AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Iris
What am I doing?
I look at myself in the mirror of my hotel suite again, letting the white, expensive fabric glide through my fingers. I still can’t process that I’m a bride. Every girl dreams of her wedding day from a young age, so why am I not happier? Most women would commit a crime to switch places with me.
I’m marrying a wealthy, well-spoken man who has great manners. Our fathers are both influential politicians who ensured we crossed paths at one of their cocktail parties. Joshua was so smitten with me that he proposed only a few months after our first date. We never even slept together. He claims it’s better to wait until marriage, which will only increase our bond. That’s romantic, right? So yeah, on paper, he sounds perfect.
He’s also boring as hell.
I turn around again, trying to see myself as a woman excited about getting married instead of a confused girl in a white dress, wondering how well she knows her fiancé.
I get up. I should talk to him. Joshua will know what to say. He always does. He’ll calm my pre-wedding jitters. My mother and sisters aren’t arriving for another ten minutes anyway, so there’s a small pocket of time to have this conversation with him.
I grab my hotel keycard from the nightstand and head to his suite across the hall. I knock once, short but loud.
Joshua opens the door in his boxer shorts, his eyes growing wide when he sees me. “Iris? What are you doing here?”
“Can we talk?” I frown. “Did you leave the shower on?”
“Um, yes, I did.”
“Well, why don’t you turn it off, and we can talk?”
I try to step into his room, but he blocks the doorframe with his body.
He flicks his gaze to the bathroom door. “How about we head to the lobby and talk there?”
“Why would we have a conversation in the lobby if we have a private suite at our disposal? Besides, we’re not even dressed. I promise you this won’t take long.”
He opens his mouth and starts saying something about the room not being cleaned yet when the bathroom door opens, and a naked woman walks out. She shrieks when she sees me and flees back inside, locking the door.
My blood goes cold. “What the hell, Joshua?”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, you weren’t…”
“Weren’t what? Supposed to find out?” I ask, my voice breaking.
“I can explain.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Explain away.”
“I, um, you see, it’s…” He gives me a pleading look. “Please, Iris. We can talk about it after the wedding.”
“I don’t know if there’s still going to be a wedding.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “We have to go through with it. We can’t let everyone down. Our parents will be furious. Three hundred and fifty people are coming. Everything is paid for. What will people say when we cancel?”
“What will people say? That’s what you’re concerned about?”
“For now, yes. Come on, Iris, I’ll explain everything later.”
“I don’t see how you can explain having a naked woman in your bathroom, Joshua.”
“It doesn’t mean anything. You’re the one I want to be with, Iris. We’re a perfect match. Our parents have the same wealth and influence, and we want kids someday to continue the family legacy, right? Why wouldn’t we get married? Look at it as the perfect business transaction.”
I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand and head back to my room without saying a word. Even though I had my doubts about marrying him, I didn’t deserve to be cheated on and treated as a business transaction.
