Substitute Bride

Chloe stood in front of the huge door of the church where her supposed wedding is going to take place , with a bouquet of flowers in her hands .

This wasn't how she planned her wedding to be, she wished to have a memorable wedding with friends and family there to see her happy moments, with her best friend Rose as her bridesmaid.

She wanted to be the one to pick her wedding gown , but all those were her wishful thinking.

She stood in front of the huge mahogany door, lonely as the substitute Bride that she is. Tears pooled in her eyes ,but she quickly wiped them away, careful not to ruin her makeup.

The huge door opened to snap her out of her reverie, she walked across the empty hall, her footsteps echoing round the church hall. She saw him already standing at the altar.

Dressed handsomely, with his silky raven hair neatly arranged , she admired the handsome creature she was getting wedded to , his emerald eyes staring deeply into her soul , she swallowed the lump in her throat and approached the stairs with shaky legs , he held out his hand for her to take like a perfect husband will do for his wife .

If anyone is watching them right now they will surely picture him as every lady's dream husband, but that's not the same in Chloe's case , he's rather a devil ready to trap her in his cage forever with no means of escape.

Her knuckles turned white for gripping the bouquet too tight , it took her all her whim to remove her right hand to place it on his .

She held his outstretched hand and climbed the stairs quietly not tearing her gaze from him, for a moment she thought everything was real . but when she looked into his eyes the look in them speaks volumes.

The priest began the procession immediately after she arrived, it seems like he couldn't wait to get this over and done with .

" Liam Reigns , will you take Chloe Adams as your lawfully wedded wife under the guidance of the bible and the witness of God"

" To cherish, to love, to respect and to support her, be loyal to her no matter the matter, Rich or poor, in sickness or in health, in joy and in sorrow."

The priest's voice echoed in the empty hall, silence reigned for a few minutes.

" Yes I do , I will cherish her, love her, be loyal to her till death", he said with all atoms of seriousness ,with an evil smirk tugging at his lips.

" Chloe Adams, will you take Liam Reigns as your lawfully wedded husband under the guidance of the bible and the witness of God."

" To cherish,to love ,to respect and to support him, be loyal to him no matter what, in rich in poor, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow",

" yes..i...do", she stuttered trying hard not to believe that this is really happening.

" This is a commitment of forever, you may now kiss the bride",

He held her waist tightly with one hand and the other held her chin up. She tried to stop him but his statement shocked her.

" This is what you owe me and Rose, it's too late to run" her hands trembled, she loosened her grip on him. The kiss was slow and intense , every second felt like betrayal to Chloe.

He kissed her fiercely, her hands turned numb ,she fought hard to endure her tears which were threatening to fall any moment if she let it.

The ride home was awkward and the air heavy , Chloe couldn't bring herself to look in his direction,rather she took refuge in the air that soothes her nerves when she sticks out her head from the window. She noticed the direction the car was taking , she turned to face him eventually to ask him a question but couldn't, because she didn't know how to address him at the moment. In the end she bit her lower lip and bent her head as many ideas passed through her mind.

Liam noticed she was trying to strike up a conversation but was afraid to look in his direction, " what is it " , he deadpanned, his question throwing her off balance. She raised her head to meet his intimidating gaze, " I -i- was wondering if you are going to stop me at the next bus stop , because you have already passed mine".

" You're now Mrs. Reigns , so you will live in the Reigns mansion, " he replied, not giving her a room to negotiate.

"But,m-"

" Your things have been sent over to the Reigns mansion" he interrupted her rudely , Chloe nodded awkwardly, and chewed her inner cheek and swallowed a lump she didn't know she was holding in.

'An inescapable cage, she is trapped forever with no room for escape '. .

Let go of me! argh! Chloe butt hit the bed hard , she didn't understand where she went wrong she attended the wedding as promised.

" I attended the wedding as you required, what do you want from me now ! what ?

" Are you pretending to be innocent, huh? or you like to be forced?

" I told you clearly, this is your debt , I will let you pay one by one " He pointed out nonchalantly,

Chloe's eyes closed in despair and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably " Sorry Rose I didn't know it would turn out like this".

-------------

Two Months Ago

Chloe was in her bedroom, her face twitching in pain. She couldn't sleep because of a stomach ache. She can't shoot the Ad in this situation, and she can't afford to offend her agent instead.

she was at loss for ideas, suddenly she reached for her phone on the bed beside her. There's only one person that could help her now , Rose

Switching the phone on she dialed her best friend's number for the latter to pick on the second ring.

" Hello best, how are you feeling?" Rose's voice rang out through the phone.

" Rose, it's getting worse, can you do me a favor"

" Anything for you best"

" Rose , it's about the AD I am supposed to shoot in Spain tomorrow, I can't go there like this, will you go for me best" Chloe pleaded and pouted her mouth. Going straight to the point .

" Best, you know the climate situation in Spain , by this time of the year, " Rose reasoned out.

" I know best , just go. It's also the best season to go to Spain. I always go there, and also director Shaw couldn't find someone else, and it's a rare chance ! Please go for me ! , she pleaded desperation could be noticed in her tone.

"Well, you know I can't say no to that face of yours, but it's on one condition"

" Anything Rose , just name it"

" Promise me you will see a doctor after this call ", She warned.

" I will Rose, I've called Daisy , she's on her way here, now pack your luggage or else you will miss the flight ", Chloe said happily.

Chloe ended the call and heaved a sigh of relief " what will I do without you bestie, I love you loads" She said and kissed her phone when the call ended .

. After a few hours' nap, Chloe went downstairs to her living room to watch the television after grabbing some cookies from the kitchen. walking around the mini stairs, she picked the remote and switched on the television .

But the news that was broadcasting live caught her attention.

" At 4:50pm , Sept 3rd a plane that left the country to Spain crashed, with 200 passengers on board , eight seriously injured victims have been rescued so far , but the heavy fire makes it difficult to continue the search for other possible victims still alive "

Bam!

The plate of cookies she held fell to the floor with a loud sound and shattered, " That's Rose's flight , right?" She asked no one in particular and got no response in return,

" No , it can't be . it can't be Rose's flight " She picked her phone from the sofa to check the flight ticket her manager sent to her the day before for reality to slap her hard in the face .

Chloe tugged her hair hard, scattering her once arranged bouncy curly hair, hot tears streamed down her face and she cried uncontrollably sprawled out on the fluffy carpet in her sitting room.

The vibration from her phone got her distracted from her cries for a minute, she stretched her hand and picked up the phone,

" Chloe, are you okay ! where are you?I heard what happened to Rose " Daisy's voice rang out from the phone.

" I -i-am-no-t okay , Daisy, I-am- not " Chloe said in between sobs .

" I know Chloe, believe me I understand how you feel right now she's equally my best friend too . Stay put and wait for me alright, I will be there in an hour time "

" Hum" Chloe nodded in response.

Chloe, Rose and Daisy are three college best friends, after graduation Daisy secured a job in one of the country's best Tech companies as their Financial Manager hence making it difficult for her to link up with the girls as usual, while Rose and Chloe ventured into acting making them the best of friends among the three.

Chloe cried again remembering their days as college students as memories of their lives flashed like scenes in her eyes, she cried and cried till she dozed off.

The sound of her door bell woke her up from her slumber, she dragged her feet to the door and unlocked for Daisy's face came into view and reminded her of the day's incident, she started crying again this time around she sobbed without holding back she leaned on Daisy's shoulder staining her jacket with her tears, Daisy who didn't mind hugged her back, and caressing her hair loving .

" It's okay dear, cry all you want dear ,I'm here for you " she said soothingly to her , holding back her tears as well . She didn't want to cry in front of Chloe because there's no other person to console them if she were to cry along with her.

Hence she took the job of a comforter and stroked Chloe's back lovingly.

Hearing Daisy, Chloe took it as her cue and wept harder this time letting it all out on Daisy's shoulder.

A week passed by after the crash.

The Dawkins couldn't find the body of their daughter but they found the gold chain her grandmother gifted her on her twentieth birthday. Which confirmed that their daughter boarded the plane indeed and was among the victims the raging fire burnt beyond recognition or perhaps turned into ashes.

Chole stood at a corner, and watched Rose's empty coffin lowered into the earth, cries filled the air , Mrs Dawkins , Rosie's mother was unconsolable she cried and rolled on the floor of Rosie's grave .

Chloe dropped her flower and made to work out when Mrs Dawkins dragged her back and slapped her hard on her cheeks.

Bam ! give me back my daughter, she cried and held Chole's dress.

But Chole was forlorn, she couldn't talk nor free herself from Mrs Dawkins grip , She equally was grieving with them or maybe more than them. But she only bent and apologized

" Am very sorry Mrs Dawkins' ' she said and turned to leave.

A man was standing behind her dressed in a formal attire.

"Miss Chloe , right? Mr Liam wants to see you " he said and used his hands to gesture towards a black Maybach packed outside the graveyard.

Chloe's eyebrows arched up in realization.

" Mr Liam? I think he's Rosie's fiance" she thought to herself and followed the man to the open car.

" Mr Liam she's here" the man said, Chloe's gaze flitted to a man sitting inside the car with his legs crossed, thick smokes were coming out of the car due to the cigarette he's smoking.

" So you are the murderer " he asked and looked at her with an extremely cold expression . That was when she realized how much he despised her .

" Are you ready to pay your debt ? " he continued because it will be for a lifetime .

Chloe bowed to him in respect " Mr Liam, I am deeply sorry for what happened to your fiance, you must be very angry with me right now ,I would like to take all kinds of punishment."

" Really ?" he threw her a paper " then sign this", Chloe's eyes widened in surprise

" This...this is a marriage contract?" she asked, confused.

" I know you like your boyfriend very much , but Rose died because of you , so I want you to atone for the death of Rose and suffer every minute as long as you're alive, you don't deserve happiness for the rest of your life", he said nonchalantly and threw away his cigarette.

Chloe made to walk away but his next sentence got her legs rooted to the ground .

" The wedding is tomorrow , the time and venue will be sent to you , don't bother buying a wedding gown,one will be sent to you , or do you prefer coming naked ? He smirked.

Chloe stood there lonely, her body trembling. She didn't sign up for this ! she did not at all ! she watched his car drive out of sight .

She didn't know how long she stood there , all she knew was the weather became cold all of a sudden and it made her to shiver and tremble, when Lily her assistant draped a jacket on her shoulder and escorted her to the van , because it was actually raining and she did not want her to catch a fever .

Chloe, who wasn't a fan of rainfall, felt relieved when she felt the warmth of the jacket. The last thing on her mind was to catch a cold because she had a wedding to attend tomorrow! and the thought of it makes her nauseous.

The mere thought of marrying her best-friend's fiance makes her stomach churn.

Inside the van Chloe's mind was preoccupied with the contract in her hands, she kept reading it over and over again to be certain her eyes weren't deceiving her.

CONTRACT MARRIAGE BETWEEN LIAM REIGNS AND CHLOE ADAMS

With LIAM REIGNS as party A and CHLOE ADAMS as party B

1. Party B is to adhere to all that Party A says

2. Party B will be submissive to Party A at all times

3. Party B will reside at the REIGNS mansion henceforth

4. Party B will be stripped of her job and all titles , thus becoming a stay home wife.

5. Party B is forbidden from going out from the REIGNS mansion without notifying Party A and been given permission by him.

6. Party B is strictly forbidden to call party A her husband in public .

7. Party B is required to stay out of public eyes, and maintain her distance from the press.

Note: Party A will add more rules to the already existing one if he feels like In the future.

Lily her manager who was equally reading the contract with Chloe, couldn't hide her fury when she read the last statement " who the fuck did he think he is to give you such terms ! " She blurted out in anger , Chloe didn't reply; rather she took the pen the latter was holding and signed , not minding the stares Lily was giving her .

Chloe gave her a small smile, leaned back on the car seat to take some rest because she has a long day ahead of her tomorrow.