Page 21 of Merciless Union
Her smile has a tinge of sadness to it. “Of course. I shouldn’t have. Not on your special day.”
I nod, trying to remain steady, but I can feel the tears coming.
“Excuse me,” I mutter, standing up. Maxim watches me with his fierce eyes as I walk away to find a restroom.
It’s like a war zone trying to get through the reception hall without people coming up and congratulating me. Yeah, being married to the head of the Bratva issogreat.
I make it through and finally find a restroom, then shut myself into a stall. The tears immediately come. Sobs rack my body.
I feel like I’m on a ticking time bomb, just waiting for it to blow up my life.
After a few minutes of crying, I wipe my tears and stand. I need to be strong. I am strong. I am now the wife of Maxim Petrov. I need to stop crying so much.
“Oh,” someone says when I step out of the stall. I stop, meeting Elena’s gaze. She’s standing before me in all her icy beauty. If I didn’t know how mean she could be, I’d think she was perfect.
Her eyes linger on mine, probably seeing how red they are. I always wished for the ability to cry without anyone realizing it, but my eyes always get so blotchy and red.
“Go ahead,” I say, feeling tired. “Make a snide comment.”
Elena blinks, stepping out of my way to let me reach the sink. “Do you really think I’m that much of a bitch?”
I pause, watching the water flow into the sink before washing my hands and dabbing a little water around my eyes to wash away any last tears. “I don’t really know much about you, Elena. We’ve only spoken a couple of times, and during those times, you weren’t exactly nice to me.”
“Because I wanted to make sure you were worthy of my brother.”
I dry my hands. “So, it was all a test? Your mean comments?”
She huffs. “Well, no. I don’t know.” She shakes her head before nodding at me. “Why were you crying in there? Most women would be delighted to marry my brother.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” I turn to face the door.
“Is it about your mother’s cancer?”
I stop, looking back at her. “What?”
She levels those cool eyes onto me. “Maxim told us your mother has cancer. If I had known, I wouldn’t have made that comment about your dress.”
“That’s … good, I guess.”
“So, is that why you were crying?”
I nod. “She got to see me on my wedding day, and that makes her so happy.”
“And yet, you’re not happy. Is my brother not good enough for you?”
I smile tightly. “Your brother is more than good enough. In fact, I think he’s a treat.”
She takes a step closer to me. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“I’m being whatever this family wants me to be.” I turn and walk out of the bathroom, leaving Elena looking surprised.
I stand in the hallway for a couple of seconds, bracing myself to go back in there and face Maxim.
I take one step in the direction of the reception hall when someone bumps into me.
“Oh, shit,” a man mutters.
I turn to see Alexei next to me, stumbling around, still clearly drunk. “Do… you need help?”
