Chapter 4 The Wedding Gift

• “Daddy!”
• Lola shouted excitedly and ran to Michael. Almost instantly, the man crouched down and gathered his little girl into his arms, his eyes filled with adoring love.
• Without hesitation, Lola jumped into his arms and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Michael smiled and hugged her back, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
• Rita, on the other hand, stood still in shock, staring intently at Michael, the man with whom she had once had a one-night stand. Her breathing became rapid, her heart pounded, and the unexpected encounter threw her completely off balance.
• “How could it be him?” Rita murmured, her voice low and filled with disbelief.
• “He’s really... gorgeous, isn’t he, Rita?” Hannah whispered to Rita as she stood nearby, oblivious to Rita’s flustered expression.
• “What the hell did you just call me?” Rita finally reacted, her anger rising. She made a desperate run at Michael, but her legs were weak, and the exhaustion and pain had made her lose her footing—just as the idiot had done to her, and now his daughter had caused her to fall.
• As she rushed toward Michael, Rita lost control of her body and fell to the ground. The people around her gasped, but Lola laughed unabashedly.
• “Daddy, are you really going to marry this fool?” Lola asked scornfully, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
• Michael remained silent, looking coldly at Rita on the floor. There was no warmth in his eyes, and his cold attitude seemed to isolate Rita completely from his world.
• Mrs. Romeo smiled and tried to relieve the embarrassment, softly but with a hint of instruction: “Michael, help your fiancée up.”
• Michael, however, remained unresponsive. He gathered his daughter in his arms and, without looking back, walked upstairs, leaving an awkward silence.
• Rita sat on the cold floor, staring at the rude and indifferent man with a sudden, unspeakable fear. What would her life be like if she married him? She could not imagine enduring such disregard and indifference as a norm in her future.
• ***
• 3 Weeks Later
• Every lady has fantasized about her dream wedding day, hoping it would be the best and happiest moment of her life. For Rita, however, it was just the beginning of her nightmare.
• Standing at the altar, the groom was not her beloved Steven, but a rude, cold, and disagreeable stranger. How could she possibly be happy with him here?
• She hated him so much. Each time she saw his face, she felt the need to punch him hard. That was the same need she was feeling, standing with him, in front of the altar.
• The day she realized that she was getting married to arguably the most good-looking man on Earth, she felt like crying.
• It wasn't based on his looks — Micheal Romeo was a Greek god, and every lady would be glad to have him as her husband.
• Yet, his attitude infuriated her to the core — he was insufferable. And in addition, he birthed a replica of his stupid attitude. His little brat of a daughter.
• Lora — the cute six-year-old daughter of Micheal Romeo.
• Everything about her was dipped in utter wealth — the lusciousness of her brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes gave her an angelic appearance.
• Then again, her personality was distasteful — Rita, for one, couldn't stand both father and daughter. She despised both of them.
• “You're beautiful, Rita!” Mrs Romeo fawned as Rita stepped out of the dressing room in the wedding day.
• “Thank you.” She forced out a smile.
• A marriage that'd last roughly a year just to benefit their businesses, but the Romeo family spent crazily on it.
• Business partners and associates were invited.
• Rita was led to the Range Rover that would take her to the church, dressed in a beautiful overflowing wedding dress.
• On it were stoned diamonds that radiated expensively, and its silver sleeves were made from the colorist material.
• Since it was backless, her lengthy dark hair was left dangling, and although her makeup was light, Rita was truly an angel.
• Her beauty was blinding!
• One would assume she'd be accompanied to the altar either by her stepmother or Hannah.
• Rita wanted Hannah to do that, but to her surprise, Hannah refused to do so.
• Rita felt something was wrong somewhere as Hannah had been acting so enthusiastically since she discovered how rich the Romeo's were.
• But Rita did not think much in her refusal, she did not want the wedding.
• Soon, they arrived at the church.
• Rita could be seen walking elegantly angelic on a white carpet that led into the church, and her dead-drop gorgeous soon-to-be husband, Micheal, stood there.
• The soon-to-be-married couple were utterly breathtaking, and the guests couldn't even take their eyes off the couple. It was going to be the wedding of the year.
• "I hate you," Rita cursed under her veil, her voice brimming with resentment and frustration. Michael, however, remained completely indifferent, as if he had not heard her. Expressionless, he took her hand firmly and led her to the altar, as if the wedding were a doomed performance.
• As Hannah watched her sister exchange vows with Micheal, she felt her blood boil. She bit her lips nervously, clenching her fists tight. Her nails, digging into her palms.
• Why wasn’t she the one standing next to him? Why had Michael chosen to marry her sister Rita instead of her?
• Countlessly, she tried to talk her father, Mr. Peter, into replacing Rita with her, yet he mentioned how fond Mrs. Romeo was of Rita.
• She gritted her teeth and watched the ceremony with reluctance. But Hannah was not the only one unhappy about the wedding. Little Lola, seated nearby, stared at Rita with fierce eyes, as if she wanted to banish her from the sacred occasion.
• Within an hour, the due procedures were concluded, and the church was filled with congratulatory claps.
• When Rita and Michael got into the posh limousine, the air inside was almost frozen, filled with repressed silence. Rita was the first to break it, her voice icy with determination, “I'm not sharing a fucking room with you.”
• Still, Michael said nothing. He simply reached for the laptop lying nearby, set it on his lap, and began to work on it, as if Rita didn’t even exist.
• Rita’s anger became increasingly uncontrollable. “I’m talking to you! You can’t keep ignoring me!” She waved her hand angrily in his face, trying to get his attention.
• Michael’s patience finally wore thin, and there was an edge of irrepressible anger in his voice. “You can do whatever you want. But let this sink into your head. I hate you and we have nothing in common, okay?”
• “So. Stay. Away. From. Me!” She pointed out word by word but was only greeted by the same silence.
• Micheal didn't give a damn about the loud lady sitting beside him.
• Still, in their wedding attire, both said nothing else after she made her last statement.
• He ignored her, and Rita stopped talking. He won't answer her after all.
• “Steven…” She muttered, staring outside the window as the car drove to the Romeo manor where she'd be spending her first night with Micheal.
• Suddenly, the phone on Rita’s lap vibrated, breaking the silence inside the car. She picked it up and glanced at the screen almost casually, but then froze when she saw the text message. Her eyes widened, and her heart seemed to skip a beat.
• It was Steven!