HIS BRIDE

CHAPTER 5

Tw - SH
~ BRIDGET ~

Panic; sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour.

I swallow down the feeling of panic creeping up my body while blinking away the tears that I'm not letting fall from my eyes.

"Ms. Branson, do you want to be the first one to sign?"
The unknown man before me questions with his hands closed together.

I look to my side and see Elio sitting completely silent, unmoving.
I read the words on the paper while I try to calm my breathing.

Commitment to an alliance

The large letters reach my eyes and I can't un hear the words in my head. If I sign this, I can't run away. I'll have to marry Elio Morelli.
Become Bridget Branson- Morelli.

I got my father to accept the fact that I wanted to keep my own last name as well. I would've been fine with only having the name Morelli but I needed to feel like I had at least a little control during this process.

I look down at my shaking hands, squeezing them into balls so that the shaking goes down a bit. I grab the pen that the man reaches out for me before taking a deep breath.

He points to where I am to sign before leaning back again in his chair, leaving me to sign. I hastily sign the papers, not wanting to think about the fact that I have no chance to escape this marriage anymore.

I drop the pen and slide the paper towards Elio, although his attention is focused on my bouncing leg. My leg stills as soon as I realised he might find it annoying or that it makes this situation even more stressful.

Elio takes the pen and sign the papers without a thought before sliding it towards the man with a slight nod.

"Congratulations Mr. Morelli and Ms. Branson.
Good luck to this alliance" He Sasha it's a smile
before making a move to show us that we can leave.

Good luck to this alliance.

Not to this marriage. It's not a real marriage, it's only an alliance. It's business.

Elio and I make our way towards the exit.
We're supposed to leave together since we're both going to a cake testing for the wedding.

I'm actually surprised that anyone let me be apart of the cake testing, since my father made it really clear that don't have a voice in this marriage.

I'm just a business deal.

I feel the insides of me turn as I swallow down the pressure starting to reach my throat.
"I just have to use the restroom real quick"

I turn from the man and rush inside the bathroom that's put right next to the exit, feeling the need to let it all out.

To forget everything.

I slide down the locked door before hastily looking through my purse. I always have it in there.

I stare down at the small razor blade that's now situated in my hand. I have it in my purse for protection and release.

I take a deep breath, eyes closed before dragging the sharp object onto my now exposed thigh.
Thank god that I wore a mid thigh skirt today.

I look down at the previous healed scars that's scattered across the inside of my thigh.

Nobody will want to marry someone with a tainted body, like you.

My fathers words echos in my head as I drag the blade deeper and deeper into my skin, tears starting to blur my vision.

He had told me those words during two situations. When he first saw my scars and when he found out I had lost my virginity.

A knock on the door drags me out of the trance I've been put in, which causes me to hastily clean up the blood from my thighs with paper and dry my tears that had fallen.
"You okay?"

Two simple words from my fiancé and I have to bite the inside of my cheek so I won't break again.

Keep it together Bridget. Your strong.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute" I say with the strongest voice I can make out in this moment.

I look into the mirror staring at myself, not recognising the person staring back at me.

My eyes are slightly red, but only I can notice it.
My face is a little paler then usually and my bottom lip is slightly swollen from biting onto it harshly.

I take a minute to touch up my make up and gather myself before exiting the bathroom, showing the fakest smile I can do.
"You ready to go?" Elio looks at me with his eyes just as cold as always.

I nod at him with a small smile, trying to convince him that I'm alright but he still feels a bit tense walking next to me.

But I just ignore it for the rest of the way.

***

"No the chocolate one will be more fitting"
"No that's where you're wrong, the vanilla one
Will be perfect for the wedding"

I watch between me and Elio's mothers as they fight over which cake they think is most 'suitable' for the wedding.

It's a damn cake for god's sake, it doesn't matter.

"Which one did you prefer?" Elio says with a low voice so our mother won't hear our conversation.
Not that they would anyway, their to busy screaming at each other.

I turn to face him, not expecting him to be so close which results in us being only inches apart.
"The strawberry one"
I say softly which he nods at before clearing his throat so powerfully that our mothers turn their heads

"We have chosen the strawberry one"
He tells one of the staff who nods at our choice and walk away, leaving us four in silence.

"The chocolate one would be more fitt-"
"Is it you getting married?" Elio interrupts my mothers sentence which makes my other go pale

"No" she says simply with tense shoulders, looking over at me like I'm supposed to do something to help her.

"Then me and my fiancé choose which cake we want, not you." Elio says while standing up, making me stand with him. I bite back the smile that's creeping up on my face before turning to follow Elio out the door.

Maybe I have more power in the whole wedding thing then I thought.