Chapter 2 The unexpected message

(Ariel's POV)

Stepping out of her hotel room, Ariel felt more nervous than ever. She went outside and took a taxi to the court where she would be getting married to Dave.

The drive to the court was a short one but the closer she got to the venue, the more nervous she felt. She could not shake off the strange feeling in her heart. She had a strange feeling that something would go terribly wrong. She arrived at the court and she got down from the cab and paid the driver.

"Ma'am Sorry to ask but are you getting married today?" The driver asked her.

"Yes i am" She replied politely.

"Happy married life then" The driver said as he drove off.

A smile crept its way into her face but her mood instantly turned sour as she turned towards the court. She knew she wanted to be happy. She should be happy but there was just something off. She stepped into the hall of the court room.

The hall was adorned with strings of lights, each flickering like tiny stars in celebration.

Ariel's phone made a sound again, indicating a notification.

"You look stunning!" Mia had typed in response to the image Ariel had sent. She used an emoji showing her eyes sparkling with excitement. She also used a hug emoji indicating pulling her into a tight embrace. "Are you ready to marry the love of your life?"

Ariel felt her heart flutter at the question. "More than ever," she replied the text. She still had lingering doubts but her mind was made up. She was marrying Dave, the feeling in her heart was probably just nervousness, she convinced herself.

She sat on one of the chairs, the centre chair in the lounge next to the courtroom they were to be married and waited for Dave to come. She watched the people coming in and out of the court. Most looked happy, they were getting married. The ones that looked sad or had straight faces were most likely the ones that had gone to the court for divorce.

She saw a couple who she was sure had also just been married. The man looked into the woman's eyes with so much love, admiration and pride and kissed her. They were surrounded with their friends and families who had come to celebrate them and were being congratulted on every side they turned to.

Both the bride and grooms parents were there too. Their faces were filled with so much pride and admiration for their children. It made Ariel smile sadly. Dave's parents did not really know much about her. She had never met them even though she had begged Dave to meet them but he had always given one excuse or the other.

When she had asked him after his proposal, he had told her that immediately they got married they would go for lunch at his parents house but that he wanted their marriage to be just about them with no one but them there. She had felt it was really romantic and had agreed.

Even when Mia had offered to come, despite how far it was, she had told her not to bother and told her what Dave had said.

"As long as you're happy, then okay. But i will be with you all the way". Mia had replied.

Amidst the laughter and all the cheerful banter, her phone buzzed violently in her pocket, jolting her back to reality. She pulled it out, her stomach dropping when she saw Dave's name flash across the screen of her phone.The words "I can't make it" felt like a slap in the face, each letter breaking her heart. She was very confused and convinced herself that she had seen the message wrongly and it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She unlocked her phone to open the full message.

Time seemed to slow down in Ariel's world as her fingers trembled over the screen, revealing the full message.

"I'm sorry, Ariel. I can't do this, i can't marry you. I've never actually really loved you, and i've found someone else and I've cheated on you."

The words echoed in her mind, turning her excitement into suffering. She started coughing and began choking. She gave ways to tears and she struggled to breathe as the world around her faded into another world. She tried to stop her cough. She took a really long breath. This day that was supposed to be the best day of her life was turning into her worst nightmare. She had no idea this was how the day was going to go. She let out a huge wail as each of the word were starting to make sense to her.

She had noticed that something had been off about him lately, he had been very distant and when she tried to talk to him about it, he would flare up shout at her, then later tell her that nothing was wrong. He would hold her, promise her that he loved her with all his heart, promise to give her the world and they would fall asleep in each others arms.

During the last month prior to their marriage, he would come home late, and sometimes not come home for a few days. When she would ask him why, he would blame it on his Job saying that it was very tasking. She knew he had been lying because after school Dave had gone to work at his father's company and he could decide if he wanted to go to work or not, and him blaming his late night on the job had been very suspicious but Ariel had thought nothing of it at the time.

Now she was starting to realize that he was probably cheating on her throughout that time. The last week before their marriage Dave had suggested Ariel stayed in a hotel so that they could have some distance before their marriage. He had said it would enable them have a happy home by the time they had gotten married.