Chapter 5 005

Dante held Lyra's hand woodenly as they began to approach the registry. Lyra felt stiff and awkward, her face staring straight ahead and trying not to steal any glance at the flamboyant-looking stranger beside her, the same man who would now be acting as her husband for the next two years, and legitimately so.

The only thing that bore witness to the fact that there was someone beside her was the fragrant scent of his masculine perfume that kept tickling her nostrils. She inhaled and exhaled quietly as they moved uniformly and at the same pace.

Dante, on the other hand, was a lot more confident. He flashed a broad smile and seized the opportunity presented by Lyra's stiffness to steal as many glances at her face as he could from the corner of his eyes. She was gorgeous, but she was looking too self-conscious; she needed to "sell the story," he thought.

He leaned towards her to whisper in the loving way he saw husbands on similar occasions do to their wives.

"Put on a little more smile." He said.

"Oh," Lyra said, quickly lifting her cheekbones and smiling a bashfully plastic smile.

When they got there, the officials stood up to ask them the necessary questions; they reciprocated with their rehearsed answers, and then, in a moment, Dante unveiled his ring, a round sparkling piece of silver, which he carefully inserted into Lyra's ring finger.

After that, they went ahead to take their vows. Finally, the head official handed them their marriage certificates, declaring them openly as a lawfully married couple.

Outside the registry building, Dante and Lyra posed for pictures while Marcus, a lanky young man whom Dante introduced to Lyra as his personal assistant, crouched opposite them, grasping a camera in his hand to take their pictures.

After everything was done, the couple separated momentarily, and Aria, who had been hanging around since they arrived, watching everything from a distance, strutted toward her friend to hug her with an emotion-laden face. She looked like she was not sure whether to be happy or sad.

When it was time for them to leave, Dante came closer to Lyra again to whisper in his typical collected manner.

"I need to go to the company; my assistant here, Marcus, will take you to my house." He added.

Lyra cast a flustered glance at the assistant again, taken aback for a second.

"House?" She echoed.

"Must I move in today?" She asked further.

Dante dipped his hands in his pocket and gazed at her blankly, raising one of his eyebrows.

"I thought you said you needed the money urgently."

"Oh," Lyra exclaimed, blinking at self-realization and nodding abruptly.

"That's true. I will move in today as agreed; just give me the address."

Dante nodded again and made a face as if to say, "Good girl."

Before he jumped into the Rolls-Royce Phantom he arrived with, he zoomed off into the long stretch of road.

Marcus took that as a cue. He went towards her and silently handed her the address, but not without bowing slightly.

"My phone number is also written there, madam. Please do well to call me if you need any more help with moving in." He added.

"Thanks, Marcus," Lyra said, plainly staring at him as though he were somehow transparent, as though she were in some sort of trance. And even when he bowed again and turned to leave finally, her ghostly expression did not change.

Later, when she returned to the house that she once shared with Felix to park her things, she could not help but break into tears. She was mourning in advance the chains of days, weeks, and months that she would not be able to spend with Felix. And all that was supposed to go on for the next two years.

"How would I cope?" She kept asking herself in thought.

She stared at the spot on her ring finger where Dante's silver ring glittered.

Gloom was all she felt; she was supposed to be happy, and she knew she should try, but whenever she remembered that she was going to be away from Felix for so long, she always felt the sensation of being trapped under a crumbling wall.

Aria came to join Lyra not too long after she arrived.

She had just gotten off the phone with someone before she pushed the door to enter, only to see Lyra hunched over about three opened suitcases with heaps of clothes on different sides of the table and chairs.

"Lots of work to be done." Aria voiced, hurrying in to join her friend silently as she attempted to pack everything she could find on the bed into the luggage.

"Oh no," Lyra said weakly.

"I wouldn't need everything since I will still be coming back here every week." She explained.

They zipped up the luggage Lyra pointed at and packed them one after the other into Arias Hyundai waiting outside. And the moment they were done with the packing and after locking up the house, Lyra turned to Aria, asking her to stop by the hospital.

"I don't feel complete yet; I need to see Felix." She expressed sorrowfully, blinking away her tears. Aria nodded and drove her to the hospital.

Michael was sitting by the side of Felix's bed by the time they arrived. He stood up to his feet the moment the two friends came in. Felix himself was awake as well, lying tiredly at the rear end of the bed.

Aria and Lyra took turns exchanging hugs with Michael, while Lyra went over to the bedside to plant a kiss on Felix's cheek and lips.

"He's so lucky to have you, Lyra," Michael said from his standing position.

"Thank you for everything. I'm sorry I couldn't help with the money; if only I had fallen into the catalog of financial ups and downs I fell into this year, you wouldn't be going through all this."

Lyra waved her head meekly from side to side.

"I understand; you don't have to be sorry."

She immediately turned to Felix after that to inform him that she would be moving in with Dante tonight, so she could get the first deposit as soon as possible.

"Only after then will the surgery take place." She added in conclusion.

Felix nodded in a tight-lipped manner to show he totally understood, then he shifted and sat up feebly, leaning towards Lyra as they shared yet another tight hug and one last kiss to seal the moment. Then Lyra brought out his ring from her bag and pushed it into his palm, holding on to it.

"This is not goodbye," Lyra whispered into his ears before she eventually got up to leave, avoiding the eyes of everyone in order not to become overwhelmed by emotion.

"Keep alive, Felix; you will get through this," Aria added before she followed her friend out through the door.

"Thank you both," Felix muttered, but they were already far gone by then.

Aria reversed after they both got back into her Hyundai. She took the zigzag turns that led out of the hospital as she drove in the direction of the address handed to Lyra by Marcus one estate at house 12 Avenue, the same place her best friend would be spending the next two years as Dante Cooper's wife.

They arrived in front of the reserved-looking vicinity, with beautiful houses scattered across various points of the neighborhood. It was an elite territory.

Dante's house was an off-white mansion, guarded by a large black towering gate. They introduced themselves to the security man at the gate, and after that, it was opened up for them.

Aria drove into the sprawling compound, which was decorated with all sorts of flower types and blue hedges. They jumped down from the car, opened the boots, and with Aria's assistance, they packed all of Lyra's luggage into the huge house with its intimidating interior.

"We'll keep in touch, okay?" Aria whispered in a hurry, hugging her one more time as she rushed out again to meet up with something urgent at her workplace.

After Lyra heard the sound of Aria's car driving off, she took a look around the tasteful decor and elegant furnishings that adorned the spacious interior. The soft leather chairs, the central glass table, the glittery floors exuded an air of refinement. A grand staircase with iron railings hinted at the house's grandeur, while expensive artwork adorned the walls, adding to its attraction.

Aria slept off on the couches far longer than she had bargained for, forgetting all her worries. She even dreamed of her past. blurry figments of her parents, smiling at her as she played in the garden.

Some minutes later, She jerked back up to reality when she suddenly felt the tap of her hand on her shoulder. She brushed her face with her palm and blinked multiple times to look at him properly.

Before her was the smiling face of Dante, dressed in an apron.

"Food is ready." He announced calmly.

"Hunh?" She mumbled with a sleepy voice.

Then she got up and readjusted her clothes; that was when she saw that he was gesturing at the dinner table, bearing two plates. Each of them was crowned with delicious-looking lumps of chicken alongside slides of crunchy chips.

"Thank you." She mumbled again before going over there to sit. He took off his apron and joined her at the other side of the table. Together, they ate in silence.

Dante showed her to her room downstairs after their meal before climbing up the stairs where his room was.

"Off to bed," he said.

After getting in, Lyra had barely settled down to take in the luxurious appeal of her new room when she locked the door and instantly pulled out her phone to call Felix, but he did not pick up. She tried three more times and got the same response. Then, out of fresh fear, she nervously dialed Aria's number, which she had picked up at once.

"Aria, look, I just called Felix; he's not picking up. Did you..."

"Yes, Lyra, I'm actually there now." Aria cut in, sounding even more nervous than she was.

"Felix has gone into another shock. They just rolled him back to the emergency room. Have you asked him for the money yet?"

"Oh my God, I will do that right away." She ended the call at once and darted out of her room on her bare feet, climbing up the stairs with hasty footsteps.

Lyra stood in front of the first door she found on the top floor and inhaled before knocking at once; however, she had gotten no response. She repeated it twice and still heard nothing. Then she decided to push the door open only to see the half-naked, clean-shaved chested figure of Dante with only a towel around his waist.

"Hunh? I'm sorry." Lyra exclaimed, looking away shyly.

"What do you want? Wait, don't tell me you want to consummate our wedding." He asked with a naughty expression, walking slowly towards her while flashing a smirk.

Lyra stepped back, forgetting herself for a second. Then she quickly blinked and racked her brain for why she had entered in the first place.

"The money...my hu...brother needs surgery urgently." She managed to stammer out, finally.

Dante stopped at once and then swung his head to one side.

"Alright, send the bank details to my phone number; I will send it right away."

"Thank you." She blurted and hurriedly ran off.

Dante watched her leave, allowing his face to flatten into a soft smile, seeing how innocent she was.