The Lotus And The Billionaire

Chapter 8: Wedding

I can no longer recall the last time I had a decent conversation with Alvarez. For some reason, he got really furious after I lied to him about Vin being my boyfriend. I figured it’d be a funny prank, but Alvarez took it too seriously.

He probably thinks what we’re doing is infidelity, so I had planned to clear the misunderstanding before the wedding. I thought I’d tell him the next time we meet just to make sure that he wouldn’t suddenly back out, but Vin told me he had already talked to Alvarez about it.

I could clearly see the mortified look on Vin’s face as he came home after asking permission to meet a friend. He wouldn’t tell me what happened, but it seemed like Alvarez kind of threatened him. I tried to talk to him about it when we returned to Mrs. Valderama’s boutique, but he ignored me!

Well, that works for me because, at the very least, I won’t have to deal with his teasing. I’m tired of butting heads with him, anyway!

As for the wedding…

It’ll be held tomorrow already, and I’ve been preparing myself and my wedding vows for it. To be honest, I don’t know what to say, but I’ll leave that for the future me to deal with. I can just say corny stuff and pretend it’s what I really feel.

I sighed as I stared into the ceiling of my room, in a daze. Everything’s already planned out from the wedding and the next two years I’ll spend with Alvarez. I’m not sure if I can bear living with such an arrogant man for so long…

“Sapphire?” someone called while I was lying down.

“Who is it?”

“Vin.”

Oh.

He’s been avoiding me for some time now after what happened with Alvarez, but I still don’t know why that guy cares. It’s got nothing to do with him, anyway.

I sighed and stood up to open the door. “What do you want?”

“Just wanted to check up on you,” he said as he entered my room, wary.

“What for?”

“You know…” he trailed off as he laid down on my bed. “It’s your big day tomorrow, so I figured you might need some support.”

“I don’t need anything.”

Vin remained quiet for some time while I sat at the edge of the table. He was probably thinking about how to help me…as my unhappiness has been evident since I started to lock myself inside my room.

Neither my mother nor my father could properly talk to me, especially with the way I avoided their questions. I could not hold a proper conversation with anyone…

As for Alvarez, we haven’t been in touch since two days ago. He simply told me that people would come to assist me tomorrow, and that I should make sure that things go the way they planned.

“Vin, I don’t want to get married…” I muttered as I slowly fell on the bed, my hands covering my face.

I wanted to weep.

I wanted to leave and never come back.

All I feel right now…is hate and loneliness.

“Running away is still an option, you know.”

That surprised me big time, but I couldn’t quite process what he said. Vin always joked around to try and cheer me up before. That’s why I didn’t think much of it, and waited until he said it was a joke.

But he didn’t.

So I got up and looked at him, wanting clarification. Vin was never one to say something that might go against my father’s orders as he’s his employer. Yet why is he telling me this…?

“I can provide for you while you go into hiding. Your father is sure to make me in charge of finding you when it happens, so you wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

My eyes watered from Vin’s words. I want to go with him. I really do…

“That’s if you trust me, Sapphire. But then again, it’s just an option for you.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

He sighed as he got up to face me. “We’ve been together for some time now. Seeing you miserable is the last thing I want…”

His offer was so tempting that I almost immediately said yes, as if it was not going to affect anyone. If I just try to ignore everyone else, I might be able to get past this. If I was just that selfish…

Truth be told, there’s nothing wrong with marrying Alvarez if I knew what his real agendas are. But I’m scared of him. I’m so afraid of falling into his trap and never being able to get up. That’s the one thing that’s making me feel this miserable.

That man is the worst of them all despite seeming like someone affectionate and gentle. You’d never know what’s going on inside his head…

I wiped the tears that fell from my eyes. “It’s fine, Vin. I appreciate it…I really do. I trust you, but I just can’t…”

Vin laughed and stood up, his back was facing me. “I see you’re as selfless as ever. Of course, you’d decline no matter how tempting it was.”

I looked down and tried to stop the tears from falling as I wondered if things would be different if I just said yes. Can we still recover? Will someone give us protection if I don’t marry an Alvarez?

My head ached at the thoughts that kept rushing in, but I couldn’t simply ignore them. Even if I can’t do it, I still hope that a ‘me’ from a different universe did it…and found happiness.

But I…I can’t do it.

“Well, that’s that!” Vin exclaimed after a moment of silence. “I suppose I’ll take my leave. There are things I have to take care of.”

“Hmm. Thank you for talking to me.”

“Yeah, sure. If you’re lonely, you know I’ll come rushing to you with one call.”

I nodded and watched him walk away, leaving me so he could take care of his duties. Vin is a busy man, especially for the event everyone’s preparing.

As for me…

I was told that I needed to get plenty of rest and that I should worry about what I should say during the wedding vows. But I couldn’t think of anything at all as I began to realize that I’m actually going to spend most of my time being with a man I don’t feel any affection for.

But then again, we’re almost there. I just have to bear with it.

——————

Today’s supposedly a big day for me. A day that’s supposed to bring me utter joy and happiness. A day everyone’s looking forward to.

I’m supposed to smile as I face the mirror with the stylist helping me get ready. We’re supposed to talk about this whole day with a bright smile, as if we’re both really glad about this whole marriage.

But it was different.

I was smiling, but damn, it looks fake as f**k. Anyone who knew me well would be able to tell that I’m not enjoying this whole thing. They’ve known since the beginning anyway, so what’s the difference?

The stylist leaned closer with a smile plastered on her face. “Where did you meet Mr. Alvarez?”

I couldn’t tell if she was just curious or if she was waiting for me to make a mistake…

Damn, I almost forgot about my lines after thinking about what Vin told me yesterday. It stuck to me like a glue that I almost lost my focus on this whole thing.

I smiled brightly, yet it still looked fake. “We met when we were kids. Our grandfathers were good friends.”

Oh, speaking of grandfather…

Both of our grandfathers are coming today, and I can already picture them talking about how they knew the two of us were bound to get married once we turned into adults. Little did they know, Alvarez and I never formed a bond enough for us to even look at each other without scorn.

Grandpa Emiliano…was hated by his own grandson. His old mansion, where the wedding will be held, is crawling with memories Alvarez sure wouldn’t want to remember. Why? Because he was trained by Grandpa Emiliano’s rough hands there…

If I hated Alvarez for being liked by Papa, he loathed me upon seeing how Grandpa Emil never shouted nor tried to hit me with his baton. He had to stay under the sun or inside the library for hours just because his grandfather wanted him to follow in his footsteps.

And that’s probably why Alvarez chose that mansion as the venue…

Although it is indeed vintage, he wouldn’t have forced himself to go there just to relive the memories if it weren’t for his desire to make this wedding as loathsome as possible. And I’d like to thank him for that. This way, I’d eventually forget about this whole wedding.

“When did you two start dating?” the stylist asked. Again.

I had to fight the urge to sigh. Everyone else has asked me that question before already, especially during the press conference that Alvarez and I attended just to clarify several things.

“We started dating after that joint project…but in secret. We didn’t want to feel watched, so we decided to keep it lowkey,” I replied without blinking, trying so hard to look like I was in love.

Fuck, this keeps getting difficult.

They kept asking questions I didn’t want to answer…

My head’s starting to hurt all over!

“It must be nice to be an Alvarez's bride…” she muttered.

Ha! It’s nowhere near pleasant if you really know what kind of man he is. Oh, how I wish this whole thing would just end…

Soon, this’ll be over and there won’t be anyone else around anymore.

As time continues to pass, there’s this dreadful feeling that keeps on bugging me. It’s as if it’s heightened as the wedding draws nearer. Even after the stylist was done with my hair, it didn’t stop.

My heart hurts.

When they said it was time to go to the venue and that the automobile was already there, I thought about ripping everything off and running away. Vin’s the driver, so I felt like if I wanted to run away, it'd be my last chance.

“Hi,” he greeted me when I entered the car. “Are you sure you don’t want to turn back?”

I looked down. “No.”

I have decided that I need to proceed with this whole thing. For my Mom and Dad’s sake…as well as Papa’s. This is the first time Papa has ever congratulated me. He said it was the first time I made a good decision in my entire life.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to feel about that because, right now, all I can think about is how I made a mistake when I agreed to this. Although I didn’t have much choice…

There’s no point in thinking, after all. It’s already happening right in front of me.

I took a deep breath before getting out of the car. “This is it.”

“Be careful there, Sapphire,” Vin told me before leaving.

There were flashes everywhere, almost blinding enough for me to want to take cover. My parents were also there, waiting for me so they could take me to the altar, looking like proud parents.

Ha! All I see here is idiocy and pretense!

Still, I tried to conjure a smile. No matter how pretentious it was, I believed it was okay. The media will buy our sorry excuse of a marriage and stop coming after us. So I smiled.

I plastered a permanent, seemingly affectionate, smile as I uttered words I didn’t mean on the altar. I…felt like I lied too much that karma might come after me later on. I don’t want that.

I didn’t notice how everything transpired around me. I couldn’t keep up with the time. It was more like…I was stuck on the altar, unable to move.

Maybe things happened while I was in a trance, but I couldn’t remember anything. After the ‘til death do us part, I must have lost consciousness already. But it didn’t mean that I passed out…perhaps just lost in my thoughts. Alvarez seemed to have guided me, though.

“You better snap out of it already. We’re still at the reception…” Alvarez muttered as he held my hand.

I glanced at him and he was smiling from ear-to-ear, like he was never mad at me. He was just doing what he had to do, like a well-rehearsed dialogue. He socialized well, unlike me, who never had friends.

The only people who dared to talk to me couldn’t stop mentioning Alvarez. My friends who were invited came to talk amongst themselves, so I couldn’t find it in me to slip into the conversation.

And now…I’m all alone.

Normally, Vin would be beside me to accompany me. But he couldn’t because it might stir issues up. Now, he’s just watching over me from afar as he made sure nothing bad would happen.

I feel empty. Just like the bottle of liquor that'd been emptied near our table, which had already fallen. Ha, I wish I could do that and just lie down on the bed while thinking.

“Diaz– I mean, Sapphire-”

“Just call me that in public. I’d rather call you by your surname when it’s just us,” I cut him off.

“Do as you please,” he replied. “You seem tired, though. Should we leave?”

I couldn’t help but hold onto his arm when I almost fell. “Yes, please.”

“Stand properly, I’ll carry you. You don’t look like you can still walk properly.”

Since I couldn’t really handle it anymore, I just let him carry me out of the scene. Even though it caught everyone’s attention, I couldn’t care any less. I just wanted to get away from that crowd.

To my surprise, it was Vin who was going to drive us to our destination. I have no idea where, since Alvarez was the one who chose the place for the supposed honeymoon. I wish it weren't in his grandfather’s mansion. I’d rather kill myself.

“Sapphire, are–”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did you drink too much?” Alvarez cut him off as he tried to see my face.

“O-kay…” Vin muttered as he started driving.

I sighed as I rested my head on Alvarez’s shoulder. “No. I feel sick.”

“The place is close. We’ll be there in no time,” he whispered as he held my head.

I could see Vin shaking his head as he glanced at us through the rearview mirror. Even then, I couldn’t say anything because I could feel my eyelids getting heavy.

“Can I sleep…?” I asked, even though I was really on the verge of falling down.

“Do you want to get something to eat first? Maybe it’s because you haven’t been eating properly?” It was Vin’s voice. I think.

“There’s food there. No need to buy anything. Diaz, you can just sleep.”

“We should buy medicine first.”

“I can do that for her.”

“Damn, why are you so hostile? I’m just concerned because she’s my boss.”

I groaned a little because their voices were making my head hurt. Thankfully, they seemed to have toned their voices down after seeing me in such a predicament, so they had stopped. And finally, I was able to fall asleep.

——————

“Diaz, please wake up. You have to change…”

“Hmm?”

I tried to open my eyes and looked around the place. Oh, I guess we arrived here while I was asleep. Alvarez had already changed into a white shirt, but he didn’t seem to change his slacks yet.

As for me…I’m still in my gown. Maybe Alvarez didn’t want to do it for me because he didn’t have my consent. Well, that’s nice of him, but I really feel greasy now!

“Help me stand up,” I said as I put my hand up.

He sighed and went to my side to help me stand up. When I was finally standing on my feet, I gestured for him to pull my zipper down because I couldn’t reach it. Luckily, he’s being nice, so he just did it without any questions.

Slowly, I let my hair down and threw the hairpins on the drawer beside the bed. I really wanted to take a bath because I already feel so much better! I have to get rid of all this sweat.

“Hurry!” I complained because he was taking so damn long!

“Alright, I’m sorry!”

“Stop staring at my back, you creep.”

When he finally pulled it all down, the dress fell on my feet, leaving me in my undergarments. Before Alvarez could say anything, I had already fled to the toilet so I could take a dip in the jacuzzi.

He’s probably fighting his demons right now. I clearly heard him groan when my clothes fell on the floor. Heh, I’m a handful, and he has to deal with me being like this for as long as we’re married.

I smiled as I finally submerged my entire body. “That feels nice.”

Hmm, I guess I should thank Alvarez for helping me out, but I have no plans on talking to him until we get out of this place. I have no idea where we are, but this is probably one of their secluded family resorts.

The only thing I can do right now is think of this as a vacation and enjoy my time alone. Yes, I’d like to think that I’m alone because I plan to ignore that guy’s existence like he did to mine.

After treating me that way, he shouldn’t expect anything nice of me. I couldn’t even use the pool in his penthouse as an escapade when I needed it because he was ignoring me on purpose.

I feel petty, but I just can’t help it. I should be grateful to him for saving us. We’re slowly getting back up thanks to him…but I can’t find it in me to thank him. It’s just that…I feel like he’s hiding several things, and this marriage is his way of hiding them.

“Diaz?” he called from outside.

I rolled my eyes and checked my nails. “Diaz, my ass. f**k off…”