Chapter 277
Chapter 277
Elena
“Why are you all staring at me?” I asked nervously. Rona held a few strands of my hair between her hands while Tiffany stepped forward. “She has dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and she would fit in the dress.”
All the girls, including Anya, took relieved breaths and laughed at the situation while I was still confused about my involvement. What did I even do to deserve this?
“You don’t mind, right, Elena?” Anya asked with hopeful eyes. Even if I wanted to say no, I had all these girls staring at me, and Rona squeezing her nails into my back-ready to kill me any second. “These people are paying us a lot, so just nod and smile,” She whispered.
Unfortunately, she was right, they were generous people, and now it was time to do something in return. “I mean, sure—why not!” I tried to sound as cheerful as possible.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Anya jumped up and down. “Tiffany, go and get her in the dress!”
Tiffany dragged me out of the room while Rona followed her. She led us to a changing room and wasted no time as she grabbed a dress that was almost identical to hers. “This should fit you!” She held the dress next to my body.
Rona unzipped the back of my dress while I accepted my fate and just went along with it. “Why does she needs someone with dark hair and dark eyes?” I wondered as I stepped out of my dress.
“All the pairs have the same hair color, and some of these girls even dyed their hair for the wedding, Tiffany explained. It appeared a lot of time and energy went into this ceremony.
“So the person I’ll be paired with has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes?” I chuckled. “That’s crazy.” Tiffany and Rona forced me into the dress. “It might be Tiffany spoke out of breath. “Anyway, don’t worry, it’ll only be for a while, and after that, we’ll take some pictures-and your partner is nice.” “Really?”
“Yes, it’s Tiago’s brother. He looks scary, and he doesn’t really talk much, but he is handsome and polite.” “Seems like the two of you are destined to be together!” Rona commented. I knew what she meant as the combination of Tiago’s brother and me was something I had heard a few times too many, but it was all pure coincidence. Tiffany had a surprised look on her face. “Did the two of you meet already?”
“No, but I did.” Rona smiled. She did meet him once, and the only thing she had to say about him was that he was handsome beyond words and could give Tiago a run for his money. “So he works for the government?” Rona asked.
Tiffany stopped for a second and scoffed. “For or against?”
“Hm? Rona frowned. “I asked him if he was a special agent, and he said, yes, something like that.” She mimicked his tone while Tiffany shook her head.
“He does not work for the government. Let’s just say he has a connection with bars.”
“Is he a rapper?” Rona blinked. If I had to pick the runner-up for the nosiest person, it had to be Rona. “The only thing that guy is wrapping are dead bodies, Tiffany mumbled. Rona didn’t hear her, but I did-
and I could not quite understand her words.
“I’m sorry?”
“Nothing, he’s a good guy. Look, we’re done!”
I looked into the mirror and smiled at the beautiful dress. The gift from Victoria was already more than enough, and now I had the opportunity to wear another expensive dress. I touched the material with my hands. Would it be real gold?
“I should head back,” Rona spoke as she looked down at her watch. Not having Rona around me was something I wasn’t prepared for. “Wait, what?”
“I’ll take you. Elena, stay here!” Tiffany spoke. Rona gave me a thumbs up and turned around to leave. “Wait-Rona!” I shouted. The idea of having to leave this room with this dress around my body felt nice and embarrassing at the same time.
“Just enjoy this moment, and good luck!” Rona cheered me on. She walked out with Tiffany while I stood behind, flustered.
Minutes had passed, I was slowly getting anxious, and Tiffany had yet to return, so I took matters into my own hands and exited the room. It was a bit more crowded than before, which was probably due to the fact that the ceremony was slowly getting closer.
It wasn’t long before I got lost and regretted my decision to wander off on my own. Asking others for help was the thing I hated the most, but it seemed like I didn’t have that much of a choice as I did not recognize my surroundings and found myself in a closed and empty hall.
My eyes moved to one of the rooms as a man appeared to be holding a speech. The door was ajar, allowing me to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“And I will not let anyone ruin my son’s day!” The man spoke. Even though I could not see his face, I could hear the passion in his voice and noticed how a few of the men nodding their heads. That must’ve been Santiago’s dad, who was probably bragging about his son.
“Our priority is Santiago, and it will always be Santiago-”
I flinched and clutched my heart as I felt a hand on the back of my shoulder. “What are you doing here?” A deep male voice spoke. I turned around and looked at the man who stared at me with a dark and unfriendly look in his eyes. If it weren’t for the evil look on his face, he would’ve fooled me with his light brown hair and hazel eyes.
“I got lost, and there’s no need for you to look at me like that,” I told him as I held my head high. I knew these kinds of men who thought they could intimidate women, but I was not the one. The man seemed surprised by my ability to hold my own and released a chuckle.
“Excuse me.” He smirked as he leaned forward to close the door with his hand. “So, who are you? One of Anya’s bridesmaids?”
“Why?”
“Because you weren’t at the rehearsal yesterday.”
The look in his eyes told me that he was not leaving without an answer. “Things have changed. I’m the new bridesmaid.”
“And your name?”
He leaned in closer, and I could almost feel his breath on my face. “Elena.”
“Elena, who?” This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.
“Elena, none of your business,” I spoke. I had never asked for any of this, and all I needed were directions. The man cackled and pulled back his face. “These little college students are crazy nowadays.” He muttered.
Just as I was about to attack him for his false statement, I heard two familiar voices behind me. “Elena, there you are!”
I turned around and looked at Tiago’s mom, Linda, while Tiffany walked beside her.
“Tiffany told me about what happened, and she thought you ran off.” Linda smiled while Tiffany cleared her throat. “I thought Anya was going to kill me today.”
The mysterious man cleared his throat.
“Ma’am”.
The man who had been making my life miserable for the past minutes placed his hand behind his back and looked at Linda, who was not pleased to see him. “Victor,” Linda spoke, disgusted. “Isn’t it funny how my husband is ‘dad’ and I’m, ma’am.”
I couldn’t ignore the tension between the two as the only thing missing was some popcorn. Between the unstable sister and unwanted brother, you could probably make a reality show out of this.
Victor? Don’t be crazy. I wouldn’t hand my worst enemy to your nutcase of a brother.”
Those were the first words to leave Linda’s mouth after Tiago said he wanted to set me up with his brother, and I could finally understand her point. I’m sorry..mom. Victor barely whispered. All his confidence had vanished into thin air.
Linda turned to me. “Elena, was he bothering you?”
“No, not at all.” I shook my head. I was here to do my job, and I had no desire to get any more involved with their family business as if walking down the aisle wasn’t already bad enough. “Okay.” Linda smiled. “In that case, Tiffany should bring you back to Anya.”
Tiffany grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hallway. “I’m sorry, I got lost,” I explained. Tiffany shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just glad you didn’t leave because I’m afraid Anya would’ve canceled the
wedding.”
Following Tiffany made me realize how stupid I was for getting lost, and perhaps if I used my eyes for once, it wouldn’t have happened. We found our way back to Anya’s room, and she seemed way more relaxed than before. “Elena, you look so pretty!” She gushed as she ran over to hold my hands.
“Thank you!”
I smiled gratefully while Anya did the same. “Mom, Helen-come meet Elena!” Anya called out. Two women walked up to me, and it was not hard to tell that one was her mother and the other one her sister.
“This is my sister. She is the one who told me about your cocktails!” Anya introduced us. Her sister, who seemed just as excited as her, grabbed my hands. “Nice to meet you, thank you for everything
your drinks”
“Thank you!” I repeated. It was for the best to just keep my mouth shut and get this over with. Tiffany placed her hand behind my back and pushed me forward. “Come on, guys, let’s take pictures!”
I did not know for how long I had forced myself to smile for the pictures, but I could finally breathe when we had made our way to a different room which was near the ceremony hall. All the guests were already seated, and we were waiting for the groomsmen so we could get into our pairs.
“Are you nervous?” Tiffany asked. It was a stupid question because it was quite obvious. Yes, I liked the attention—but not like this. I felt sick to my stomach, and it almost felt as if I was the one getting married.
“Oh, look, there they are!”
I followed Tiffany’s gaze and watched as the group of men walked through the door. Unlike our golden dresses, they wore dark suits. I couldn’t help but smile at every person who walked in and thought about how much each one of them resembled Tiago in their own way, whether it was the way they presented themselves or the nervous smile across their faces.
“So which one is Tiago’s brother?” I wondered when the last person walked in. Tiffany’s eyes got big, and she looked worried. “Wait, he’s not here yet-why is he not here yet?”
Tiffany prepared herself for another meltdown, but before that could happen, the door had opened once again, and she could quickly recover herself. “Oh, there he is!” Tiffany spoke as she pointed out the male who had just walked in.
1 tried to find the words to say, but I couldn’t speak as my worst nightmare became a reality. My hands were shaking, and my legs started trembling as the familiar male stared straight into my eyes with a stoned expression on his face.
I felt sick, disgusted, frightened, and if my legs would’ve allowed me to, I would’ve crawled out the room- because there was no explanation as to why that thing was in front of me. How could this be?
Tiffany held up her hand to greet him and grabbed mine in the process. “That’s Tiago’s brother, and his name is-
“Marvin…”