His Wife

"Mr. Jones, welcome," said, Mr. Ferguson who had a face full of fake warm smiles. 

Valeric entered the massive white painted room. The first thing that came into his sight were the desk in the center and two chairs. On the left and right side of the room were two white sofas for the present family members and the lawyer who had already arrived. 

There was an empty one man sofa and Mr. Fegruson gestured. "Please have a seat." 

Valeric ruffled his tie and sat down on it. He crossed his legs and impatiently began to dangle his feet covered in a pristine black italian shoe. 

"Where is she?" His voice was cold. 

Mr. Fergsuon panicked immediately and looked at his wrist watch. Dammit, it has already been two hours!

"She'll be down shortly." He smiled awkwardly and glanced at the only present maid in the room, secretly ordering her to move upstairs and get Stella down. 

The maid nodded, but just before she could turn with haste, Valeric's nose twitched violently and he lifted his head to gaze intently at the wide, long stairs. 

His bride to be, stood at that very stairs, dressed in the perfect floor length white dress he'd chosen for her and sent to the Ferguson manor. It was simple, yet not at the same time with the sleeveless and flowery design that just drew the attention it was worth.

Stella took a deep breath and with an expressionless teary face hidden behind her veil, she began to descend the stairs. One of their maids, Maria, followed behind her, and she finally came to a stop at the very last step. 

Her shoe covered feet was glued to the floor and she was unmoving, able to feel his darkened chilly gaze on her. She felt goosebumps rise all over her skin. 

Her eyes met with two of her sisters and they smiled widely at her, clearly mocking her. The oldest was blonde while the youngest was a brunette. 

She looked away from them and finally met his gaze—the very one she couldn't seem to hold for even a second longer. 

A faint musical melody rippled through the silent air. 

He was clothed in his fine black suit, its suit jacket hanging on his left arm that was stuck into the pocket of his pants. His vest was buttoned above his white ironed shirt, accentuating his strong arms and narrow waist. The perfect physique was surprising considering his height of 6'5. 

But what was most striking about him wasn't even his body, or the silver coloured mask that covered half of his face. It was his hair. It fell in black tendrils over his shoulders and a bit over his face like a waterfall of raven silk. 

It was the most perfect hair she'd ever seen. Stella couldn't explain it. She wanted to run her fingers through each and every strand no matter that this man was a beast, someone she hated, no matter that he was the one she was about to be sold off to like an object.

"How long are you going to stand there and mope?" Mr. Ferguson snapped at her, startling her back to reality. "Come over here!" 

She kept a straight face and walked over to stand toe to toe with Valeric who lowered his gaze on her. 

Just as much as she'd assessed him, he'd done the same. His gaze burned as they swept over her short white hair, met her beautiful blue eyes behind the veil, and ran a full scan on her body. She was much shorter than he was at the height of 5'5 and all too skinny for his liking. 

It made him think for a second how easily he would break her were he to touch or grab her too harshly. She needed to be handled with care. 

His lips dipped up and he looked to the lawyer who'd spread the documents on the desk. 

"Please sign here." 

They walked over and sat down on two of the chairs at the desk. 

Valeric took out the fountain pen in the breast pocket of his vest and began to fill the blanks. Needed information as well as his age of thirty was written down in the file. And Stella received the pen from him when he was done and went ahead to fill the paper with a shaky hand. 

She looked at the lawyer once she was done and the middle aged man smiled at her in response, saying, "You may exchange your rings now." 

They did so, and even though she was reluctant at first, she eventually slipped the ring on his thick long finger, having no choice or the right to say no to the whole thing. 

Mr. Fegurson finally breathed in relief. That was the most important part and since the rings had been exchanged, the deal was sealed. He had nothing more to worry about. The two sisters on the other hand were giggling and whispering to each other and even though no one could hear what they were saying, they knew it wasn't anything good.

The new couple were silent, just staring at each other without saying a word. Everyone gazed at them, waiting for what was meant to happen to happen, but none moved a muscle. 

"Ehem!" The lawyer coughed, breaking the awkward silence between the two. "I pronounce you both husband and wife." 

"You may kiss the bride." 

And that was when Valeric finally moved. He didn't lift her veil off to kiss her, but he'd raised it, hunched his body and covered both of their heads with it. 

Too close! Too close!  Stella tensed and swallowed too loudly she was sure he heard it.

The man's golden eyes met her blue ones intently and he snatched her by the waist all too suddenly and threw her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. 

"I'll be taking her with me now," he said.