Chapter-28🌜Vows.
William's POV
Why the hell is he looking at me as if he knows what's going on in my head?
That I didn't mean that affirmation one percent?
And why the hell is it bothering me? I don't care about what he thinks about me. Or what he thinks in general, period.
The officiant has started reading some scriptures. And he goes on and on and on. And I am totally interested in it. Yeah, right?
Like dude, let's just get this over with. I mean this marriage is being done for profit only, not for any "spiritual binding".
Even God cannot bind us together.
Oil and water can never meet.
Or at least that's what I was taught.
They cannot, right?
Now that I think about it, they can-with soap. And the only soap that binds us is my hatred for him.
I rake my fingers through my waves, dragging them back until the hair ties in knots. I smooth the mess down with a heavy palm, but as the officiant drones into a third minute about the 'sanctity of the soul'-my hand finds its way back to my scalp to start the cycle over.
"Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, I invite you now to face one another, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and His Church." Excuse me? Join hands? What is this-a beauty pageant finale?
It's decided. I hate this bald man. Because excuse you?! Okay, the dramatics are not gonna work, and what will even happen from just joining hands?
I bite the inside of my cheek as I see Zane slowly raising his hand to offer. I reluctantly bring my right hand forward and he grabs it.
Before even reaching my hand, I feel the warmth radiating from his burning body quite opposite of mine which can't stop breaking a cold sweat.
His fingers wrap around mine and goddamn why the hell is his hand this fucking huge? And don't even get me started on these bulging veins. No one's hand should look like this naturally.
Because no way in hell this apeshit is true. Blasphemy. That's what it is. It's like he's gotten everything in excess. He's taller than me, and now even his hand is gigantic? Like in relation to his hand, mine is feeling like I am a fucking kid who just hit teenage.
I have an overpowering urge that I can't resist. So I dig my fingernails-yup all five-in this asshole's hand. To remind him that maybe everything is going according to his plan, but I am still in charge.
I don't know what I was fishing for, but this rock hard caveman doesn't even flinch! In fact he tilts his head in my direction with amusement.
What the hell? Is he even real or is he that desensitised?! Whatever, because I refuse to lose without getting a reaction out of him.
To assert dominance, I dig even harder this time. Just near that bulging fat nerve of his hand.
And I almost draw some blood out, though that does get me a little groan. Just a small one though...
Did it genuinely not hurt him or is he suppressing himself because of our surroundings? I don't know.
I mean I know it isn't pain, but most likely a surprise. But a win is a win.
He doesn't let me be though. Because the very next moment he crushes my hand so hard-I swear he crushed my metacarpals!
"Ouch-" I grit my teeth against the sharp pang as I force the noise down into my chest. Kutta!
Oh God, how will I paint now? Has he made me permanently disabled? Fucckkkkkk!
I try to flex my fingers a little and thankfully, nothing feels broken. Though they ache like shit. I am sure it will swell the next morning.
After getting the clarity that this bitch hasn't broken me, I raise my head to give him a nasty glare.
The audacity of this man is making me go ballistic. Because, I see him fucking smirking at me. As if saying, 'serves you right'.
And I want to punch that smirk away from his face, because how dare he?!
I HATE HIM!! Ughhhh!
I hold his gaze, my eyes shooting daggers at him. And his eyes fucking twinkle back, blinking in genuine bewilderment. For a heartbeat, the white lace and the heavy scent of lilies vanish. We both seem to have forgotten that this is our own goddamn wedding.
The officiant breaks our staring-in my case, glaring-contest. "Zane and William, you have each prepared words of promise. Zane, please begin by reading your vows to William."
First of all, why is this guy favouring Zane again and again? Why can't I go first?? He was even waiting in the altar and then I was called like I am a bride or something. Like why the fuck are they treating me like a woman?!
I have a dick, in fact we both do! Hmm, on another thought, they do say 'ladies first', right? So I will let it go this time.
'As if you could have done anything.' My alter ego-also known as the biggest traitor ever-bites back.
I shake my head with a sneer and then my eyes land on this guy that we met earlier today, not the weirdo one. The other one-what was his name again? Yeah, Matteo.
I see Matteo coming forward as he pulls out something from a leather folder. And that something-is a heavy looking sheet.
Hmm, he's carrying his vows, so he is the best man? And not Vance.
Interesting. Means, Matteo is in fact close to Zane, even closer than Vance.
And today when I guessed and then used their lack of closeness-this was why my hit and trial worked.
'Told you so'. I can't help the smirk that follows. God, I just love being right.
Zane takes the card from him with a gentle nod as he starts his vows.
"William, I stand before you in this sacred place to take you as my husband.
I pledge to you my name, my protection, and my unwavering loyalty.
I promise to uphold the honor of our families and to build a future that is as enduring as the stone of this monastery.
" With every word he speaks, his eyes come back up and meet mine, like I know it's for the show.
But damn his dialogue delivery is so believable. ..
He takes a pause as if the intensity of the words is affecting him too, and then continues reading, "I take you to have and to hold, to honor and obey the covenant we strike today.
" Something flashes in his face, that I almost think it's innocence, even loyalty.
But then I remind myself what he has taken.
He doesn't even blink once and that earlier amusement is long gone from his face.
His voice is hoarse. Heavy just like his words.
"Through every storm and every triumph, I will be the anchor that holds us to our path.
With my ring, I bind my life to yours, and I swear that what has been joined today, no man shall put asunder.
" Written. It must be written by the best artist in the world.
I blink once, twice to break the black magic his olive eyes are doing to me.
Phew. That was a close one-I just about fell for it.
How can he lie with such a straight face? How can he be so...believable?
Because, the way he says that, makes me feel like he's seeing me unguarded. Talking-boderline declaring all of that right to my soul.
I shake these thoughts out of my head as I look away from his eyes. I still feel those foresty orbs on me, but I don't look his way.
Until the officiant asks me to read my own vows for my lovely little groom. Ryan comes forward with my card and offers it to me with a subtle smile. He doesn't speak, but his gaze is a steady hand on my shoulder.
But I do see from the corner of my eyes, how Zane is looking at the exchange. There seems to be something going on with him that I can't name yet. But soon...
I give Ryan a nod and then take a deep breath as my eyes fall on the calligraphed vows in my hand.
"William, today I give myself to you as your husband." The first lie. "I promise to walk beside you, to share in your burdens, and to offer my devotion as we unite our houses."
I will walk beside him just to strangle him or hmm... shoot him but I won't do it with a mask like he did.
"I pledge to be your partner in all things, to honor the traditions of those who came before us, and to remain faithful to the promises made on this day." Exactly. I promise to ruin your life, like you ruined mine.
Same things, right?
My voice comes out as dramatic as it can and it doesn't even waver.
But then again my dad made me practice these dialogues so.
..
"I take you for better or for worse, in plenty and in want, until the end of our days.
" Oh god...
Whoever wrote this is taking cheap weed, 'cus damn.
This dude should watch less Indian daily soaps. Ugh.
My voice isn't intense like him. It sounds flat but not with emotions-I am feeling so many of them right now.
But with practiced lies. "I commit my heart and my future into your hands, trusting in the strength of the bond we create under this roof. This is my solemn vow."
The same heart which he punctured with a bullet? Or the same future that I have planned for him?
Because let's just say, neither of them will agree to this.
'Strength of our bond.'
Dude please...
Because what bond? Bond made for money and driven with backstabbing?
Throughout my monologue, I don't look up. So after my future Oscar-nominee speech, I finally look up and somehow our eyes lock. Again. At this point, I am feeling like even this is part of his plan.
Eye manipulation is a thing, right?
So when they do meet, something shifts. I don't know how, but I see it-a crack in the mask.
Despite my sickeningly sweet words-he looks like a kicked puppy, raw and reeling.
As the lies spill out of me, his expression fractures.
It's as if the unspoken truth is a vibration in the air, a frequency only he is sensitive enough to hear, and it's tearing him apart.
'See, you hurt him...' The angel of my shoulder goes. A shadow of unease passes over me.
Only to be chased away by the light of certainty. 'Stop fucking falling for his puppy dog eyes again and again!' The brain starts functioning again, and we are back.
But this time, I refuse to break eye contact. God, were there always these hazel rims in his eyes? And why do they look a little glassy?
Though this time, he is the one who looks away.
I did everything right.
Everything I was asked to do.
Then why does it feel like I didn't?
A/N??
This was the chapter...
Hmm, they are getting their claws out.
How was there lil hand fight?
Thoughts on the chapter? ??
Comments? ??
Votes? ??