Chapter 3 Beautiful Pain

Maddie had imagined awkward wedding receptions before.

She had even imagined painful ones.

But nothing-absolutely nothing-had prepared her for this.

The ballroom was dazzling though. It had been draped in soft golden lights while the massive chandeliers cast a dreamy glow over the sea of elegantly dressed guests. The Blackwoods had spared no expense-everything from the lavish floral arrangements to the live orchestra screamed wealth and opulence.

Too bad the groom looked like he was attending a funeral.

Nate sat beside her at the head table with shoulders stiff, jaw tight while he exuded the get-me-the-hell-out-of-here energy in blatant waves. He had barely glanced in her direction since walking out on the kiss. If it weren't for the hundred or so guests watching their every move, she was sure he would've been across the room, as far from her as possible.

Not that she cared.

At least, that's what she told herself as she delicately sipped her champagne.

"Well, I must say," Henry Grant, who was next to her, leaned toward her as he said in a voice that was pitched just low enough for only her to hear. "That was quite an entrance he made."

Maddie scoffed softly. "Oh, you mean when my husband humiliated me in front of half of New York's elite?" She smiled sweetly just then. "Yes, I quite enjoyed that part."

Henry sighed as he gave her a look that said he knew she was deflecting.

Beside him, his daughter, Sarah, leaned in with wide eyes. "Okay but Maddie, why is he so pissed?" She gestured at Nate who was brooding into his whiskey glass like it had personally offended him. "I mean, sure, it's an arranged marriage but most guys would at least pretend to be civil. It's not like he was forced at gunpoint."

Maddie exhaled slowly even as she felt the weight of a hundred curious eyes on her.

"Apparently, marrying me is the greatest tragedy of his life," she muttered as she took another sip of her wine.

Henry's gaze darkened slightly at that. "That's not your fault, Maddie."

"No but it is my problem," she murmured.

Because no matter how indifferent she tried to be, the truth was that she was legally bound to a man who hated this arrangement and was making sure everyone knew it.

On the other side of the head table, Bill Blackwood had finally had enough of his grandson' bullshit.

"I have never been more ashamed of you, Nathaniel," his voice was low but filled with barely controlled fury as he spoke to Nate who was by his side. "Do you have any idea what you've done tonight?"

Unmoved by his anger, Nate swirled the amber liquid in his glass. "I went through with the wedding. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Bill's nostrils flared. "Oh, don't you dare play dumb with me, boy. You humiliated your wife. You humiliated me!"

"I married her, didn't I?" Nate drawled while he took a slow sip of his drink. "What more do you want?"

Bill's grip on his cane tightened. "For you to act like a damn man not a petulant child who is throwing a tantrum."

Nate exhaled sharply through his nose as he set down his glass with more force than necessary. "I agreed to the marriage, Grandfather. That's all you're getting from me."

Bill's eyes burned with anger but before he could unleash another tirade, Liam Carter, Nate's best friend who was sitting by his side, said with a smirk on his face, "Well, that was quite a show. I didn't think you had it in you to be that dramatic."

Nate shot him a dry look as he muttered. "Not in the mood, Liam."

Liam chuckled as he glanced toward Maddie. Then he murmured in a voice that sounded impressed. "She's handling it well though. Better than I expected."

Nate followed his gaze and looked at his new wife.

Maddie was laughing softly at something Henry had said while her delicate fingers were wrapped around the stem of her champagne glass. Despite the humiliation he had served her on a silver platter, she looked composed and her head was held high as if his rejection had rolled right off her.

It shouldn't have bothered him.

But for some reason, it did.

"Don't let her fool you," he muttered as he finished his drink. "She's just as much a player in this as my grandfather."

Liam raised a brow at that. "And yet, you're the one who stormed off at the altar."

Nate ignored what he said because just then across the room, Maddie had met his gaze.

For a moment, neither of them looked away as they stared at each other.

Then, with an arched brow, she slowly tilted her glass in his direction before she took another sip in a manner that mocked him with effortless grace.

Nate clenched his jaw even as he thought, the audacity of this woman.

Where she was, Maddie sighed as she set down her glass.

"Well," Henry said lightly as he looked at her. "That was quite the declaration of war."

Maddie smiled innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Henry chuckled and shook his head. "You always did have a fire in you."

Sarah sighed dramatically at that. "A fire that's about to be put through hell."

Maddie didn't argue about that.

Because as she glanced at Nate one last time, she knew that this marriage wasn't just going to be difficult.

It was going to be war.