Chapter 1 Bride in distress

Nadia O'Hara found herself stuck in what felt like a living daytime nightmare, she forcefully attempted to subdue the huge wave of panic surging up her throat as her mother pulled down the white veil to cover her face.

"You look perfect dear." Her mother said warmly. But for some reason, that only amplified the panic she was feeling. She couldn't even muster the forced smile she'd been using for the past few days during the wedding preparations.

Glancing up at her mother, the woman held a soft expression, tears gleaming in her light grey eyes exactly the same as hers, which she had inherited from her mother of course.

She wanted to voice some soothing words but couldn't bring herself to say a word.

With a joyful sigh her mother led her out of the inner room, inside of the main bedroom sat a few ladies dressed in dark green dresses, the color for the bridal train.

"Oh_my_Gooooood!" Someone squealed the minute she stepped out of the inner room.

"Dia, you look... Wow!" Serene, Nadia's best friend and bride's maid came forward as she sized Nadia up in admiration, the other ladies in the room also followed in their words of praises for Nadia, but the nervous feeling just seemed to surge within her.

What was wrong with her? Why was she feeling this way?

Hadn't she already come to terms with the reality of her decision? Then why was she feeling so nervous?

Since the veil had hidden her face she was relieved they wouldn't see through the awful grimace that surfaced on her face when she tried to conjure a smile.

"Alright ladies, it's time, let's head out!" Someone yelled from the entrance.

Serene flashed Nadia a grin looking excited, she'd turned to leave but then as if noticing something she paused her steps, turning towards Nadia again she asked with slight worry in her tone, "Dia, you alright?"

"Am great." Nadia managed to speak composedly.

"Good, break a leg at the altar." Serene smiled relieved then muttered before following the line of ladies out of the room.

Nadia would have laughed at Serene's remark had she not been bothered by the nervous twist in her stomach.

"Let's go dear." Her mother said as she led her outside towards the entrance to the large hall where her fiance was currently waiting to make her his bride.

She took deep steady breaths as she stubbornly fought the urge to break free from the pressure that currently overwhelmed her to run away from it all, but she reminded herself once again for the thousandth time that she was the one to be blamed for this predicament she'd currently found herself in. If she hadn't been blinded by her own stupidity, then she might just not have ended up in this situation right now.

Nadia felt her mother's loving presence supportively guiding her towards the Hall's grand doors.

Silence descended upon the entire crowd inside the hall as the doors were pushed open to reveal the bride standing graciously at the entrance.

And straight up ahead, standing handsomely tall at the altar was the man with whom she was soon to be wed wearing the black suit perfectly against his fine body, her fiance and soon to be groom, John Adler.

She didn't even realize when her mother had silently left her side and now standing in front of her obstructing her view of the groom was her father who extended his hands towards her to escort her down the isle.

She could see the emotion in his eyes and the pressure upon herself escalated. She silently placed her dainty palm in his large one and he placed her hand on his arm and they slowly began to walk on the beautiful isle.

The hall was fully lit with the beautiful glow of colorful lights, pink petals sprawn beautifully along the floors on the thick red carpets down the isle, the whole hall was spacious, glittering in utter magnificence, just the design of the wedding hall alone told of the high poshness of the people getting married.

The beautiful hall was the centrepiece in one of the most exclusive hotels in Blakewood city, it could be considered the most shining emerald in the hotel's crown.

Looking at the magnificently designed hall she felt the weight of what she was just about to get herself into Dawn on her afresh.

With a disturbingly sick feeling that sent a chill down her spine, Nadia reluctantly moved forward following her father's lead, but just then, a small movement at the side caught her eye.

She glanced around for a while before she almost stopped in her tracks as her eyes landed on an icy gaze of a man, the deep stare from the piercing pair of blazing emerald eyes staring back at her, those eyes held an unmistakably dangerous chill as it seemed to scrutinize her.

Though the man was standing at a far corner of the room almost hidden within the shadows, it didn't conceal the fact that he was extremely tall and breathstoppingly handsome, he exuded an air of dominance. His presence somewhat distracted her from her surroundings momentarily.

Thinking of her upcoming marriage that would officially begin the moment she reached the end of the isle reality slammed back into her once again and her mind was filled with the same panic from earlier.

Her heart raced in her chest and the feeling seemed to heighten the minute she set her eyes on that man, a look in his eyes seemed to have pulled her into some sort of state where the desire to escape and seek freedom heightened to no end.

In that single moment their eyes met, she knew she had not been able to disguise the fear and turmoil in her eyes just like she'd done with her family and friends.

Even though her face was behind the veil his piercing gaze made her feel like he'd seen it all, and to her utter shock she felt that he had actually seen more than just her fear, it felt as if he'd seen right through her soul. For some reason, it made her feel wronged, like someone had finally seen through her pain and she wanted nothing more but to complain to that person and finally stop stuffing it all in.

As more tears threatened to gather in her eyes she quickly broke away from his gaze.

What was wrong with her? Was she seeking comfort in a mere stranger?

She'd never shown her weakness to other people before, even in front of the masses and billions of fans she could perfectly flash that smile, the one that made everyone believe that she was living the perfect life and no one had ever seen through it before.

She tried to calm her emotions, comforting herself with the fact that he was just a mere stranger, someone she probably would never set her eyes on again after this day.

She steeled herself with this thought and walked forward, whatever else her life could have been, she had taken this decision now, and this was her fate.

***

Evan Wilson finally broke off his searing gaze with the bride as she stepped onto the altar. His sharp eyes had caught her beautiful silver colored orbs moistened with unflowing tears behind the veil.

She had looked up as if sensing the weight of his gaze on her and after looking around for a while met his eyes and he didn't know why but in that moment, a prickling sensation rose in his chest but he quickly shrugged it off.

He had to admit, she was without a doubt the most beautiful bride he'd ever seen, though he'd seen many due to his line of work, a lot of weddings were held in all of his hotels, but he didn't plan or have any intentions of seeing a bride walk down an isle towards him.

He had never had any beliefs in love or marriages having been from a large family with an astounding number of half siblings from a father who got divorces as if it were breakfast, it was basically like the man's second nature, not to talk of the countless illicit affairs he'd had outside marriage, Evan was quite certain that he might still have a sibling or two he still wasn't acquainted with due to his father's wayward nature.

To a man like Evan Wilson, the so called holy sanctity of marriage was something not short of a big joke and a complete waste of two people's time, not to talk of the trouble one would subject the family to in order to prepare the demanding ceremony. It all had never made sense to him.

He shook his mind off from wandering towards his insane family who had all dispersed into different corners of the world each searching for a life of their own, their father had attempted countless times to assemble all his children in their ancestral home the Wilson family mansion at least once a year and well... The ones who showed up could be said to have been the devoted ones of the bunch.

Standing on the ornately decorated platform, the priest stood behind the altar speaking words that Evan didn't bother paying attention to. The bride was standing firm with square shoulders holding a regal and graceful bearing that made her appear taller despite her average height.

Her face behind the veil was a smooth mask of intent concentration, he couldn't blame her, the endless ceremonies a marriage entailed coupled with the arduous task of preparation must be quite tiring, and no matter how much he looked at it he couldn't make sense of the idea of two people standing before a crowd throwing everlasting vows of love and devotion to one another which in the later part of their lives might end up in a terrible divorce.

Earlier, Evan had watched the arrival of the groom into the hall as he strode happily to the altar escorted by his groomsmen, a few people also came in after that, the ladies dressed in the same colored dresses, laughably even little kids were decked up in small suits and little girl's wearing little dresses holding bouquets of roses, after the arrival of everyone else came the bride.

She was donned in an all white wedding dress, the fitting dress clinging perfectly to her distractingly sexy curves, he never would have thought that the simple white attire worn by many brides in the world would have him consider a woman beautiful, yet this bride had solidly taken the spot of the most beautiful bride he'd ever laid his eyes on.

He never thought he'd be the one thinking this, but he found himself comparing her to an angel descended right from the heavens with the flickering lights and the sheer white veil covering her face she looked like a celestial being, and damn he never believed in their existence either.

The memory of that single glance they'd shared hit him again with the jolt of a sensation in the depths of his chest, it astounded him, but not more than that moment he thought he'd seen something like panic and desperation in her silver eyes.

A frown made it's way onto his immaculately handsome face, he couldn't help but think that he had been mistaken as the bride currently standing upon the platform right now looked nothing short of calm and composed as she listened to the priest speak.

But he caught a small movement from her that put him in a state of doubt once more, her fair and delicate hands were stealthily clenched beside her, though she looked composed, that small action made it quite evident she was slightly agitated.