Page 5 of The Cursed Chalice
“The wedding day is under wraps, but if this couple’s style is anything to go by, it will be fun and elegant. And of course, the guests are A-listers.
We wish the couple the best of luck. This is proof that true love is not hard to find.”
“The proof is a fucking lie,” I whisper.
“Pout for me,” Luigi says.
What a name, right?Luigi. He is not even Italian, but that’s what he goes by. Is he my makeup artist of choice? No, but Elias’s rich ex-girlfriend, Bianca, insisted. Apparently, I am too poor to know what the hell good makeup looks like.
I admit I look gorgeous. But this corseted, sweetheart neckline contraption is making me claustrophobic. I’m making the dress, sounds like it’s nothing, but the truth is… it’s a fashionista’s wedding dress wet dream. The dress is hand-beaded with small, real diamonds and pearls. There is silk, somewhere on this dress, feathers, and organza. Then there is my train. It’s Princess Diana long. It was made by Nora Wand. Apparently, she is a big designer of wedding dresses. It’s not that I didn’t know these names or brands. It just never interested me. Nothing about the day feels like it’s for me. I look at my pristine makeup. It’s a light, clean look except for the red lips. Elias insisted it was red. Oh, and that I wear square-tip, long ombre nails.
My hair is fluffed high to the heavens. I look like I can be a tower to communicate with the good Lord above. But I feel trapped, and I can’t escape. Even the dress makes it hard for me to breathe.
“Girl, you look beautiful,” my cousin Michelle says as she stands to the side of me and looks down into the courtyard.
“Thanks. Does it look like it’s about to rain?” Please, God, let it rain. I want thunder to rumble in the sky. I wish the tents would blow away. I want the rain to wash away the whole dang wedding.
Why? Elias Thorne, my fiancé, is a liar and a fraud. At first, when we started dating, I didn’t even know he was rich. I even paid for some of our dates. It was only when a friend of mine mentioned he was Forbes’ Under 40 Bachelor of the Year that I realized it. When I confronted him about it, he said he was testing me, and that I passed.
I know some people would be elated about passing an unwarranted test from a billionaire. But I am not some people. I was annoyed as hell. Here I thought I was building a relationship with someone, and they were out here testing me.
I blew up at him, and I even broke it off. Then, my granny got cancer. She wasn’t wealthy, and my father covered her bills. Then my parents died, and the money stopped. Granny’s care was slipping through my fingers. My job pays well, but not thatwell. Then Elias appeared. A nurse called to tell me someone had cleared my hospital bills. Elias paid for them. I found him sitting outside my granny’s room, waiting like some savior. I mean, he was. We talked, we reconnected, and that’s when everything went spiraling.
I saw some things I wasn’t supposed to. Learned things I wasn’t meant to know. And then my Granny’s health collapsed. Within a few weeks, she was gone.
Now I am left with their wills and money I can’t touch till I am married. Aunts and uncles are circling like vultures, pushing Elias back into my life, into my bed, into my future. I am so trapped.
“Can someone get Elias for me?” I shout out to the room of bridesmaids. The group is made up of my cousins and a few of Elias’s family members.
“But it’s bad luck to see the groom before the wedding.”
I look at the four beautiful women chuckling together.
“They don’t look like his family,” Michelle whispers.
“I know. Get Elias, please, Michelle.”
My cousin nods and leaves the room.
In some minutes, I hear all the women in the room titter and laugh.
I look around, and standing at the door, looking debonair as ever, is Elias Thorne. He looks like a Ralph Lauren model, rich and oozing with charm. He stands at 6 feet with honey-blond hair slicked back, showing off his sculpted nose, smooth skin, beautiful lips, and knee-buckling smile. Elias looks like the statue of David. He is a beautiful man.
I swallow as my eyes meet his light blue ones.
“Ladies, allow me some space. I want to talk to my wife-to-be.” Elias strides further into the room, his smile bright.
The moment the door closes, his smile drops.
“What’s the problem, Ray?” he asks as he stuffs his hands in his pockets.
I inhale because he knows I hate being called ‘Ray.’
“Who are those girls? The ones you called ‘cousins’?”
He looks back at the door and then leans toward me like he is telling me a joke.
“They are my exes, but they are like family to me now.”
