1 Starting A New Life

"Do you take Adrienne Elizabeth as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do." He said, reluctantly after a long silence.

The priest turned to face her. "Do you take Eric Johnson as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do."

The priest blessed them both and pronounced them as husband and wife after they exchanged their rings.

"You may kiss the bride." He moved to pull her closer by her waist and engulfed her lips with his.

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After Adrienne parted with her parents with a goodbye and a hug. She was now surrounded by her prestigious guests, who dressed elegantly, greeting them one by one, alone.

Her husband had left her the moment they had stepped inside her new home and was nowhere to be seen. Her father-in-law, Mr Sebastian Johnson, assured her not to worry and kept her company.

"Please don't be sad my child, it's your function too. We are surrounded by many people and they would start doubting. And that won't end up well if you look like that." She turned to face him. With a fake smile she nodded and continued to drink her wine while moving back to the crowd.

She still had a little hope that he would come after a moment and would accompany her greeting the guests together. But then she gave up, since there was still no sign of him. And it was getting late. Her father-in-law had left with an old friend an hour ago. She was left alone by herself, again. Although it was his marriage function, she knew he hated her so much that he would rather humiliate his father than show up beside her.

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She was now laying on the bed, tired. She was glad that the party had ended before than expected. Suddenly the door burst open and he entered without giving a glance on her way.

"Where were you?" Silence.

"Everyone asked me why you weren't there the whole day and I didn't know what to say. There were a lot of people. But don't worry I wasn't alone. Father was there with me.. " She stopped when she realised she was left alone. She thought he had left her and was relieved to see the light coming through the bathroom door with the sound of the water running. She leaned back on the bed recalling the event one by one when she felt herself being drift away into a deep slumber.

She was sound asleep when he got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his body. He looked over to the girl sleeping peacefully on the bed. He wanted to kill her. He never wanted to get married. He wanted to live a life of his own having no restrictions. But his father had forced him to get married after threatening him. He had requested her to cancel the marriage and refuse to marry him in front of her parents whenever they met since he couldn't change his father's mind, but she didn't listen. All the women he had came across in his life were always behind his wealth and fame. He had the looks to kill, but they were more concerned on his money. Acknowledging that, he slept with all the girls who showed an interest in him and threw them away when he was done.

The girl in front of him was the same. Behind his money and nothing more. That's the only reason she refused him and agreed to the marriage. Since she didn't comply he swore to god to make her life a living hell forcing her to break it off herself.

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Adrienne woke up by the sun blinding her vision. She found herself alone in the bed with no sign of anyone sleeping beside her. He had left her alone last night.

'Did my parents make the right choice?'

'Will I really be able to live a happy life?'

All those questions were meaningless. He would never accept her as his wife and would never fall in love with her. He hates her so much and she knew that. She had requested her parents, begging them to not let her marry but her father blackmailed her emotionally with his life which left her with no choice.

Her family business wasn't that great. They were on a loss because of her father. The bank had taken away their home after they went bankrupt. But then suddenly an old friend had come to visit her father and her father had shared everything with him. After that day, he again came to visit with a proposal in hand. A marriage proposal, with his son, in return for helping her father to get back on business and helped him solve all their debts.

She took her phone out to check the time to notice it was 8:30am. She jumped out the bed cursing and walked straight into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

She walked down the stairs and found the table filled with breakfast, a maid waiting for her, smiling. "My lady! you're awake. Please come here and be seated. I had made banana pancakes for breakfast."

She was super late and was sure of getting scoldings. "Maybe after I come back?"

With a quick sorry and a hug, she sprinted out of the house skipping her breakfast stumbling on the way, stopping on her tracks when she saw the person in front of her leaning onto a Bugatti La Voiture Noire, glaring at her. He looked scary. She wanted to dig a hole in the ground, dumping herself in.

He cut her off from her thoughts when he moved his lips to speak. "Don't you see the time?" His tone, cold.

"I.. " She didn't know what to say. It was the first time he had spoken, after their marriage. He was waiting for her to finish.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you were waiting for me outside." She turned her face sideways, to avoid his stare.

"Enough of your meaningless apologies, I have more important things to do. Now get inside before I shove you in." He moved to open the door and got inside. "Dad told me to drop you to your college since it is your first day. From tomorrow on, my driver will take you there."

She heard him say when she got in and sat on the passenger seat. "Okay"

With that, he took off.

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She was running up the stairs panting, so she could enter her class on time. Eric had dropped her in front of the building and vanished without a word or a glance. "Excuse me sir, may I come in!?" Her sudden presence and voice startled the teacher. He turned to look at her.

"Is this your class?"

"Yes, sir!" She was dripping with sweat, ruining her makeover on the way.

"Then please do get inside. And remember to never be late. Since it's your first day, I'm letting you off the hook."

"Thank you, sir!" She bowed to him, got inside and sat on a bench which was available.

The class ended pretty soon. All the teachers were exceptional. And she met a recent friend named, Tanya. She had introduced herself when they were in middle of their lessons and got caught by the teacher, making them both stand outside as a punishment. Her first ever punishment. After a quick goodbye from her friend, she was now walking towards the library.

Reading was her second hobby after dance. But she loved dance over anything. Suddenly her face lit up with a warm smile remembering a time, when her mother always got worried for her all the time she skipped a meal, whenever she needed to concentrate on her dance competitions and won a trophy or cash as a reward making her mother feel proud.

She went straight to the romance section finding a perfect book to read when a voice surprised her. "Adrienne? Is that you?" She turned to see the owner of the voice but wished she never did.

" Michael.. ?"

"Hey! I didn't expect you to be in the same university." He said with a smile.

She didn't know what to say. She was out of words. There were times when she wouldn't shut her mouth whenever they were together and now she found herself searching for a proper sentence to say. "Oh hey.. I-I too didn't expect you to be here. I'm extremely surprised! Haha..ha.. " She stuttered. "I gotta go! Bye!" She turned to leave. But before she could take a step forward and get the hell out of there he stopped her by grabbing a hold of her wrist. She turned to look and snatched her arm away from his hold.

He was taken aback by her sudden reaction. "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to hurt you." He looked embarrassed. "If you don't mind.. Will you go out with me for a coffee?" He looked at her expectantly. She wanted to refuse and see his features change into a disappointment. But she wasn't that childish petty girl anymore. It's been two years since they broke up and any grudge she had against him was long gone.

"Okay."

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They both were having their drinks when he suddenly turned to face her. "So, how have you been these days?" She moved to face him.

"Great!" 'After you left.' She wanted to add. "What about you? Still chasing after your dream of being a pop star?"

"Oh no. Not anymore.. I wouldn't have end up here if I did." He said with a slight laugh.

"Yeah right." She moved to concentrate on her coffee. At the moment, she found it more interesting than the awkward conversation going on.

"Um.. Are you still single?" She choked on her drink and moved to look at him.

"P-Pardon?"

"I heard a particular rumour about you getting married to a billionaire or something fro-"

"It isn't a rumour it's true."

"It's what!?" He stood up suddenly looking shocked. Everyone on the cafe turned to look on his way and gave Michael a weird look. He sat back down after apologizing to them and turned to face her. "It is true?" His voice shaking.

"It is"

"Why didn't you tell me!? Heck! No one said anything to me about this! Didn't you feel important for me to know!?"

She glanced at him, surprised, by his sudden outburst. "No."

"The hell Adrienne! Do you know how unhappy this news had made me! How sad I am to know that you didn't consider telling me this, such an important thing!"

"Sad!?" She wanted to laugh. "If this made you feel that depressed, then what about me!? The time when you left and flew to New York when I needed you the most. You left me alone to grieve on my grandma's demise, breaking my heart even more when you asked for a breakup. At that time, did you ever consider my feelings? How much that had affected me!?" Her voice broke. She felt her body shaking. She wanted to cry but controlled her emotions. She knew better than to break down in front of him, making herself seem small.

"Adrienne.. I didn't mean to-"

"Enough!"

No one said a word for a while until she spoke, breaking the silence. "I have to go." She stood up and started walking towards the exit opening it and moved forward. Suddenly her steps halt into a stop after she saw the person in front of her.

Her eyes widened.