Married at First Sight

CORA

The morning of the wedding, Cora was up early and made her way down to the dining room to have breakfast with her parents. They hadn’t heard her, so she stood watching them for a few minutes.

Not one word was spoken between them. They just drank their coffee. Her father read some files and her mother was going over the wedding menu.

A tear trickled down Cora’s cheek. This was not what she wanted for herself. She wanted to be happy; to be loved and not ignored.

Maya sensed that there was somebody else in the room. She looked up and saw Cora. “Sweetheart, come sit down and have something to eat. You have such a busy morning ahead of you.

“Miss King will be here soon to do your hair and makeup, so you must be showered and ready for when she gets here.”

Adonis looked up at his daughter. “Good morning, dear.”

She sat down, trying to get up the courage to speak to her father and try to talk him out of the marriage. “Father, I want to talk to you about the wedding.”

He lifted his eyes up from the papers. “What is it?”

“I don’t want to get married. Please don’t make me do this.”

Dropping the papers onto the table, he glared angrily at her. “You have known for years that this day was coming. Even if I were to agree to your wishes, it is way too late to stop it.

“You are getting married, and that’s all there is to it.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and she turned to her mother for some support. “Mom, please say something.”

Maya quickly glanced over at her husband then back at her daughter. “You heard your father. Now, there will be no more talk of stopping the wedding. Eat your breakfast and then go take your shower.”

“How can you do this to me? I’m your only daughter. Does my happiness not mean anything to you?”

“In time, you will be happy and you will thank me,” Adonis said. Picking up the papers, he started reading them.

Cora pushed her plate away and stood up. “I will never thank you for this. I would never force any child of mine to marry someone they don’t love.”

“You may feel different when you have children of your own,” her mother said, looking annoyed.

“Well, I guess we’ll never know.”

“Just what is that supposed to mean?” her father asked, looking up at her.

“Because I am never going to let that man touch me. I will die a virgin if I have to.”

Adonis slammed his fist on the table and got to his feet in anger. “You listen to me, young lady. You will have Mr. Vaillant’s child.

“You will give him as many children as he wants and you will let him touch you. If not, he will take what he wants anyway.”

With tears streaming down her face, Cora took off, running out of the room. Reaching her bedroom, she closed the door and flopped down onto the bed, sobbing her heart out.

She had read how men would force themselves on their wives. It scared her to think that it could happen to her. She was more confused now than ever.

Should she give in to him or fight him off? Wiping her tears, she got up and went over to the window and looked out. It was then that she decided to run away.

Running to the closet, she grabbed a small bag and threw a few things into it. She had no money and no one to go to, but she was not going to go through with a wedding she did not want.

Sneaking down the back stairs, she avoided the staff running around in preparation for the wedding. She had just gotten to the back door leading outside when a pair of strong, meaty hands grabbed her.

She let out a cry of distress when she saw it was one of her father’s guards. “Where do you think you’re going, miss?”

“Get your hands off of me,” she cried out as he dragged her back into the house.

“Sorry, I can’t do that.” Not letting go of her, he took her to her father’s office and pulled her inside, where her father was sitting behind his desk.

Adonis looked up and saw the bag in her hand. “What the hell is going on?”

“Sir, I found your daughter trying to sneak out the back way.”

Adonis got up from his desk and walked over to her. Without saying a word, he lifted his hand and slapped her across the face, speaking only to the guard.

“Take her back to her room and stay outside of her door. Make sure she doesn’t try to leave again.”

The guard nodded his head. Even though he felt sorry for her and for the way her father slapped her, he did what his boss told him to do.

Cora knew there was no escape, so she went into the bathroom to take a shower. It had shocked her when her father slapped her. He had never raised his hand to her before.

Her tears mixed with the running water as it flowed over her. Her body shook and her eyes stung. She felt defeated, lost, and all alone.

Later, she sat in her chair like a zombie, zoning out while Miss King did her hair and makeup, neither speaking to the other.

They were done with her hair and makeup when her mother walked in, carrying her wedding dress.

“It’s time to put your dress on.” Seeing her daughter looking so sad, she walked over to her and told Miss King she could leave. “I’m sorry your father hit you. He was just angry.”

Cora just stood there, not answering her mother. Maya helped her put the dress on. Doing up the zipper, she stood back and smiled.

“You look so beautiful. Please try to smile, it won’t be as bad as you think.”

Cora’s eyes narrowed into slits when she looked back at her mother. “You don’t know that. I don’t think you even care as long as you and Father get what you want.”

At that moment, she felt no love for her parents, only anger. When her mother left the room, she turned to look at herself in the mirror.

She had to admit that the dress she wore was beautiful. It fit her like a glove. She sat down and waited for her father to come and get her.

NOAH

Noah and Barry were dressed in their tuxedos and having a drink in his hotel room.

Noah knew his father would be upset if he knew they were drinking this early, but he honestly didn’t give a damn what his father thought.

“Damn, I wish I could get out of this fucking wedding.”

“We could just take off, hop on the jet, and disappear for a while,” Barry said as he poured them each another drink.

“I thought about that, but I’m not about to lose everything that I want. But not to worry, I have a plan.”

“What kind of plan?”

“Once we’re married, I won’t pay any attention to her. I won’t even go home half the time. What woman do you know who would put up with that? Not to mention having no sex?

“I’m hoping that after a while she’ll want a divorce. If that’s the case, then my father can’t possibly blame me and refuse me what he promised.”

“So in other words, you’re going to make her feel terrible and unwanted. I do hope you’re not going to be too cruel. After all, she is a woman with feelings.”

“Are you going soft on me?”

“No, of course not. You know me better than that. It’s just that, well, you don’t know anything about her. What if she turns out to be a nice woman?

“I’m guessing that she probably doesn’t want this marriage either.”

“I don’t care if she’s nice or not, it’s not my problem.”

Running his fingers through his hair, Barry looked at him. “Okay Noah, we better finish our drinks and get going.”

Swallowing his drink, he followed Barry out and down to the limo that was waiting for them. He looked out the window and smiled.

“It really is beautiful here. Maybe someday I’ll come back here to vacation.”

When they got to the Thanos estate and stepped out of the car, they were greeted by a butler who showed them inside.

It was supposed to be a church wedding, but at the last minute they had decided to have the wedding here.

Oscar spotted the two and waved them over. “Mr. and Mrs. Thanos, I would love for you to meet my son, Noah, and his friend Barry White.”

“You have a beautiful home here, Mr. Thanos.”

“Thank you, Noah, we’re quite proud of it ourselves. Why don’t you and your friend mingle and introduce yourselves to some of the guests?

“My daughter will be ready soon and then we can start the wedding. I hope you will be very pleased with Cora. She really is a very sweet young woman.

“I’m sure she will do whatever she can to make you happy.”

“I will try my best to make her happy,” Noah replied with a slight smirk on his face as he looked at Barry.

As the two friends walked around, Noah made a point of checking out the female guests. He noticed that some of them were giving him that come fuck me look.

Oh, if only he wasn’t getting married. If his future in-laws hadn’t been here, he might have gone for it. “Damn, some of these women are so freaking hot,” he said, nudging Barry in the ribs.

“Try to keep it in your pants, bro. Save it for when you get back home, because if you do anything here and now, your father will literally kill you.”

Noah was standing with a drink in his hand when a woman walked up to him. She was wearing a low-cut, powder-blue dress with a slit up the side.

“So, I understand you are the groom.”

He looked at her and smiled, his eyes checking out her cleavage. “It appears so. So, are you family or friend?”

“Neither really. My father is and I’m here with him. We were all surprised to hear that Cora was getting married. We didn’t even know she was seeing anyone.”

She looked him over, making a point of licking her bottom lip seductively. “She’s a very lucky woman to be marrying somebody like you.

“Too bad you’re about to be married in a few minutes. I would love to have had some alone-time with you, if you know what I mean?”

He moved closer to her. “Who knows, we may get to sneak in a few minutes after the ceremony.”

Just when she was about to answer, his father came over to them, putting his hand on Noah’s arm. “You will have to excuse us miss, but the ceremony is about to start.”

She looked back at Noah. “Congratulations again. Perhaps we’ll get a chance to talk later,” she said, giving them both a smile as she walked away.

Oscar turned to his son in anger. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Father, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about. Stay away from the female guests and don’t do anything to screw this up.

“If you were planning on fucking that broad later on, you can forget it. I will be keeping my eye on you.”

“You may be forcing me to marry this woman, but you will not—now or ever—tell me who I can or cannot screw.”

“If you do anything inappropriate with any of these women, you can forget about taking over my businesses. I may have given you the hotel to run, but I can just as easily take it away from you.

“So, my son, you behave yourself and conduct yourself accordingly or it’s all over, whether you marry her or not. It’s your choice, so what’s it going to be?”

“Father, you are a son of a bitch.”

Oscar grinned, knowing he had won. “That’s a good boy. Now it’s time for you to stand at the head of the altar, and for god’s sake, please try and smile.”

He could feel the heat rising up his neck to his face when his father walked away. Making a fist, he went over and stood next to Barry as they waited for the music to start.

“You have to do me a favor. I don’t want to look when my bride comes down the aisle, so you have to let me know what she looks like.”

When the wedding March started, Noah lowered his eyes and stared at his feet. All he wanted to do was take off running, but he stood there like a fool and waited.

Hearing the rustling of clothes as the guests stood up, he knew his bride was on her way. “So what does she look like?” he whispered to his friend.

Barry’s eyes lit up when he saw what he thought was an angel walking toward them. She was beautiful and graceful but there was such sadness in her eyes.

He started feeling sorry for her, knowing what she was in store for. “Noah, you have to see for yourself.”