chapter 16

"Ewe, that is so cute," Future says, poking me on the shoulder. After the encounter with my father, I drove back to the mansion. The guys went out and will stay at the penthouse tonight. We spent all day watching movies and eating pizza, and now we are watching a movie called 'Stay with me,'

The movie is about a handsome and wealthy finance manager. He meets a girl with a deadly disease and helps her fulfil her bucket list. The movie is quite funny if you ask me.

I grab my phone from the coffee table to check my messages. I expected a message from Tay and I get disappointed when I didn't find any. I wonder what he is doing. Does he miss me?

Fuck! Get a grip, Olivia.

After giving myself a pep talk, I place the phone back on the table.

"You know it's you grab that phone, call your man, or you just sit here and stare at it. Your choice," Future says and takes a bite from the slice of pizza. I ignore her comment and grab a slice, too.

We spend the next two hours watching TV and eating ice cream. And now it was time to sleep. Future took the guest room instead of sleeping in Andrew's room.

I put on my short pajamas and get under the covers. I unlock my phone and scroll through the contacts. I stare at Tay's name on the screen but don't find the courage to press call. The fact that I haven't talked to him today is only making matters worse. I don't know why I want to hear his voice so badly. Hearing his voice calms me in a way. My phone buzzed in my hand, startling me. My heart picks up when I see Tay's name written on the screen. I stare at it for a while, biting my nails, debating on whether or not I should answer. My heart goes back to its normality when the phone stops ringing. I throw my body against the fluffy pillows with a smile on my face.

He misses me. With that I close my eyes to sleep.

I'm thinking Future has a personal vendetta against me; she wakes me up yet again.

"Olivia, wake up," Future says while shaking me.

"Five more minutes," I say, and pull the sheets up to cover my face.

"Olivia, get ready. Everyone is here already," Future says, pulling the sheets off my body. The cold air coming from the balcony wakes me up.

"Finally, get ready. The priest is on his way," Future informs me.

"I'm really getting married," I mutter to myself.

"Yep, and if you don't get your ass up from this bed, there won't be a wedding at all," Future says and drags me off the bed.

"Okay! I'm up," I say, chuckling and make my way to the bathroom. I take a quick shower, wrap my wet body with a towel. Future already has my dress ready for me on the bed.

"I'm really doing this, huh?" I take the dress in my hand.

"Saying the same thing again and again won't change anything, you know?" Future's voice has amusement in it. I dress up and put my white All-Star sneaker on, which causes Future to whine at my choice of shoes.

"Who wears sneakers on their wedding day? "Future asks.

"Me," I reply.

"No. You are not. You ruin the look; Change," I sigh and wear the freaking heels. I comb my hair and pull it into a tight bun. Minutes later, someone knocks on the door and I shout 'come in'. Nora and Carmen walk in.

"Wow! You look beautiful, dear," Carmen says and hugs me.

"Thank you," I reply. After a while Future leaves to get ready and Carmen follows her, leaving me with Nora.

"Did you fight with your mother?" My mood changes when I hear the word 'mother'.

"Why do you ask?" I ask and sit on the bed. Nora sits next to me.

"She came home livid the other day and ordered everything that belonged to you to get burned. She even sent your horse back to your Uncle Shawn's farmhouse," Nora informs me.

"She did what!" I swear that woman wants me to go to jail for first-degree murder.

"She didn't come with us. I don't think she will attend the wedding," Nora tells me.

"Good, because I don't think I could be in the same room as her." I let out a sigh. The last thing I need is another mother-daughter drama.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask.

"Yes?"

"Can you walk me down the aisle?" She takes a moment to process what I just asked of her and a smile breaks on her face.

"I would love to," Nora beams, and I hug her. I thank the heavens every day for having this woman in my life. I don't know what I would do without her. The bedroom door opens and Carmen's head pops in.

"It's time. The priest is ready, and so is everyone."

****

Walking down the aisle with Nora feels like a dream. I never thought I'd be walking down the aisle one day. Carmen and Nana's decorations are beautiful and simple. The living room is turned into a small wedding reception. There are glass chairs on both sides, a wall made of white roses behind the priest. White carpet and white rose petals on the floor. Tay looks handsome in his tux, and so does everyone. I meet Dad, Nate, Andrew, and Future's eyes, beaming at me.

Nana, Rachel, my publisher, and Tay's parents' eyes. This is it. A new chapter awaits me. Nora hands me to Tay, and we both face the priest. My stomach is in knots.

"We have gathered here to witness two souls being joined in this holy matrimony. Before we continue, does anyone in this room think that these two shouldn't be together?" The priest asks.

"Speak out now or forever hold your peace." The room goes silent.

"Alright, we can continue."

"Do you, Tay Payne, take Olivia Ferguson as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I, Tay Payne, take you, Olivia Ferguson, as my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold you from this day forward. To cherish and to love you. To be with you in sickness and in health until death do us part." Tay finishes his vows.

"Do you Olivia Ferguson; take Tay Payne as your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest asks.

"I, Olivia Ferguson, take you, Tay Payne, as my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold you from this day forward. To cherish and to love you. To be with you in sickness and in health until death do us part." I tell Tay and we exchange rings.

"I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," the priest informs Tay, and he doesn't waste time crashing his lips with mine.

Everyone cheers and everything feels good.

"Okay, you guys, we have seen enough. You can save the rest for later." Nate's voice says and we break the kiss.

"Congratulations, sister-in-law." Nate hugs me.

"Thank you,"

"So, Mrs. Payne huh?" Nora asks and hugs me, too.

"Yep, Mrs. Payne," I reply.

"Congratulations," Andrew hugs me. I haven't talked to him after he told me about his past, and I feel terrible for acting so childish.

I know I shouldn't be angry at him for something that happened years ago. It's none of my business, anyway.

"My boy is a married man," Carmen says while pulling Tay's cheeks, and we all laugh.

"Mom!" he whines, making us laugh even harder.

"Thank you, my child, for agreeing to marry my son," Carmen says and we exchange hugs.

"Congratulations," Rachel says.

"Thanks," I tell her.

"So, are we getting a second book?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah, but I can't promise when I will send the first five chapters though," I tell Rachel.

"Take all the time you need to write it; as long as I will get it in the end." Rachel tells me.

"I have to go; I will be waiting." Rachel tells me, and I nod. I watch as she disappears through the door.

"Are we going to eat or what?" Nate asks and his stomach growls, causing us to laugh.

"Pumpkin, is that you?" a familiar voice asks from afar, and we all turn to find Sofia with the biggest smile I have ever seen.

"Oh no! This can't be happening. Just when my stomach growls in hunger she had to show up." we all laugh at Nate's whining.

"Mom, tell your cater to go find a real pumpkin and let me be, please?" we all laugh again.

We eat and after hours of talking and laughing everyone leaves. Leaving me, Future, Nate, Andrew, and Tay. The front door opens and a familiar face walks in.

"Chad, what are you doing here, man?" Andrew asks as they exchange bro hugs.

"Gee, it's nice to see you too," Chad says with a cheeky smile.

"Olivia, nice to see you again." He takes my hand and places a soft kiss on the back of my hand. Tay's grip tightens around my waist.

"Chad, I never thought I would see you again," I say truthfully.

"I knew I would. I was on my way to a business trip the day we met at the jewelry shop," he informs me.

"Oh!" that's all I said.

"Yea, I got back a few weeks ago, but I had a lot of work to do with the opening of Chad Media House. That's why you haven't seen me around," he says, and Nate's phone buzzes and he excuses himself.

"And we didn't get an invitation, cool man," Andrew mocks.

"Now don't be a baby. It wasn't a grand opening." he rolls his eyes, amused.

"And I came to talk to Olivia here."

"Me, why?" I ask, confused. Tay pulls me even closer to him.

"The fact that you graduated at such a young age is quite impressive and proves that your IQ is very rare." I chuckle.

"What does my IQ have to do with what you want to talk to me about?" I ask.

"I'm looking for an editorial assistant, and I thought of you. Although I still have to figure out which one has the biggest IQ between you and Tay. Anyway, I will get to that later, so what you say?" he asks.

"You know that I graduated from nursing, right?" I ask, slowly.

"I know, but that doesn't stop me. Come on, I know you won't fail to do the job, so you in?"

"No," Tay says, his arm possessively holding me in place. I frown at his behavior.

"I will think about it," I tell Chad. I might as well take the offer; I'm always alone in this house and have nothing to do anyway. I don't want to work as a nurse.

Besides, I haven't found the motivation to start the second book, so I might as well read other's work.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Andrew booms. We were all talking that we didn't even hear the front door opening. Ria is making her way to us. Tay meets her halfway and drags her to what I assume is his study. There is silence until Nate walks in.

"Andrew, do you remember the girl…" Nate stops when he realises the room is too quiet.

"Um… who died?" Nate asks with a giggle, but none of us laughs.

"The real question you should ask is who happened?" Andrew tells Nate and takes a large gulp from his glass of wine.

"Stop talking in riddles and tell me what the fuck is going on?" Nate demands.

"Ria happened. Tay is talking to her right now," Andrew tells Nate.

"Um... I shouldn't have asked," Nate says, and we all stare at him.

Really, I thought.

An hour passes and there is no sign of Ria or Tay. Nate tries to cheer me up, but my mind keeps going back to Tay and Ria, wondering what they are talking about—what they are doing. I couldn't help myself.

I decide to go look for them instead of waiting.

"I will be right back," I inform Nate, and he nods in understanding.

I walk up the staircase to Tay's study. The door is slightly ajar and what I saw caused a sinking at the pit of my stomach.