Married for the third time

Laura had tried unsuccessfully to communicate with her grandmother, the cell phone was off, she called the mansion and no one answered, and Sarah had blocked her from receiving her calls.

"Grandma! What's happening?" she didn't understand, perhaps her grandfather had convinced her not to get close to her, thinking about it broke her heart.

Little by little she was adapting to her new life, although her heart was still suffering, she had found a good job where she developed her second passion, fashion design.

It had nothing to do with being a reporter, but she was passionate about it in the same way, her little son was already starting to take his first steps, and that excited her.

On the other hand, Dimitri felt that without Laura his life was even grayer and darker, Boris had insisted so much on his wedding with Yulia, that after signing the divorce papers with Laura, he agreed to marry Yulia once and for all.

"It's the best decision you've ever made in your life, son, you know I haven't liked Yulia at all, but she has earned her place to be your wife."

"I am marrying her to fulfill my commitment, but I do not love her, and if she wants to be by my side it will be under my conditions, I will protect her and give her what she needs, but only that."

"Don't be so negative, son, Yulia loves you, for her you are everything that exists."

Dimitri just grunted as he adjusted his tie in front of the mirror.

"We have to leave immediately for the church, you wouldn't want the bride to arrive first, that would be terrible," Dimitri hears him as he clenches his lips to avoid saying what he thought.

He couldn't care less about arriving after Yulia, it would suffice for him that she arrived and nothing more.

He left the mansion to board the limousine, feeling in a terrible mood, his father got in with him to accompany him.

"Stop that funeral face, no one has died, fortunately, try to smile when you're in front of Yulia, do it for that poor girl."

"I don't want to hear anymore, if you keep going I'll get out of the limousine right now."

Boris shook his head resigned, his son had changed too much since he had woken up, his personality was completely different.

Upon arriving at the church, Yulia's father was waiting outside.

"I can't believe you make my daughter wait on this day, she has been waiting for you to enter the church, she has been in the office for almost an hour."

"It's not my fault that your daughter decided to arrive early, I don't want to be bothered with anything, today is not a good day," he said with every intention to annoy Yulia's father.

The man had to hide his fury, Dimitri was the gold mine that would get them out of ruin, and that wedding with his daughter was like an insurance policy for endless expenses.

Dimitri entered the church with a serious face, it was filled with people invited by Yulia's family, they wanted everyone to realize that their family and the Petrovs would join.

The groom's appearance as he walked elicited sighs from all the girls, of course, Yulia had invited her friends, she wanted to rub in their faces that from now on she would have what they could never have.

Dimitri positioned himself in his place in front of the altar, soon the wedding march began to play, by inertia he turned towards the entrance, the bride at that moment entered arm in arm with her father.

Everyone watched the groom cover his mouth with his hands, it seemed like a romantic gesture, he must have been very excited.

The reality was that he had done it to avoid laughing at the sight of Yulia's dress, which was full of stones and transparencies in the wrong places, too vulgar to be inside a church.

Yulia walked feeling like a Greek goddess, all eyes were on her, murmurs could be heard as she passed by, she thought they were because of her beauty.

But the reality was that they were judging her poor taste, but of course, they wouldn’t let her know, now it was convenient to count her as a friend.

When she reached Dimitri, Yulia's father approached him.

"I am handing you the most precious thing I have in life, and as such, I expect you to treat her accordingly."

Dimitri just nodded slightly, Yulia expected him to give her a smile, but found only coldness in his face, how had an illness changed him so much? Before, he would melt for her, could it be that he remembered something that had happened?

As the ceremony was taking place, memories flooded Dimitri, his first wedding with Laura, the vows she had said, which he had naively believed were sincere.

At their second wedding, they hadn't actually married before God, the priest was an actor who had played his role excellently, only their union under the law had actually occurred.

The priest in front of him reminded him of what had happened, as he watched him, a slight hint of a malicious smile appeared faintly on his lips.

"You may kiss the bride" was the only thing he heard from the entire ceremony, he hadn’t even paid attention to the vows he had mechanically said.

Yulia didn’t wait for him to kiss her, she threw herself into his arms desperately, knowing her now husband, he was capable of turning away at that moment.

Discreetly, Dimitri pushed her aside, but the smile did not leave the girl's face, it was only a matter of time before she had him eating out of her hand again.

"My love, at last I am your wife before the law of God, now we just need to sign the marriage certificate and I will be before men."

The happy Yulia didn't stop hugging and kissing him, but it was as if beside her, instead of a man, there was a block of ice, she could feel his coldness, but pretended not to notice.

The guests, unknown to Dimitri, filled them with praises and congratulations, which he found hypocritical.

"Friend! You look really beautiful, you have to recommend your dress designer, it's a dream, I want to wear something similar at my wedding," said a girl who was clearly lying to stay in Yulia’s good graces. Dimitri gave her a stern look, and the girl quickly walked away.

They got into the limousine to head to the celebration venue, but first, they would sign the marriage certificate right there in the office.

"My love, have you seen, my dress is a total success, I think I couldn’t have better taste," she said while adjusting the bust that was nearly spilling out of the dress.

"For you, it's simply perfect."

"Thank you, my love, that's sweet," she replied, thinking it was a compliment.

After signing the document, they entered the hall, Dimitri couldn’t believe it, there were ruffles and fabrics all over the place, and the ceiling was covered with balloons in white, gold, and light red.

The centerpieces were equally ridiculous, that family had no idea what good taste was.

"Let me give you a hug, my dear son-in-law, I want you from now on to call me mom, or mami, whichever you prefer."

Dimitri smiled with great effort, Mami? Was this woman in her right mind or had she been drinking?

"I will shake your hand, son-in-law, just like my wife, I ask that you consider me your second father from now on."

Fortunately, at that moment, Boris arrived to rescue him; from the grumpy look on his son’s face, he knew he would explode at any moment.

"Son, I haven’t congratulated you yet, so I’ll congratulate you first," he said before giving him a hug.

The groom just hoped that no one would start shooting out of nowhere, he was sure Yulia would be happy to stay with all his money.

"She is not Laura, she is not Laura," he repeated over and over to himself.

Although, in reality, his heart did wish she was; Yulia didn’t have that beautiful smile, nor that special sparkle in her eyes.

"Yulia, I'm exhausted, I'm going to rest. Stay and have fun with your family and friends, see you later," he said while taking another swig from a bottle directly.

"You've had too much to drink, wait, I'll say goodbye and then come back so we can leave immediately."

Minutes later they were heading to the place where they would spend their wedding night. Upon arriving at the bridal suite, Dimitri went straight to the bar and poured himself a whiskey. Yulia approached him with a seductive smile, trying to unbutton his shirt.

"My love, at last we are alone. I've been waiting so long for this moment..." she whispered in a sweet voice.

But Dimitri pushed her away harshly, causing Yulia to stumble and fall onto the bed.

"Don't touch me," he snapped coldly. "This marriage is just a façade, don't expect anything more from me."

Yulia's eyes filled with tears, but she quickly dried them and stood up with a defiant look.

"You can't treat me like this, I am your wife before God and the law. I have rights..."

Dimitri sighed before responding to Yulia.

"I'm sorry, I agreed to marry to fulfill my promise, rest assured that neither you nor your family will want for anything, don't expect anything more from me, but let me warn you, Yulia, don't you dare stand in my way or you'll regret it."

Yulia turned pale at the veiled threat in Dimitri's words. She had never seen him so cold and ruthless. Determined not to be intimidated, Yulia approached Dimitri again and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Dimitri, my love, I know you've been through a lot, but I'm here for you. Let me console you, let me make you forget..."

Her lips sought his, but Dimitri rejected her once more. With a sharp movement, he pushed her away and headed towards the door.

"I'm going out. Don't wait up for me."

Without giving her a chance to respond, Dimitri left the room, leaving Yulia frustrated and humiliated.