Chapter 2

I had no reason to cast myself another look in the mirror, but I did it anyway. And as I lingered there for a while, the reflection of my figure faded into thin air and instead, images from my life began to play before my eyes.

If this was the universe that planned my life, then it did a bloody great job.

When I was young, so young to even remember my age, I lost my family in a separation my parents had. While the divorce built a permanent gap between my parents, it also separated my twin, Nick and me, who had to live with either of the parents. While I stayed behind with my mom, Nick chose my dad.

With the years, our frequent visits came down as did our daily calls. Misunderstandings grew to a point where complete ignorance of each other seemed like a better option. We only met after my mother eloped with one of her lovers leaving me alone for my father to take in.

I moved to LA to be with my brother and father, in other words, the only family I had left. Things started to get better between us, and we finally were leading a comfortable life with each other. That was when I fell in love with Ethan Parker.

He was rude, notorious and also the biggest rival of my brother. His friends and my friends never got along. They had their rivalry going on since the longest time I could ever think of. Things turned different when we started off our relationship as a pretentious one, which later transformed to be real. My friends fell in love with his, and I, with him.

When things turned great for all of us, and when everyone was ready to let go of their rivalry, something so terrible had to happen that separated Ethan and me forever. The gap that formed between us was so huge that we hadn’t met each other until now.

I masked my face with the veil before Ethan could notice my tears. I knew for certain that nothing could change his mind. He absolutely hated me. Which led me to believe that, maybe, it wouldn't matter to him if he called the wedding off, and perhaps, he was doing this because he had found an excuse to hurt me.

Of course, he would never agree with that. But I know for certain that he would go to an extent as that if he knew that getting married to him was the last thing I wanted.

"Are you done?"

I nodded in response. And there he stood in all his glory with not even a worried crease disturbing the calm aura around me. His nonchalance almost created a ripple of frustration within me.

I couldn’t help but remind myself why I had ever agreed to marry him. The words he used to instigate me into marrying him still sounded so fresh in my mind. How he had given me an ultimatum and declared that he would do everything in his power to ruin my life, and if he had to, he would even let the world know that I helped destroy his marriage.

I was well aware of him and how he worked. I knew that he meant every single word he said and that he wouldn't hesitate before making it all come true.

But the question was, did I have the power to fight back? No.

Did I have the will to fight back? Yes.

But I knew all too well that I stood no chance against him in this battle. He rendered me powerless and I knew that I was utterly helpless right then. I simple had no choice but to obey him.

He was capable of putting me in a mess that I could never come out of. He was also capable of ruining the career I had always dreamt of having. It all seemed worth the marriage. Even if I had no clue whether I was ever going to come out of it.

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how the world would react to this news. How would my brother take this news? How would my friends take this news? How could I ever explain things to the media? It worked for Ethan as he never disclosed who his bride was. It was a surprise even to the people who came to visit the wedding here. The odds were definitely on his side today.

I had my wedding veil over my face, which provided a very unclear image of my face. My hair color matched with Lindsey’s, so it was a plus. I wore the exact same wedding gown she was supposed to be wearing. I had put my face down most of the time, until we reached the altar.

The wedding procedure began as soon as we came since we were already running late. I didn’t care about what the priest was saying since I tried my best to hide my face from Lexi, Ethan’s sister, who surely found me familiar. Our vows were exchanged sooner than we thought, and then came that moment.

I wasn’t ready to bring back all of my burnt feelings with a single kiss that was essential to bind our marriage. But I also had no say in this. With my consent or not, the groom has to kiss the bride. As soon as the priest asked us to seize our marriage, Ethan hesitated just like I did. But he also realized that with every passing second, he was creating more speculations.

He held me by my waist and planted his lips on me.

It was a strong force that glued us together and neither of us dared to move. We remained rooted in our place due to the impact. I couldn't speak for him, but I knew well what I was feeling inside.

It was as though I had untied the knot to the memories I had deep buried down. The ones that haunted me every night when I slept, every time I tried to move on and every time, I tried to let someone else into my life. I felt as though I had been chained to them, and now, right now, I was finally getting rid of them.

I felt liberated.

Because, just for a moment, whilst his kiss transcended me away from reality, I let go of all the qualms I had previously had and claimed what I had been yearning for the past seven years.

I hated him, but I also needed him. I had never loved anyone the way that I loved him, which was why he was the only thing I have ever wanted so intensely in my entire life.

***

The news spread around like wildfire. After the wedding was over, Ethan cancelled all of the further events since he wanted to call for an important family meeting. There was not even a single soul that didn’t look surprised upon seeing the girl Ethan married.

“Where the hell is my daughter?” Lindsey’s father, Luke demanded from Ethan.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you where my fiancé was when I went to fetch her at her room?” Ethan replied, shunning everyone with his dangerously low voice.

“What are you talking about?”

“She eloped with her lover." He said, "Leaving me with no choice but to marry the first woman I could find in her room before this wedding could become a scandal."

“We had a deal that you’d marry my daughter!” Luke yelled at Ethan, looking at me with a disgust. “How could you marry this wench after giving me your word?”

“Hey, watch your words.” Jen, my best friend, said to him, coming to stand beside.

I was surprised to have her by my side at a situation like this. Although it was a complete shock for my friends to find me married to Ethan, Jen has managed to keep her senses.

“Luke, if there is anyone we should be talking about, it’s probably you.” Ethan’s dad said, defending his son. “I’m sure my son was obliged to take this step for the mistake your daughter made.”

“If anything,” June, Ethan’s mom said, “It’s us that should be angry with you."

“I won’t let you get away with this.” Luke said, looking at me with a warning.

“Let’s talk about this outside, Luke.” Ethan’s father said, leading Luke, June and himself outside.

As soon as they left, it was just Ethan, our friends and I that were left in the room. Ethan walked to the window and gazed out of it, leaving me alone answerable to my friends. I looked over at Jen who unconsciously had her arm on mine.

“It was probably eight months ago that I last saw you.” Jen said, an emotionless expression plastered on her face.

“And one and a half for me.” Stella, another one of my friends said. Stella was one of my best friends from high school, and her husband Ben, was Ethan’s best buddy. Back in high school, they hated each other to the core. And I was the cupid between them and brought them together. They completely surprised us by bringing two little girls into this world before they graduated from college.

“I don’t even remember my last time. Was it seven years ago?” Lexi, Ethan’s sister asked.

“Guys.” I said, helplessly looking at my guy friends, Tyler, Ben, Zac, Jordan, Drake and Kyle.

“Don’t.” Tyler said, “We’re blaming this on you, Skylar.”

“You knew I could not meet you guys.” I said, helplessly.

“Why?” Lana asked, “Because you didn’t want to meet Ethan?”

“That surely isn’t a valid reason seeing how you had other plans with him.” Lucy said.

“Can we please not talk about this now?” Ethan’s gruff voice made its way to us.

“Oh, shut up, you dick!” Jordan said, “If there is someone I should be questioning, then it’s probably you!”

“You’re blaming this on me?” Ethan growled.

“Of course, we are!” Tyler said, “You really are a dick to force your ex-girlfriend to marry you as a substitute.”

“Don’t look at me like I had a choice.” He said.

“Of course, you had!” Lexi said. “You could have called this wedding off! You didn’t take an oath that you’d just get married today like your life depended on it. Heck, you shouldn’t be doing it even if your life depended on it.”

“And then what, make a laughingstock out of myself?” He asked her. "Do you have any idea how big of a price I would have had to pay had a scandal like that happened at this point in my life? I'm drowning, Lexi, I'm barely surviving, and I couldn't take another risk."

“But you had no right to bring Skylar into your mess. She doesn't deserve this.” Lucy said.

Ethan growled in frustration and left the room, leaving the silence with a loud bang of the door.

“Guys, shut up,” Lana said, “It's too far gone, we can't do anything now!”

“So, you just want us to ignore the fact that our friends who have been hating each other for seven years just got into a forced and fake marriage?” Jordan asked his girlfriend, which earned him a glare.

“No.” She said, “I mean, look on the brighter side, we all wanted Ethan and Skylar to be together, didn’t we?”

She looked with a bright grin at everyone.

“See, it worked. They’re not just together, they’re now married. I mean, isn’t this cool?”

“You see good in everything, darling.” Jordan said, in a sarcastic tone. “Do you think that’s how Nick is going to be when he learns about this?”

“Oh, Nick cannot control Skylar’s life.” Jen said.

“Yes, but at least Skylar should be doing that for herself right? What happens when he knows that she was forced to marry his one huge rival?” Tyler said.

“We shouldn’t be worrying about Nick right now. We should look at the issue at hand. We need to resolve our problem at hand now.” Stella said.

“Which problem are you talking about?” I asked her.

The girls looked at Stella while she just wriggled her eyebrows at them. The girls beamed as though they understood what they meant. The guys just smirked and left the room, getting the hint from them - leaving me in utter confusion.

“Really Skylar, you were the one that initiated the conversations through eyes. How can you not get what we are thinking about?” Jen said, trying to hide her smirk.

“Please, it’s not like I’m in a mood to deal with all of it when I can hardly figure out what my life is going to be like.” I said, groaning in frustration.

“Fine, I’ll give you a clue.” Lana said, “Why did you think I was excited to marry Kyle?”

“Because you love him.” I answered.

“Not that, silly,” She said. “I mean, why is any woman excited for a wedding?”

“Because she can dress up and not think about looking over-dressed.” I said.

“Right,” Lucy smiled. “now, why is a guy always excited for wedding?”

“Correction,” I said, “The guy is more excited for what happens after the wedding.”

The girls smirked together and wriggled their eyebrows at me. Realization dawned upon me and my mouth hung open. The blood from my face drained when I realized what they had in store or us this night.

“Don’t you dare go any further with your plans.” I warned each of them.

“Oh yea, can you really stop us from doing it?” Jen asked, teasingly.

"I can't believe. I am crying here that my life just turned upside down and you're bothered about my wedding night?" I cried out. “Please don’t make things any more difficult for me."

“Things will become easy for you after this, trust the expert on this matter.” Jen said, giving me one last glance before leaving me in a mess.

Ethan’s POV

“You know you don’t have to be a jerk to her for what happened seven years ago, right?” Lexi asked me as I hugged her goodbye. Skylar was talking privately with my parents while Lexi pulled me to a side for a quick chat. Our friends have planned something for the night, and I knew what was running through their minds. But I won’t let that happen.

“Is that all you’ve got to say?” I asked her.

“If you married someone else, I would’ve asked you to better be careful with your wife. But now, I insist on asking you to handle her with care and to not be a jerk.”

“I’m old enough to know when to be a jerk.” I replied.

“Exactly, but still you act like the most stupid person I ever knew in my life.” Lexi teased me.

“Lexi.” I warned her.

“See,” Lexi said, looking at me in the eye. Her voice became serious and gone was the playful tone she was using. “I know why you did what you did. I also know that you were forced to marry Skylar and that you can do nothing about it now. Even if you plan for a divorce, you still have plenty of time to spend alongside each other and fulfil your part. And if you’re just going to be the stubborn man that you were when you let her go seven years ago, things won’t be great for either of you.”

“You can just expect me to forget what happened seven years ago and move on and get back to being head over heels for her.” I said.

“I’m not asking you to forget any of it. Because it is important in your relationship. You have been through separations so many times and I don’t want this to be one among them. You need to understand a thing here, you made this decision for both of you although you didn’t have any other choice. But it will always be harder on her because she was not supposed to be paying for what her friend did. And you can’t hurt her anymore.”

“Being away from the girl I’ve always loved was not easy for me.” I said, “She accused me of something that I didn’t have control of and chose to let me go. She wasn’t ready to hear me out when I tried to explain and chose to break up with me. You can only imagine how tough it was for me to move on.”

“Ethan, I know what she meant to you.” Lexi said. “I know how much you loved her back then and how much she mattered to you. And just because you hate her now, doesn’t mean it should remain that way. If you, driven by this temporary hatred, do something to her that you will later learn to regret, then there is no way you’ll ever be able to forgive yourself. Remember that you loved her once, it can’t just vanish in a matter of few years. If you truly love someone, even for once, no matter how wrong you might have been to love them, you will always have a little part of your heart that still yearns for them.”

“I don’t intend any harm to her now, because I know I won’t be capable of that.” I said, “I know I can never truly hurt her intentionally because there is still a part of me that remained unmoved by the hatred, I have towards her. You have nothing to worry about.”

Lexi smiled. “I’m glad you said that.”

“Take care of mom and dad while I’m gone. And assure them that their son will not let them down.” I promised her.

“I will.” Lexi smiled. “Goodbye.”

***

I decided to drive by myself. I didn’t appreciate the idea of having a driver witness my first day of marriage. I assured mom and dad that I would go home safely. But they were devoid of the truth. I was supposed to spend the night at Kyle’s Hotel, where the girls planned our night. I could never go there knowing what they already had in store for us. And I highly doubted if Skylar would be interested to go there either.

Instead, I decided to drive her somewhere she would be longing to go. I was taking her to meet her family.

Things have grown bad for me and Nick since the day Skylar broke up with me. We never found a way to sort everything out. Because the problem was from his side.

“We are going to meet you brother and Father.” I informed her, making her flinch in surprise.

“What? “she shrieked. “We’re going to meet them now?”

“Yes.” I answered. “Nick and your dad are in New York. I suggest it’s best for you to let them know about what happened before they learn it from somewhere else.”

“Ethan, he’s going to kill you if he finds you with me.” She said.

“I took my chances before deciding to marry you.” I said, “I’m not worried about him now. Meeting him was far overdue anyway.”

She sighed. “He won’t let me explain.”

“But he’ll know you tried to explain.” I said. “I think it’s best for you to end the things as soon as possible because I highly doubt, you’ll find them together to talk after tonight.”

She looked at me quizzically.

“We’re not going to stay in New York any longer.” I said. “As soon as we meet your brother, we are going to fly back home.”

She remained silent and leaned back. Maybe she was wondering about the same thing that I was thinking about.

Home.

It is a new beginning. We’re going to be a married couple and stay in the same house. We’re going to be together, once again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx