Just Before He Said 'I DO'

Chapter 1

In the courtyard of St. James Palace's Chapel Royal, countless people from all walks of life were scattered around. At every turn of your head, you get to see more people dressed in stunning dresses, each more beautiful than the last.

More luxurious cars pulled up to the red carpet, delivering more stunning guests.

“I can't believe they are finally getting married!” A pretty lady dressed in a pale pink dress said to her partner, also dressed similarly.

“Yes! And in Chapel Royal! Hmm…” The other one replied jealously.

“What do you expect? Her family is old money!” Another group of three, consisting of sequin-decked old Ladies, sauntered by with haughty looks.

“Their marriage is a perfect match made in heaven! Haha.” A handsome young man laughed boisterously with his friends under an alcove.

They all nodded, laughing along, their pristine suits looking dazzling on their toned bodies. “I can't agree with you less, Julian. Your cousin's marriage to Miss Vivienne will be the wedding of the century…”

“Sir….!!!” A voice called, interrupting them. They turned to see a group of people holding blinking cameras and different sizes of microphones running towards them.

Their faces turned ugly as they groaned. “s**t, it's the paparazzi!”

The paparazzi caught up with them with massive smiles, but before they could talk, the wedding bells jingled.

But the paparazzi were relentless, clicking their cameras and waving the microphones in their faces while asking them a barrage of questions.

“Mr. Julian, how do you feel about your cousin’s marriage?”

“How else am I supposed to feel?!” Julian scoffed inwardly.

“How many months do you think this wedding would hold up for?”

“There are rumors that Montgomery’Co is having issues with a new rival that is threatening to dwarf the company and put it in the shade. How true is that, sir?”

“Sir…”

Julian scoffed but was careful not to do anything to tarnish his image. In this world of Fame and luxury, image was everything.

“I am sorry to say this, but I have a wedding to attend. But I will answer all your questions later.” Julian chuckled and hurried away from the paparazzi with his friends.

A luxurious car parked on the red carpet as the people hurried inside the church. The valet ran to get the door, which opened to reveal a breathtaking young man with golden eyes and hair, who stood still for some moments contemplating the scene.

A younger lady appeared by his side with a very bright smile. She had on a pale pink dress that wrapped around her upper body and flared out in layers below her slim waist, giving her a slight foreign vibe. She had a slight resemblance to the man beside her.

“Aren’t we going inside, brother?” She asked in a carefree voice tinged with a lilting foreign accent.

The man only nodded forlornly and walked with his sister into the church hall.

***

Edgar Montgomery gave his bride-to-be a small smile as the priest proceeded with the speech.

“Dearly beloved….” Everything faded away as Vivienne Renard stared lovingly at her soon-to-be husband. His handsome face was something even the top models were jealous of. He has gray eyes, a beautiful nose, a perfect jawline, sexy thin lips, and a killer body to die for.

He didn't notice her staring because his gaze kept shifting around like he was looking for something. His attitude made Vivienne worried as she knew what they had gone through to make him agree to this.

“If there is anyone against this union. Speak now or forever remain silent!”

Vivienne stylishly looked around worriedly, hoping some deranged psycho or asshole won't ruin her wedding.

The foreign young man looked around the hall for a while before shaking his head slightly, his golden eyes downcast. His sister noticed this and grabbed his hand, giving him soft pats.

Although numerous people would have loved to raise their hands, the people only shifted and murmured angrily in their seats.

“Do you have anything to present?” The priest asked an absent-minded Edgar who didn't reply.

Vivienne grimaced and grabbed his hands softly, glaring at him with a smile.

“Oh!...” Edgar gave an apologetic smile and cleared his throat. “No, I don't father.”

The priest nodded. “Then, let us commence. Do you, Vivienne...”

Everything faded away again for Edgar as his downcast eyes sadly scoured one end of the halls to another as though he were in search of something.

He said some prayers in his mind hoping for some miracle to happen, so he wouldn't have to go through with this.

He couldn't bear the hurt and pain it would cause if everything eventually fell into place.

‘Why can't he just concentrate?’ Vivienne thought worriedly as she put on a huge smile to mask the worried thoughts running through her head.

She squeezed his hands slightly and got his attention. “Focus!” She hissed through her teeth, sporting a smile.

Edgar gave a light nod and smiled tightly as she answered the priest’s question.

“Yes, I do!”

He sighed and craned his neck subtly towards the entrance. ‘If only a miracle could just happen.’

“Dude, can you please concentrate? Your bride is looking worried!” Carlos, his best man whispered to him.

Edgar turned to Vivienne and sighed again as she stared at him intently with worries in her silvery blue eyes.

The priest turned to Edgar. “Do you, Edgar Montgomery, take….”

He became more restless at the intending question and nervously ran his hand through his brown hair and looked towards the doors and windows of the opulent hall as though looking for a way to escape.

“...to love and cherish, in health...until death?”

He didn't reply immediately as he stared intently at Vivienne's face, wondering how he was going to spend the rest of his life with her.

Vivienne chuckled nervously, getting worried at each passing second as she nervously squeezed his hands.

This caused a stir in the crowd. ‘What is going on?’ this was the unasked question on everyone's lips.

“What is Edgar doing?” Julian wondered quietly in the crowd.

The parents of the bride and groom turned to each other worriedly.

“Mr. Edgar...” The priest whispered.

He smiled sadly and looked around one last time before answering the one question that was going to alter his life forever, and then he saw her.

She was standing by the door, with tears falling down her eyes. Time paused at that moment for him as his eyes widened with shock.

Edgar turned slowly towards her direction, the pleasant surprise evident on his face as he ignored Vivienne's desperate call.

“Edgar...” She hissed at him and pulled on his motionless hand.

She wondered about what had caught his attention and traced his gaze toward the door along with the rest of the congregation that were wondering about what had caught the groom's attention.

A young lady stood at the door sobbing. She looked unkempt with her hair matted and her clothes torn and ragged on her battered body, making her look like she had just been through a lot of indescribable suffering.

He subconsciously moved towards her slowly, abandoning his bride at the altar.

“No! Edgar stop!” Vivienne called angrily. ‘This can't be! What is she doing here?’ she thought angrily as she ran towards a motionless Edgar and tried to shake him out of his reverie.

He shook her off and hurried towards the crying-tattered girl standing at the entrance.

“Stop!” The girl cried, stopping him in his tracks. “Don’t come near me. You promised me. I went missing and you didn't bother to look for me! Instead, you are getting married to her...”

Murmur rose in waves. The people went silent as the shabby girl wept hysterically.

“What in God's name...” Vivienne cried in disbelief and anger.

“No! You have gotten it all wrong.” Edgar said with his hands stretched in front of him. “I did, but I couldn't find you. I thought you had left me! Rosa, please...” he pleaded genuinely as he slowly moved towards her.

“No, liar! Stay back! I was wrong about you. I thought you were different from the others…go back to your bride!” She yelled angrily, the tears pouring in torrents out of her eyes.

“Go back to her…” She cried in a heartbroken voice and ran away.

“No! Rosa wait!” Edgar yelled and tried to leap after her, but Vivienne suddenly leeched onto him.

“Edgar! You can't f*****g go after her…argh!” She cried as he pushed her to the ground and ran after the shabby girl.

“It's our wedding!” Vivienne screeched as she kicked off her silver heels and ran after him, stumbling on her dress train.

“Go after her and make sure to bring her back safely.” Andrew, Vivienne's father, said to his bodyguard behind him and turned to look for Landon in the crowd with his wife tagging worriedly.

The wedding fell into disarray as the paparazzi ran after the distraught bride, going live on their various TVs, and the guests grouped up to discuss the exciting turn of events.

The foreign young lady smiled and nudged her brother playfully. “What a twist, isn’t it? This is perfect.”

The young man only frowned worriedly in the direction Vivienne had run.

“Come on brother, let’s go, those nosy paparazzi are here.” The lady said and led her brother out.