Chapter Nine

  "You know something."

  "It is not my place to talk about it."

  "You never should've insinuated more in the first place."

Rella insisted and he caved.

  Christian sighed." You're a bully you know that? "

Rella simply smiled.

  "To cut the long story short, Stefan's grandfather forced him to get married to a woman of his choosing. It was either marry you or forfeit the inheritance his parents left him."

  "That's awful. Couldn't he have just said no? "

  " Couldn't you have just said no? " 

Fair point Rella thought. All this time she thought Stefan had been the one to blackmail her parents turns out it was his grandfather. But that was no excuse for him to treat her so cruelly considering how she also has no choice. 

  "Why did you agree to the marriage though? Stefan was counting on the fact that since you were sort of frivolous and fiercely independent that you would refuse to marry him but like every other woman he's met you couldn't refuse his money and the status he has."

  " But that's not what happened." It was at the tip of her tongue to tell him that the marriage wasn't real because she's not Cindy. " My family owes the Diamonds a huge anount of money that would require we lose our family restaurant and a possible jail time for my dad so it's either that or marry Stefan and you can guess how that went. " She said bitterly.

  " Why don't you tell Stefan then i'm sure your situation would be better than it is now? " Christian suggested. 

  " It doesn't matter, it won't change anything anyway he already thinks am a gold digger."

  " Stefan treats you the way he does as a way of somewhat gaining back that control he thought he didn't have in the beginning. He doesn't believe in marriage or love for that matter."

  Rella made a face. " That's an awful way to live."

  " Not to stefan, no."

No wonder he seemed like a lonely and bitter person she could not imagine living her life without wanting to fall in love, marry the man of her dreams and start her own family. Yes she was a hopeless romantic she just couldn't help it. 

  The party turned out better than she'd expected. The guests have begun to arrive and Stefan, true to his word came back from London in time for the party and he stood beside her as they welcomed the guests.

  "You have outdone yourself my dear wife, I never in a million years would've expected you of all people to be able to pull off such a grand and formal party." Stefan quipped.

  "so you were setting me up for failure when you left all the party preparations to me."

  " Don't flatter yourself you're not that important for me to scheme against you I just wasn't keen on the whole thing."

Rella frowned but still didn't forget to keep a smile on her face. It was important to keep the happy married couple facade on. After they had the first dance as the host and new couple, Rella was more than happy to be rid of him even for a second. She wished Van was here to keep her company but her friend had to stay with her father at the hospital. She got a call last night that he had suffered another attack poor Van. 

  " The party turned out well."

  Rella turned to find Christian beside her he handed her a glass of champagne.

  "I took the liberty of getting you a drink."

  " Thank you. The party wouldn't have been half as good If I didn't have your help."

  " You flatter me."

  " No it was all you. " Rella insisted. " If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have known where to even begin. "

  " I'm surprised considering the amount of raving you get from the tabloids. "

Rella winced,

  "hey I'm sorry if I offended you," Christian appologised.

  "Oh no you don't have to be."

There was no way she'd be able to live up to the expectations of being Cindy. At first she thought she could do it, that it was a piece of cake but Cindy has a bit of a reputation and she was almost always in the eye of the public so most people knew her not Rella. 

  "Now that you're married I'm sure you would want to put that version of you in the past, I get it. I respect it."

  " Thanks Christian." She said with a smile. 

  He held up his flute, " to a successful after wedding party."

  " To a successful after wedding party." Rella echoed. They clinged flutes and drank the toast.

  Rella received congratulations from the guests, a lot of them were impressed with her seemingly taking up her role as a Diamond bride, they said she was almost like a different person. All evening Rella was feeling uncomfortable at the scrutiny she felt like if anyone took a closer look they would be able to figure out her lies and pretense.

It didn't help that Chloe, one of Cindy's best friends was in attendance and Rella hadn't invited her so she spent a better part of the party avoiding any contact with her. Rella went to her bedroom to splash water on her flushed face and freshen up but when she got out out of the bathroom she came face to face with Chloe.

  "Finally!"

  "Chloe what are you doing here?"

  "You can't keep avoiding me. You may deny it but I know you were."

  Damn she was too smart for someone so blonde.

  "Don't be ridiculous." Rella laughed shakily, her heart bouncing crazily.

  "Hmm." Chloe regarded her with scepticism as she paced the room slowly. Rella tried to no avail to look less nervous. "You know when I heard that Cindy Cortés got married my first thought was how could my best friend not invite me to her own wedding? I was heartbroken you know. Then I invited myself to your after wedding party hoping to put you in your place but imagine my surprise when I saw the bride… " Chloe trailed off dramatically, and then she laughed. " Rella you can fool everyone else but not me."

  " What do you mean by that I am Cindy? "

  "You don't need to be so defensive I'm not gonna tell anyone." 

Rella realised there was no way she'd be able to play it off since Chloe has her cornered. Both her and Cindy had been joined at hip since forever and if there's anyone who can tell them apart decently aside from their father was Chloe.

  " Okay fine you're right, you got me I'm not Cindy."

  " I have a lot of questions but first of all where is Cindy? "

  " I thought that you would know where to find her. "

  " No. I haven't spoken to her in a number of days."

  Chloe waited for her to explain.

  " Well that's a long story."

The women stare at each other each not saying anything until Rella broke the silence.

  " About earlier… "

  "I gave you my word your secret's safe with me."

  "Thank you so much Chloe." 

  "But  promise me you 'll give me all the details." Excitement made her almost squeal. If there was anything Chloe Moreno loves it was a good gossip. 

They both heard a sound suddenly and their heads snapped towards the door.

Rella's heart caught in her throat. 

Oh no, what if someone heard their conversation?

........

don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think of the story so far!