Chapter 3. Extroverted Her

Diva was confused when her lips met Blaze’s. Why out of all the brides was he getting married to her?

How did something like this happen to her? All she did was witness a murder. Nothing more, and nothing less. She couldn’t believe that she was married now – not to mention, to Blaze Hudson, who was practically a celebrity.

The wedding kiss wasn’t even a kiss. It was just two pairs of lips brushing against each other with a sense of urgency. It had no emotion whatsoever. This was not how Diva pictured her special day.

Soon, Blaze backed off from the so-called kiss; glancing at Diva from head to toe, he let out a sigh of relief. He was glad his bride wasn’t ugly. Rather, she was extremely beautiful – a treat to the eyes, even without any makeup. His name wouldn’t be defamed, and the world would say that Blaze Hudson had married an angel.

After the wedding concluded, Vyan ran toward his brother and let out a gasp in horror as soon as his eyes fell on the bride, Diva.

Instantly, Vyan pulled Diva and Blaze in a corner of the church. “What the fuck just happened?” asked Vyan, trying to keep calm. “And you! Why are you dressed as a bride?” he inquired looking at Diva.

“Please, don’t kill me!” exclaimed Diva, horror strikingly obvious in her face. Even though the biggest event of her life just happened, her biggest concern was surviving. “I swear, I didn’t watch you kill that man. I swear on my husband.”

Blaze arched an eyebrow at her as Diva continued speaking, “I’ll never tell a single soul about it. Please, don’t kill me.”

Blaze glanced back at his brother and stated, comparatively calmer than before, “There is still a gunman following me.”

Vyan scanned the area; it looked safe enough. He let out an exasperated sigh. “While escaping, you fell into this wedding trap, didn’t you?” Blaze nodded.

Diva was clueless as to why the criminal, who was after her life just a minute ago, was acting so familiar with her new husband. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she questioned, “Wait, why are you talking so casually with him, Blaze?” Blaze furrowed his brows, wondering when they were on a first name basis. “Do you know this murdere-” she stopped herself from saying such a rude and offensive word, “-this person. Do you know him, Blaze?”

Noting no visible reaction from Blaze, she couldn’t help but freak out. “Oh my God! Are you his partner? Someone who kills people during his free time and works in his office during business hours?”

Blaze rolled his eyes.

“Or-”

Vyan cleared his throat and cut in, “I am his brother, lady.”

Placing a hand over her chest, Diva let out a dramatic sigh. When she was being frank, she didn’t hold back at all, and she spat out whatever came to mind. “His brother? Grandma, I can’t believe I married a criminal. I really should have stopped eating pastries when you told me.”

“Excuse me? I’m the criminal, not my brother,” Vyan objected, clearly offended by her presumption.

“Well, duh. A criminal’s brother is clearly his accomplice. Your whole family must be in this,” Diva accused.

“What?” Blaze mumbled, raising a confused eyebrow and looked at Vyan, who put his hands in his pockets. Vyan gave him a knowing look, motioning that he would fill him in later.

“Where do you even get such rubbish information?” Vyan couldn’t help but pry.

“I edited an article about-”

“Enough,” Blaze put a brake on her non-stop chatter. She was way too over-friendly and talkative, much to his distaste. He hated it when people talked too much or when they forced a relationship onto him. And, she was already claiming him as her husband.

“Oh, well, then can I leave now? You see, I have business to attend to-”

“I cannot let you go, lady,” Vyan informed curtly.

Diva was about to oppose but was harshly cut off by a flash of blinding light. The paparazzi had reached the church already to cover the hot news of spotting Blaze Hudson in a mass wedding. Seeing them, Blaze immediately covered Diva’s face with her veil.

“Shit. Let’s go!” he told Vyan, who had already fled.

“What are the paparazzi doing? Are you going to throw me into a dungeon now? Did the paparazzi get a clear shot of me? What if my grandma sees it? She would bury me alive. You don’t know how scary she can be. But if the picture clicked by the paparazzi wouldn’t be clear, I will be very disa-” Diva’s questioning session was cut off by an already annoyed Blaze.

“Shut up.”

They got into Blaze’s car parked near the church. He hopped in the passenger’s seat, handing Vyan the car keys, which he took gladly, while Diva got into the back.

“Why are we running away?” she inquired, which was left unanswered. When Vyan started the car, suddenly, Diva realized something. “Wait for a second!” she hollered, resulting in the car screeching to a halt.

Blaze glared at her.

She twitched her lips for a while and said, “I left my phone in the bakery. I need it for-” before she could utter another word, Vyan stormed off out of the car, walking toward the direction of the bakery. He was already in a bad mood after getting tricked. The last thing he wanted was to get his brain chewed out by a strange girl who happened to be his sister-in-law, which was partially his fault.

Meanwhile, Blaze formed his fist into a ball. That bastard left me alone with this walking chatterbox, he thought.

Diva made herself comfortable in the car and shifted her gaze toward her husband. “If you don’t mind me asking, which one of you is older?” she breathed out at once.

“Twins,” replied Blaze, trying to keep the conversation as short as possible.

She gaped at his answer.

“You guys aren’t even identical!” When he didn’t say anything, she spoke again, “I have always wanted to ask you something.” She pursed her lips. Blaze frowned, letting her continue, well aware there was no point in refusing. “Why did you name your company ‘Kiwi Inc.’? I mean, out of all the fruits, why Kiwi? Why do you even have to name it after a fruit anyway? Are you copying Steve Jobs?”

Is that what she calls asking a question? God, save me from this woman, Blaze internally pleaded.

As if God heard Blaze’s prayer, Vyan opened the door and got into the car. He handed a phone with a minions phone cover to Diva before starting the car once again. “This better be your phone,” he mumbled.

Words couldn’t express how embarrassed Vyan felt holding that phone in his hand.

Grinning, Diva happily took the phone and started checking whether she received any texts from her grandma or not.

When she didn’t receive any message from her, she started searching for memes on Instagram and blurted, “I know my phone cover is minions, but it’s not my most favorite. I love Coco way more... But my phone cover having Miguel’s or Della Cruz’s or Hector’s face would look weird, so I didn’t buy it. Minions look cute, don’t they?”

Vyan hummed in response, although he strongly disagreed with the sentiment, with the hope that she would press the brake button of her mouth. But little did he know, he boosted her confidence even further.

Blaze wanted to smack his brother when Diva continued speaking, “I don’t usually talk much, nor do I mean to pry into others business but I just happened to see the murder and then did what a normal person would do: run. The next thing I knew was, Diva Adler, standing in the aisle, being forced to say ‘I do’. Oh, that reminds me. Why did you kill that person?”

“I enjoy killing,” replied Vyan, with a nonexistent hope of scaring her to the point she would shut up.

Diva uttered, “That sounded kinda cool.”

Vyan was surprised at Diva’s reply because the last thing he expected was for her to take the news positively.

“Although I know you people are supposed to be scary and brutal, everyone has their own reasons for doing these kinds of things, right? Who am I to judge?” she let out.

“Are you saying you aren’t afraid of me? I can kill you at any time,” Vyan told her, sounding almost amused.

Diva smiled brightly and said, “You can’t kill me anymore. I’m your brother’s wife, whether you like it or not. If I die, you guys are screwed.”

Blaze flinched at her words, screaming in his mind hoping for this to all be a bad dream. However, it amused Vyan. The girl who was freaking out just a few moments ago was now relatively calmer and more confident than before.

“Can you please stop her from talking so much?” Blaze whispered to Vyan, frustration dripping from his tone.

“I am afraid, as the lady said, the answer is ‘no’,” Vyan chortled, fixing his eyes on the road ahead.

Blaze shifted in his seat uncomfortably, a slight frown creased on his face. He was just irritated by her being in the same car. How was he supposed to survive living with her?

“Tell me more about your profession,” she asked, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

“Sure,” Vyan agreed and started chatting about his mafia work. She listened intently, asking a few questions occasionally with enthusiasm, much to Blaze’s dismay. His brother was getting swayed by that chatterbox’s charms and he could do nothing but sulk quietly in the car.

A question occurred to Diva while conversing with Vyan, so she pried, “Am I going to stay in the Hudson mansion from now on?”

Vyan hummed in response.

“Why? I promised to keep the murder a secret. Oh, wait. I am married now. Does that mean Blaze is willing to accept a beautiful girl like me as his wife? D-”

“Fucking hell, woman!” snapped Blaze. He had enough of her nonsense. “You have to live with me because I cannot trust you with my brother’s secret, and the paparazzi and a lot of people saw me marrying you. I don’t want a damn scandal, so you will stay at my house.”

Vyan was surprised at Blaze’s words because it was unusual for him to lose his cool. Vyan shrugged his shoulders and averted his gaze to the front, not wanting to enrage his twin any more than he was already.

After Blaze’s sudden outburst, Diva grew quiet. It was not because she was scared, but rather because she was busy watching some selected scenes from her favorite movie ‘Coco’.

When they reached the Hudson mansion, which was fully owned and solely lived in by Blaze, the sky was already dark. Parking the car, they got out.

Diva wasn’t surprised to see the huge mansion as she had edited an article about the Kiwi Company, and there were images of Blaze’s mansion. Besides, he was a billionaire. So, why shouldn’t she expect a mansion simply thought of as a ‘house’ for the Hudsons?

Stepping inside the fine white mansion, the guards bowing and greeting them, Diva let out a sigh, preparing herself to greet them back properly. Just as she opened her mouth, Blaze called out a maid by snapping his fingers and nodded after seeing her.

The maid already understood what Blaze meant, as he didn’t like unnecessary talking. She said to Diva, “Ma’am, please follow me.”

“But what about my clothes and other stuff? I have nothing.” She looked at Blaze, who gave another curt nod to his maid.

“Everything will be arranged. Please, follow me,” replied the maid.

Before agreeing to follow her, Diva gave one of her cutest smiles which popped her dimples, to the Hudson twins. “It was nice meeting you, Vyan. And Blaze, we have a long way to go,” with that, she walked behind the maid, leaving the brothers alone.

Vyan heaved a sigh. “I think I’m going to head back to the hotel. It’s not safe for me to stay here. Besides, I don’t wanna be a third wheel.” Blaze narrowed his eyes at him causing Vyan to pat his shoulders. “I pity you,” he said, controlling a smirk that urged him to cover his face.

As Vyan left through the main door, Blaze walked toward his bedroom. He plopped on the couch, still not able to digest everything that happened. In just a day, everything in his life changed.

Blaze sighed and spoke in disbelief, “I cannot believe I am married to her. She’s a fucking extrovert!”