Book 1: Chapter 4

Sasha stared at herself in the mirror; she couldn’t believe that in less than one hour she would be saying ‘I do’ to her teenage sweetheart, even if he doesn’t know she loves him, even if she knows he is gay, she still couldn’t stop herself from wanting to rush down that aisle and shout it to the world, that she do. She sighed as she remembered how he had never called her on the phone to ask how she was doing. He had never visited her; that day of testing the gown was the last day she had seen him.

Maybe things would change after tonight; maybe he would finally start noticing her after their vows; he shouldn’t forget she is taking a big risk marrying him; which woman will marry a man who is gay? He should be grateful to her; at least it’s because of her that his secret will stay hidden. Can that be the fact that he agreed to marry her because he knew she was aware of his preference for men and had wanted her to keep the secret for him? But if so, then how did he know she would agree?

Her train of thought was ruined when Vanessa and Angelica walked into the room. There was pure love and adoration in both their eyes; one was crystal blue, and the other was gray. Sasha found herself wishing she could see an atom of it in her husband’s burning own, just one little emotion.

Come to think of it, there was absolutely nothing she knew about him. She knows he is a self-made billionaire, in as much of his father’s wealth, he still went out there and made himself somebody, a lot of malls and clubs, and companies are under his name, but he was always invisible to the public eye, hardly attended interviews.

To invite him to a party wasn’t easy too, and even after trying and you succeeded, you still have to worry about him showing up, which he often don’t, and that was the reason she doesn’t see much of him; he was kind of a ghost billionaire, although she knows he owns that much, but she can’t point out which was his property.

“You are beautiful,” Vanessa complimented as Angelica smiled proudly and walked up to her; she helped her put on her veil while Vanessa handed her a little box. She opened it to see a diamond necklace about millions of dollars' worth. She swallowed and looked at her, and Vanessa smiled, “Let me help you,” she offered and took the box from her before helping her to put it on.

Sasha turned and stared at herself in the mirror; her neck had suddenly transformed into that of a duchess or even a queen; it looked exquisite. “Thank you,” she murmured, and she smiled.

“Your car is here already. Are you ready?” Her mother asked, and she nodded. The two women helped her out to the waiting car; she got in and waved them goodbye before they got into another car. She started moving, and she found herself lost in thoughts again. Last month, she was still telling her mother that she would marry when the time was right, and now here she was, getting married and not just to any man but to Michael Brown.

She smiled and took a deep breath; now, this was a giant step she was taking into a new phase of her life, which would either ruin her or make her the happiest woman alive. She decided to vote on the happiest, but then the voice asked her again, ‘Are you sure?’ She thought about how he always acted nonchalant whenever she was around. They were to be married, and they had met each other only twice, first was when they were introduced to each other, second was when he escorted her to the mall to try out her gown, and the third day would be today.

His mother had called her again when she wanted to ask what she wanted in their house; they won’t be going on honeymoon because Michael said he had a contract he was working on and can’t afford to be away, although he did promise to take her on a honeymoon once he was through with the business deal. And yes, she didn’t hear it from him personally; his mother had been the one to convey the message to her.

She sighed, maybe after tonight, they won’t be much of silence between them again, ‘yea, hope on it’ the voice said again, and she waved it away, her marriage will be perfect, although her husband loves men, it will only take a moment to sway his preference, by the time she shows him what he was missing in women, hopefully, with fingers crossed.

She got to the church, and the door was opened; her father was beside her in a flash, ready to escort her inside. Nicholas couldn’t help but praise his daughter for how magnificent she looked. He walked her to the altar where her soon-to-be husband was already waiting; he looked so mesmerizing in the white suit he was putting on; his hair was slicked back and glinting as if wet. His crystal blue eyes followed her till she stood beside him; that was the longest he had looked at her, she didn’t fail to notice.

His cologne traveled to her nostrils, and she felt her mind swirl; how can he smell so good? She glanced at him through the corner of her eyes, but his mind was fixed on the priest, who was busy reading out their vows.

“I do,” she said.

“I do,” he said, too.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife; you may now kiss your bride to seal this vow,” said the priest.

Sasha held her breath when he faced her and unveiled her face; am I actually about to have her first kiss with him? She wondered. His head lowered to hers, and he took her lips in a brief kiss. The audience cheered, and they both walked out with family and friends to take some pictures before moving to the wedding reception.

Everything went as planned, she danced with her now husband and also some of his business partners or friends, which ones? He didn’t even introduce a single person to her. She danced with her father-in-law and her father. The party was awesome. Later on, some friends escorted them to their home to still drinking there.

Some left later, but his partners remained; he was discussing some important matters with them, which she felt had no business with her. She decided to go upstairs and get herself ready for him. She walked into their bedroom and wowed in her mind. Her mother-in-law does know how to arrange a bedroom. She also got herself a dressing table which has all the things she needs, including her facial cream. Is this why she asked her about all those things?

She opened the wardrobe, and as she expected, there was a small, packed bag for her; she opened her gown zipper, and it dropped on her feet. She stepped out of it before walking into the bathroom with the bag. Staring at herself in the mirror, Sasha smiled and bit her lower lip seductively; she took the makeup wipe she had brought with her into the bathroom to clean her makeup.

Michael will be done any minute now, and he will be coming straight to the room, so she had to hurry up and dress herself seductively for him. Damn, she still can’t believe it; she, Sasha, married to Michael, the #1 beauty in school? Damn, this feels so much like a dream. She turned on the hot water and stepped into the tub; after relaxing for a while, she sprang to her feet and reached for the liquid soap with lavender fragrance and poured it into the water. She lay back in the tub and closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet, sexy fragrance.

As she closed her eyes, her thoughts ran wild; why did he suddenly agree to marry her? Could it be that he was hiding his preference for men from his family? It’s possible, of course; how could he tell them he is gay? His mother will have a heart attack.

Well, it doesn’t matter whether he is hiding it from them or not; what matters now is that she is his wife; she smiled at that thought, Sasha Brown. She smiled again and got up from the tub before turning on the shower to rinse her body. She grabbed a towel and tied it around her chest as she stepped out of the tub. She grabbed another to dry her hair while standing in front of the mirror.

She can’t tell what will be happening tonight, whether he is going to touch her or not, but whichever it is, she will be glad if she gets to sleep in his arms, to breathe in that sweet scent of his that she can’t do without and have been driving her crazy since today of having to stand and sit beside him.

She fetched out black lingerie from the bag she carried into the bathroom and put it on; she also applied her deodorant and her perfume. She brushed her hair and then applied her facial cream; she checked her side view in the mirror and smiled; she is beautiful, she knows, which is why the guys find it difficult to let her go, but it was not satisfying since she couldn’t catch the eyes of the most handsome in school; Michael Brown.

All that has changed now; she is his wife, and she is going to do everything within her power to make him see the goodness in women. She smiled at that thought before giving herself one last glance at the mirror and nodding, satisfied with what she saw, she stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom. Shocked to see her husband in the bedroom, sitting on the stool with his laptop on the desk, she gasped. When did he come in?

Well, it doesn’t matter, he is here now, she stood at the bathroom door and stared at him, wanting to know if he would look at her, but he seemed so engrossed in whatever he was typing into his laptop, she pouted and walked to her dressing table and sat down, pretending to brush her hair again while staring at him through the mirror, damn, his back is awesome, she wondered what it would look like without the shirt on.

She watched him save his file and shutdown the laptop; it is time, she thought and turned to face him; he too was facing her with his legs crossed, his black hair slicked back and shiny like he had just stepped out of the shower, his shirt was half-opened, his crystal blue eyes burning into hers and his oh sweet sexy pink lips, closed in a thin line. She found it hard to stop staring at them and was called out of her reverie with the sound of him clearing his throat.

He smiled faintly, watching those lips arch upward; Sasha felt her heart beat increasing.

“I believe you are done and relaxed now,” his deep, sensational voice penetrated into her mind.

She stared at him and slightly gave the nod, and he nodded too, “good, ‘cause I want what I have to say now to sink in deeply.” He stopped for a moment, “Being my wife comes with some rules, and should you abide by them, we won’t have issues.”

Rules? Rules in marriage? Since when did that become a thing? Sasha thought, but she couldn’t get herself to question him now.

“Three rules: don’t talk to me, don’t touch me, stay out of my business.” He stated like it was the most natural thing to do.

Sasha’s eyes widened in shock; what would be marriage without those things? How can she be married to him, but she is not allowed to talk to him? Not allowed to touch him? Forget about the business one; she can handle it, but the other two?

Michael stared at her wide-eyed expression without uttering a single word again, and when he was sure his words had sunk in, he stood up and walked into the bathroom, leaving her staring into empty space in shock.

She watched him as he stepped out of the bathroom; there were beads of water on his body and a towel around his chest; he walked into his walk-in closet she didn’t know was there when she entered. After three minutes, he came out and went straight to bed. He lay on his own side of the bed and turned off his bedside lamp.

Sasha sat staring at him. Is he for real? What has she gotten herself into? What kind of marriage will this be? She couldn’t get herself thinking of all the possibilities and slowly walked to the bed. She lay on her side and stared at him. he seemed to have fallen asleep immediately his head touched the pillow, and she couldn’t believe anything.

She reached out her hand to touch him, but then it froze in midair as his second rule rang in her mind ‘don’t touch me’ she swallowed and slowly let her hand fall, she turned her back to him and turned off the bed lamp while she prayed for the night just to be a dream.