His Discarded Bride #thefictionawards2019

Part Fifteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Leilani's nerves felt scattered. She was standing in her room at Pontelandolfo, wearing her wedding dress, with an assortment of staff finalising last-minute touches to her dress, hair, and make-up. There was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" Renato asked.

That was a first: Renato asking for permission. A dressmaker who was inspecting the dress for runaway threads nodded her head. Leilani was cloaked royally in a swath of white satin to cover her wedding dress. The dressmaker was obviously accustomed to impatient grooms. "Yes, come on in," she agreed.

Renato walked in taking in her hair and make-up, "You are beautiful," he stated simply.

Colouring lightly, Leilani accepted the compliment as graciously as she could. "Did you need something?" she pressed.

Dismissing the staff, he stood in front of her, "I know it's late notice, but Vittorio would like to give you away in the absence of your step-father," he stated.

Taking a minute to digest this, Leilani asked the logical question. "He wants to acknowledge me publicly as his daughter?"

"Ah, not entirely; he intends to show that he is welcoming you into the family and offering you his support. He probably realises that walking down the aisle on your own would cause unwarranted speculation," he admitted.

"Well, in fairness to my parents, they might have been more likely to attend had they been invited." There. She had said it.

At no point had Renato asked her about guests for her side. Their wedding was supposed to be one of the biggest moments in her life. Her lack of support would be noticeable, no matter how they tried to cover it.

In some ways, it was for the best. Anyone that truly knew her would see immediately that this was no ordinary marriage; people expected to see love and happiness radiating from the newly-weds. Her nerves heightened with this line of thought, to be honest. She hadn't even thought of how many people would be attending, and now that she contemplated it, she started to fret.

"I didn't want to mention this to you because I knew it would upset you; they were both invited, Leilani," he said softly.

"They chose not to attend, then," she stated, her tone flat.

"Don't let it bother you. We will make the day happy our way," he took her mouth and kissed it lightly. "I'll probably get in trouble for ruining your make-up." He smiled to ease the tension, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Renato was trying so hard, and she had to acknowledge that.

"In a way, I just wish we'd had a bit more time and weren't rushed into this so quickly. I feel like everything is still up in the air. I mistrust Vittorio, and there is a definite rift with my parents. Everything is so displaced," she stated.

"Look, I was going to wait until after the ceremony, but I may as well let you know now. Vittorio did mastermind getting you to Italy. He paid your cousin Giulia to slip the information to you, and from what Giulia has said since, she felt that she was doing the right thing for you. Apparently, even though she has only gotten to know you fairly recently, she felt that you had a right to know. I'd personally say the reward she was given prompted her conviction." He searched her eyes for the impact of his message.

"It's too much to think about right now. She may have had honest intentions. However, to take the money and tell me in the way that she did, I don't know. I just feel, I don't even know how I feel about it," she finished.

"She was nothing but a pawn, and the reality is that whether it was Giulia or someone else who told you, in the end, you would have eventually found out. Secrets of this magnitude always surface," he stipulated.