered incapable of behaving the way a normal person would under this circumstances.

I leaned my head against the car window, pressing my forehead against the glass to provide a reprieve to my burning forehead. I was ill, a temperature of about 102 degrees and it was a miracle that I had still manage to maintain some level of consciousness. I couldn't tell him. I couldn't even get myself to look at him without wrenching my own heart out. What had happened? How did this day gone from being sweet to being the worst day of my life.

I, Amelia James, married to Zayn Lyon. The Zayn that was supposed to be married to my sister a few hours ago. The thought made me want to hurl and I just want somebody to wake me up right now. Any moment now, Cindy would come yelling for me in my room, shaking me vigorously to wake up and go make her favorite chocolate pancakes.

It didn't happen, she didn't come and no one woke me up. Cindy had left me, abandoned me to the worst of fate and here I was in a car, married to the man who was supposed to be her husband. I couldn't even dare move my face towards him, in fear of the amount of hate that I might see in his eyes. I had willingly sacrificed my happiness and future for my family's sake but Zayn, Zayn had been forced to do this. I heard his parents trying to reason with him. In the end, his father resorted to threatening to cut him off his inheritance. So I didn't need to look at him right now to know how much he resented me.

The car came to a halt outside a huge mansion, the Lyon's mansion to be precise. I had been here a couple of times with my family but never had the place looked so gloomy, so intimidating. It was so engulfed in darkness, and as I peered outside the car window, I realized that this was the welcome that was intended for me. Had the day gone as planned and Cindy had arrived here instead of me, there would have been lights everywhere and celebration and an air of festivity. I on the other hand brought with me perpetual sadness. The gates open to let the car in and I could feel the stare of the watchman following me as the car slowly made its way inside. No sooner had we stopped that Zayn sprang from his seat, getting out and slamming the car door behind him.

A strong migraine made it's way to my head that coupled with the burning fever that didn't really help my condition. I tried to move but my whole body felt too weak to even move an inch. The driver had noticed my predicament and opened the door with a concerned expression on his face.

“Are you alright Miss?”

I shook my head, a sharp pain shooting through it as I did. I gripped my temple and laid my head back on the car seat. Everything was starting to spin around me now and I felt my strength slowly fading while I struggle to keep my eyes opened. My eyes begins to water and I tried to say something to the driver but then, I distinctly heard the driver called out to someone before it all faded to black.

*********************************************************

“Will she be fine” he asked and even in the state of near unconsciousness that I was in, I scoffed. He doesn't care, the carefree tone of his voice made that obvious. He left me in the car and now was putting up an act for God knows who and why.

“Well, I've written down the required medicines and a nurse will arrive shortly to stay with her as you requested. I'm sure that when she wakes up, the temperature will be considerably lower. There's no need to worry, Mr Lyon.”

“I'm not particularly worried and I don't really care, I just don't want somebody dying under my watch”

I manage to hear Zayn say to the doctor and I muttered something not sure if they heard me because I was still half unconscious.

“Did she just say that to me?”

Zayn asked walking towards my bed stand.