The Millionaire's fugitive girlfriend

It was the perfect afternoon for a wedding. The sunset shone with the promise of a pleasant afternoon for all the people who crowded to see the bride.

At home in London the flowers of spring had already bloomed covering everything in purple, white and gold, the trees were covered in bright green from new foliage. But there, in the streets of Margarita Island, you could only see where you could appreciate the view of the sea and the pleasant sunset of the afternoon.

However, she didn't miss her home at all, not for a second, she had found a new home for herself, and she didn't want to be anywhere else but where she was, at that moment because she wanted it to be a perfect day and she was very and fully happy.

He could feel his heart pounding with happiness.

She was going to marry a man she considered perfect for her, a very intelligent, handsome, and pleasant man in the whole world.

She had a slight headache, and it still gave her a little dizziness when she started to think about how quickly everything had happened about the wedding, a few days before all this she couldn't even imagine the existence of her fiancé. But the coincidences of life made them meet in the lounge of a hotel, a fallen suitcase had made many changes in her life completely, when she picked it up and saw the man who stopped next to her with a soft tone of voice he had asked if he could offer his help. With strong hands and brown skin, he had helped her up and when she looked at him, she found light brown eyes, they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

He felt as if his heart had been lost and, worse, it was impossible to believe that the same thing was happening to him, but the truth is that this encounter had made them inseparable.

Of course, not so much as to hold a wedding.

He could only laugh happily and inhale deeply, looking at the cabs pulling up by the curb, he had just arrived at the small church in which husband and wife would become.

The church was small and painted yellow, it was the predominant color in this city in most of the churches I had seen, but despite not being that big it was a nice and comfortable place for a wedding, when only the two of them and a witness that the law required of them would be present. Apart from loving each other in an unexpected love in a city so far from their respective places?

And there she was.

She held her breath for so long until she saw the tall, brown-skinned figure of the man she was going to marry and love, as if she hadn't fully believed it was going to happen up to that point. Men like him, handsome, exotic, powerful, I don't know how to marry girls like her, she had been quite surprised to see how much he wanted her when she went to bed with him without looking back and not thinking for a second about anything. She felt madly in love, she didn't want to think about anything or the past, present and much less the future, she just wanted to be with him, get to know him and spending time in his bed was enough for her to love him.

The car door was opened, and he was dressed in black pants and a white shirt and a splendid smile that stole his heart as soon as he saw her for the first time.

"You Came"

"Of course, I came," she laughed a little, nervously, "did you think I wouldn't come?"

"Never, not for a moment," he said in a piercing voice.

She waited for him to pay for the taxi, her feet moving restlessly impatiently, wanting to rush into the church to receive her new life.

"Are you ready?" asked the offering of his hand.

"Ready," she assured letting their hands grab each other.

He hesitated for a very small moment.

"You didn't bring flowers, so take..."

I give her a single red, thornless flower.

"She's really beautiful," she whispered, bringing the flower to her lips, and kissing him.

"But not as beautiful as you"

He smiled at her, making her feel beautiful as he always did when he smiled at her like that, with his eyes with brown eyes showing love, he made her forget that she had not had time, nor money to buy a nice dress, but had had to settle for a simple dress and sandals with a not very high platform. But none of that was really that important.

The only thing that mattered was the love they shared, a love that provided them with a future together, just when she had believed that what they had was coming to an end when she had already feared that she would have to return home and face the cold disapproval of her mother determined to find a "suitable" husband for her daughter.

"Shall we get married?"

"Yes, please"

He wouldn't let his mother intrude on that moment, he wouldn't let anything, or anyone spoil his day.

The priest's words entered her head and came out again while she could not take her eyes off the man who would soon be her husband, she still could not believe that he had asked her to marry him, she had been so sad thinking about having to go home when he asked her to marry him, she had said it in a nonchalant way even when they were lying on the bed with their heads resting on their hands. Her tanned torso contrasted with the white sheets of the bed that covered her to sit down and she who was by the window turned to him, she was with happy eyes and asked if what they just said was true? So, when he nodded, she started screaming with excitement that yes, but that they should do it soon, and that soon was the same day after.

It had passed according to his wishes, his voice failed him a little as he said his vows, his hand trembled when he handed him the ring to wear, but he held them firmly as he slid the ring down his finger.

"I declare you husband and wife; you can kiss the bride."

They had done it.

It was at that moment when the reality of what she had done hit her, she had married a man she had barely known for a week, she had promised to love him and take care of him for the rest of her days until death do them part.

But a voice in her head said "you really know this man" I felt as if the ground was wobbling under her feet as she looked into the brown eyes that were fixed on her.

"We've done it," he said in a voice that made him anxious, "and that's how for a second the sun was hiding behind a cloud.

But he smiled again, and the sun came out bright and warm again, when he lowered his face and took her lips in a long kiss, she felt doubt and fear vanish like mist with the sun.

She loved him and had the rest of her life to get to know him and he her.

(One Year Later)

That day was perfect for a big wedding.

The bright sun, the pleasant breeze, and the background of that beautiful landscape was a stone path that led to the entrance of the church where a little more than three hundred guests that her mother had brought were gathered, among them people she herself did not know at all because most of them were strangers to her. Mariana was lost for a moment in the pleasant view of the surroundings of the church was surrounded by trees of a bright green of the new foliage, the birds that were around the place seemed to sing with joy that day.

It was the perfect day and the day for a wonderful wedding on the outskirts of London in the town where she had grown up.

But in the mind of the man who was waiting from the car not far from the church he didn't think the same, for him there was nothing perfect about that wedding to which he was heading with a firm step and intended to prevent, not to mention that his mood was very different from that of all the people who are crowded at the door of the church who are eager to enter and see the happy couple get married marriage.

All those people there were friends, family and acquaintances of the bride and groom he thought, they were all happy to see the beautiful couple get out of a limousine, he had seen them get out of it with their impeccable suits for a daytime wedding, it hurt him more to see her dressed in that big dress of bright colors, and enter the small courtyard of the church, The guests who were in the courtyard cheered elated to see the bride arrive dressed in a beautiful white silk dress and shortly after see the groom.

I watch them from afar talking and sharing smiles with the groom's parents and her mother, I watch her laugh and put her hand on Eliot Fontana's shoulder over and over again, take her by the waist and pull her to his body, shortly after the priest's voice was heard inviting everyone to enter the church to begin the ceremony.

The fists of her hands clenched in anger when Eliot, Mariana's boyfriend and future husband, took her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her lips, not being able to control his anger and anger he took a step towards where they were, but her mother got in the way of his plans attracting the attention of the bride and groom to enter the church.

She controlled her anger and waited until the last guest took her seat, she looked for a place among the last places and sat down without being able to laugh, all this theater would be over in a few seconds, and he wanted to hurt her so much for all the time that he left her to her fate.

The wedding went on, the father talked to the bride and groom and said their vows, Mariana talked about very emotional things that have Eliot's mother in front of them and he for his part too.

"Is there anyone in this room who has a reason why this marriage cannot take place, speak now or shut up forever."

The church was completely silent, the guests looked at each other looking for any reason not to celebrate the wedding, the anger in him made him stand up and some of the guests noticed it some began to speak in low voices and other voices could be heard clearly.

The bride and groom who were at the end of the hall and the parents of this were filled with curiosity when they saw that the guests were somewhat noisy so they turned around in search of an answer, Mariana felt that she was going to faint as soon as she looked at the man standing halfway, her heart is racing even at an unusual pace and she tries to look for stability in Eliot who looks between the man standing in the middle and his future wife, whom he was going to marry at the time.

"Mariana"

The voice that pronounces her name is full of rage and will go to see her there, in the middle of a corridor about to marry that man who was not him.

"Oh my god" She put her trembling hands to her mouth, still couldn't believe it was him who was standing in front of her.

He, the man she met that time in Venezuela when she had escaped from her mother and the relationship with Eliot, the man with whom he had spent a wonderful night of sex and who would not leave her head since she herself had left him one morning after marrying him.

For Eliot it was the first time he had looked at this man in his life, he had become known to him from somewhere else, but his image did not fit very well, he knew something was wrong when his eyes found the image of a pale Mariana who was being helped by her mother.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Julian Merrill."

"Are you friends with my daughter?" Her mother asked.

"No, don't" The scream was heard throughout the church, it was Mariana's desperate voice as she cried.

"I'm Mariana's husband."

Everyone in the church exclaimed in a chorus of surprise, began to make comments of pity towards the groom and rude towards the bride.

"You're lying, I have nothing to do with you."

"Do you know him, Mariana, who is man?" Eliot's voice searched for answers.

"I don't know who he is, I swear I don't know him." I beg only in whispers.

"Stop lying, devil's woman, you're married to me, and you can't lie anymore."

"Lie, you're lying, you said it wasn't legal" Her desperation to get out of that situation gave her away "you said it was false."

"Are you married to this man, Mariana?"

It was the voices of her mother and groom who asked at the same time.

"No, of course not, Mom." He quickly shook his head, but it was too late, no one believed him.

"We are married, and our marriage is totally legal" Julián took a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket where he had the marriage certificate signed by the two of them.

_"Mariana." His mother shouted as she read the document, while her face burned with fury, "My God, what have you done, are you married to this man."

"No, mom isn't like that" I try to beg the girl who fell to her knees on the floor to beg her mother to trust her " Julian stops lying "Why are you doing this to me?"

Her eyes were red from crying so much, she felt sorry for herself for being the shame of the town where she was born, so many friends of her mother and Eliot's parents and all to look like a bigamist who had two marriages at the same time.

She had always thought that it was an unlegalized marriage, she had done it under the effects of charm and love, but now they had to face the truth of the facts and that was that she was married to Julian, the man she still loved and whom she thought she would never see again.

Seeing him dressed like that in that suit, he was not the same man that she met that time in Venezuela, a tourist who had been flirtatious with her, had flattered her and said that she was very beautiful, the truth is that at first she did not want to be carried away by the flattery of a man but she was alone in the middle of that beautiful island as Margarita was, she had not been able to say no to her company, every night it was more and more flirtatious with her to the point of giving her a lot of love and affection that she had needed so much, that's why Mariana had let herself be carried away by the illusion and love of the moment.

A call from her mother had made her return to the world again, her father had died and Eliot's parents who were always friends of Eliot were there to help, but soon after things got complicated it was no longer just her parents it was the same boy who was always there for her and Mariana lost hope of seeing her beloved Julian again.

She had come to think that everything she had experienced was a product of her imagination, but now everything was very real because in front of her she had Julián with a document that claimed to be legal and they were married, her mother began to shout so many profanities that she thought they would break her eardrums, Eliot's parents began to take everyone out of the church and the father with the altar boy had disappeared from the place.

Eliot still had hope that everything was a simple game, and nothing was true, but the way this man looked at the girl who was supposed to be his girlfriend in a few days filled him with pain.

"Listen to what I'm going to say Mariana, I don't want to see you or your mother again in my life, from today you are a stranger to me."

Chapter Three

A tearful girl went after the man who was going to be her husband, one she didn't love at all but who in the end was the one indicated by her mother "He lied, I swear I thought it wasn't legal."

"You're a whore." The words had not finished leaving his mouth when he was thrown backwards by the impact of the blow he received from Julian.

"I don't allow you to disrespect my wife." She might be a bad woman for leaving him, but Julian wasn't going to let her be insulted by anyone.

"Wife, fuck, but if it was easy for you to get her, it took me years to get into her legs, I see why she can't" Eliot stood up and expressed disdainfully and then left the place.

Julián watched the boy leave the church with his parents furious after him, the woman he had married was crying in the middle of the hallway, her sobs broke her heart, but Mariana had had no mercy on when she had agreed to marry that guy.

She was a Merrill and nothing and no one was going to take away that last name that she acquired when she married him, he walked to where she was on the floor still crying and approached to help her stand up, but what he received was a slap on her left cheek.

"You're the meanest human being I've ever met, I regret marrying someone like you" Her voice was hoarse from crying.

"Sadly, my beauty, we shall be married until the day I die."

"I'm going to divorce you; I'll be free from that damn paper." He looked at the marriage certificate that was still in Julian's hands.

"No, you won't be free my beauty because you and I are married now all our lives."

"Nothing lasts a lifetime." It reminded him.

"Our love yes Mariana, you loved me, did you forget?"

"It was all because of the passion of the moment, it was sex Julian you have to end this shit and let me live my life in peace, I'm happy when I'm not with you." Every word that came out of his mouth weighed heavily.

"Do you love him? You want that man."

"You even thought about my feelings for him, how I can be in love with Eliot, you thought about me before you came here."

"I'll make you forget; I'm your husband and you must love me."

"Mom will never accept someone like you."

"What am I like? What's wrong with Mariana? He asked, even though he knew the answer, it was all about money.

"Everything, I hate you so much." Mariana preferred not to answer his question.

"We're going to have to live with it."

Julian didn't pay much attention to her rejection when he tried to help her to her feet, she refused to receive her help and walked to the door of the church to get out of there.

"You can't go out like that; you're dressed as a bride and there are journalists there."

"You brought them here to be part of the show." He said sarcastically.

"No, they were brought by your boyfriend's family, so we have to find a way to get out of here."

"You can go, I won't leave here with you."

"You're silly Mariana, I'm not going to leave you here alone."

She didn't feel like fighting with him anymore, it had been a shitty day, she was humiliated and embarrassed in front of all those people, her dress was ruined and her face stained with a fool to cry, Julian took revenge on her in the worst way and it still hurt her to know that it was never a dream or a deception that she had really married that man.

She was crazy because when she saw him enter the church her heart raced with joy when she saw him, happy because there were many dreams where Julian rescued her, but not like this, not in that way.

She saw him move around the church while talking on the phone giving orders to someone. As far as she knew, Julián Merrill was a simple low-income photographer who had gone to Venezuela to capture with his camera the beautiful beaches of this country, but now that she looked at him more closely he didn't look like a photographer, this man was someone else, he wore dress pants, a tailor-made suit that she could recognize was very expensive and the shoes cost more than the salary that his mother gave him to the employee.

Julian could have changed so much in a year to get so much and become rich, or was he already?

"I've got a car outside the church; we have to go."

"You can go, make it clear that I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Please walk through the streets or I'll carry you and let all the press see how you get out of here in your husband's arms."

"You're not my husband!" Mariana's scream made her head hurt; she looked like a little girl throwing a tantrum at her parents.

"If you don't stop screaming, I'm going to kiss you right here Mariana, I'm tired of this and you accept once and for all that we're husband and wife, you're not going to leave without me."

Marian's body trembled when she heard his words, she couldn't believe how hypocritical this guy was, when in a year he had never bothered to look for her know he came and appeared as if nothing happened, for what? Maybe he just wanted to ruin his life.

As they left the church, they were surrounded by many photographers who asked questions non-stop, Mariana noticed that some of them seemed to know Julian, they said his last name a lot.

"Mr. Merrill, are you and your wife together now?"

"Yes, my wife was upset with me because sometimes I forget that I have a home and a family, this was all a mistake please don't judge them we love each other, many times we make mistakes, but we all have a second chance and my wife, and I are going to be happy from now on."

Julian didn't expect her to react because he grabbed her chin raising her head and left a tongueless kiss on his wife's lips for a moment, he forgot that he was upset with her, but he missed her so much that he couldn't stop kissing her. One of the camera's flashes made him keep his distance.

Julián's driver, seeing his boss leave, came over to help him and as soon as they got into the car, Mariana got as far away from it as she could.

"Take me to my hotel, Franco and ask someone to buy clothes for my wife." He ordered his chauffeur and right-hand man.

"You can leave me at my house." Mariana ordered the driver, who completely ignored her.

"No, they're here to do my bidding, not yours, and you're not going back to that house honey, you're going to behave like my wife."

"Sir" I speak frankly " The plane leaves tomorrow morning."

"You'll leave after making all this fuss." Mariana thought that Julian would leave after screwing up her life and making a fool of her in front of everyone.

"We'll go Mariana, I'm not going anywhere without my wife."

"I'm not leaving London, you're wrong" In her heart Mariana panicked when she found out about Julian's plans, if she thought about it, she didn't know him at all, she had married like a fool in love, but she didn't know who this man was who had cheated on her.

"We'll go to our house, my beauty."

"Don't call me 'my beauty' because I don't like it and we don't have any house Julian, you're going crazy."