Nicole nervously stood next to her dad as the officiating minister or MC she didn't know what he was, announced her entrance, she let out a nervous breath wondering how it would seem like if she just told the truth right now and be done with it, it sure won’t end up good for them and she was sure of it.
"Why did it take you so long to get here? You kept everyone waiting for hours”
Her dad asked in a low but stern voice, Nicole bit hard on her lips to prevent herself from saying anything stupid or insulting, it wasn’t her dad’s fault he was pissed for her being late and rightfully so even though his anger was directed at the wrong person, he didn’t know that.
"I had to take Nat**, I mean Nicole to the airport,"
She said biting her inner lips, she almost said Natalie, well it will take a while to get used to, honestly, right now, all she wants to do is turn and run, but then it was too late to run, she shouldn't have accepted to help, she regretted it, but right now except she wants to see her family be mocked she had to do it, her parents might not care for her and she might act like she doesn't give two fucks about them but she cared, which is one of the many reasons she had decided to do this, what if she didn't and Natalie decides not to show up, she already read so much about Rafael and how ruthlessly he deals with people that are not his allies, not just him, the media too and the general public won't take it lightly on her family, she knew what people could do, so if it means this little sacrifice for her family to still be same then she had no choice than to do it, take care of the family even if they give no fucks about her.
"Your sister left on your wedding day? I don’t understand how the both of you do things, it is your big day, she ought to be here,”
Her dad asked shocked, Nicole already knew she would face backslash from her parents, they already didn’t like her and her supposed going away on her twin’s wedding day wasn’t about to fix that.
"Yes, she did dad and I understand, she needs a break,”
She explained, trying to defend herself.
"Okay, if you say so, Let's go,"
Her dad said and she realized he had his elbow out, she placed her hand on it, and together they gently walk towards the aisle with the wedding hymns playing in the background, it would have been perfect if only it was the real Natalie walking down the aisle, would have been so fucking perfect, Nicole did her best to avoid looking up at the man standing at the aisle, she wasn't ready to face him yet, every step that her dad and she took brought them closer to him and every step her heartbeat increased, she finally looked up to see him smiling at her, thank God she worn a veil and no one could see her horrified expression at that moment, she wanted to turn and run, even his smile was full of horror, no he wasn't ugly or anything, far from that, he was actually handsome, handsome was an understatement, the man was a walking Greek god and looked everything like every woman's ideal type, okay maybe not every woman because she most certainly didn't fancy him.
"Yeah, right and when he kissed you, you responded,"
The tiny voice in her head mocked but she shook it off. Yes she responded to his kiss but that wasn't enough to make him her type, she didn't even have a type, she just knew it would never be someone like him, why the heck was he smiling at her?
"You guys are getting married moron,"
The voice whispered. That was true, they were getting married so even though she wasn't his real bride, he didn't know that so that's why he was happy to see her, but what if he knew? What if he found out?
"Is something wrong Natalie?"
Her dad asked and she realized she had stopped in the middle of the chapel, she looked around and everyone had their attention on her, phones were raised as people filmed and took pictures.
"Yes, I tripped on my shoe,"
She lied as she tried to clear her head of all thoughts and focus on getting this done and out of the way, they finally resumed walking and got to the aisle where her dad handed her over to Rafael who kissed her hand and smiled at her, she forced a smile too before they faced the priest, they exchanged their vows, more like Natalie's vows and before long the priest pronounced them as husband and wife, of course, they had to seal the union with a kiss, and her veil had to be removed, she tried her best to form the best happy face she could muster as he removed her veil and pulled her to him.
"Hello, wifey,"
He whispered cockily and claimed her lips sealing their union, she tried her best not to react to the pressure of his mouth on hers, it was just a kiss, nothing more, she didn't have to enjoy it, she pulled off after a while and he laughed at her, she didn't find it funny but the church did as everyone started laughing, they turned to face the church as the priest blessed them and the wedding was over, so she thought, soon she was whisked off to a room in the chapel where Anita who played Natalie's bridesmaid helped her change, Anita was chatty all through but Nicole couldn’t keep up and just smiled, she wanted to ask her why she was changing but knew that it would come out strange so she just kept quiet.