𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖆

⁰². 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐜𝐞

''  ʷᵉᵈᵈᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗᵘᶜᵏᵉᵈ ᵃʷᵃʸ ᶦⁿᵗᵒ ᵃ ᶜᵃˢᵗˡᵉ ᵒᶠ ᶦᶜᵉ ''

The air in the wedding hall was too stuffy. Far too stuffy. Vincenzo was finding it very hard to breathe. The fact that his tie had been fastened a little too tightly didn't help either. His lungs struggled to cope as the weight of reality crushed him, and his throat burned. It seemed as though the universe was trying to help him out of the impending doom by suffocating him before he was forced to say his vows.

He wished that he could step away from the altar and run for his life, but he knew that he couldn't. He would be letting down far too many people if he were to break the peace treaty that the head of his family had just signed with the Riveras not even an hour ago. As much as he wanted to, he knew that he couldn't back out of this predicament now.

Besides, how could he refuse? Who was he to say that he didn't want to go through with this marriage? Don Fabio had been kind enough to take him in, and Vincenzo was forever grateful to the man for raising him as his own all these years—something that his birth parents had refused to do. Vincenzo could sacrifice everything and yet it still wouldn't cover the debt that he owed the leader of the Cassano Family. He figured that even agreeing to marry to the eldest daughter of their sworn enemy wouldn't be enough to fully repay his adoptive father for all his kindness. Nonetheless, it would be a start. 

The doors to the wedding hall opened, announcing the arrival of the bride-to-be. Vincenzo pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to her, watching the young woman cautiously as she approached him.

Wearing a short white lace dress which was the closest thing to wedding attire that she could find in her closet to fit the occasion, Yuri briskly walked down the aisle while keeping her head down. No veil, no bouquet, no real desire to be married. Her racing heartbeat told of nervousness due to her predicament and the dozen pair of eyes staring her down as she walked—it was nothing like the nervousness mixed with excitement that brides usually felt on their special day. 

She found herself wishing that a hole would magically appear in the red carpet beneath her feet so that she could fall through it and avoid her fate. Alas, the ground remained solid and cold, just like the resolve of the soon-to-be couple's parents.

Coming to a stop at the altar beside Vincenzo, she dared to sneak a glance in the direction of her family. Beside her parents and their right-hand man stood her half-sister Karina, nought but pity swirling in her eyes. Though that expression was one that Yuri was used to receiving, it still hurt to see it now, on the face of the only family member who had ever gazed upon her kindly.