True Love's Bite

11 // Congratulations

I was delirious!

At first, a part of me was anxious, I kept glancing at the side mirror to check if anyone was following us. Luckily, my phone was off since this morning, but there was no doubt I would find a million missed calls and messages from my mother, and undoubtedly, Gift.

I was trying so hard not to think about everything, but I couldn't help it because I knew by now, I was talk of the town. My mother probably wished the ground could swallow her.

And my dad. Oh, gosh! I wonder what he was going to tell everyone, especially my mother! After all, he was supposed to drive me to the church and walk me down the aisle.

"Oh, God!" I fanned myself. You'd swear the car windows were not open, it felt like I was literally making my way through the pits of hell.

"What's wrong?" Esra threw me a quick glance before returning her gaze to the open road ahead.

We were nearing her house, and that made me even more restless. I never thought I would ever see Silas again, but now I was going to be living under the same roof as him. What made me even more nervous was that I had planned to keep the pregnancy a secret from him and raise his child as another man's. But now, here I was, and there was no escaping from him, I had to tell him the truth, because when if I wanted to, there was no way of hiding a pregnancy or the baby.

"We are here!" Esra's announcement tore me out of my buzzing head, and I looked up to see the familiar victorian mansion.

"You can go in so long, I'll bring your things. You still remember where your room is, right? Unless-"

"I still remember where my room is, Esra, thank you," I cut her off before she could complete her ridiculous thought.

I dragged myself all the way to my room in the east wing and plopped down on the bed, and the first thing I did was to take off the killer heels I was wearing. My feet were killing me, especially after climbing up the flight of stairs.

What I needed most right now was getting out of this dress and taking a shower, not to forget a tasty meal. If I could just get pork ribs and chicken wings dipped in barbecue sauce, with fries on the side, I'd be the happiest girl in the world. That was the meal I would have ordered when I met up with Gift at Spur before finding out I was pregnant.

Maybe then I can finally get some good rest once all that is settled. I rose with a sigh and headed towards the full-length mirror, taking a good look at myself. If you ignored the mascara tearstains and smudged makeup on my face, I made quite a beautiful bride.

It was exactly as I said earlier, this was the dress I would have hoped to wear if I was marrying the love of my life. If I had another chance at walking down the aisle, I wouldn't mind wearing this dress again, but then again it would bring bad luck, and I wanted none of that from now on.

My favourite part of my dress was the bodice, it was made of an off-shoulder corset, with the lace-layered arms running over my breasts, dipping into a V right between my breasts, where two laced buttons closed the cleavage. The waistline was emphasised by a silver decorative belt with silver gems, with the skirt dropping to a floor-length princess gown. The skirt had multiple layers and was as heavy as it looked.

My mother and the pastor's wife, a.k.a Gift's mother, were not impressed with the deep low neckline, saying that as a Christian girl marrying into the church, I had to cover up. It was Ivy who won my case by suggesting that my braids would cover my shoulders, which she only said to get them to backoff since my hairstyle did not accommodate her plan.

The hair was styled into thin corn rows braided in hairpiece, which joined atop my head in a tight bun with long braids.

Getting into the dress was a lot of work, and as much as I anticipated taking if off, it completely slipped my mind that I would need help taking it off. The back of the dress was a lace-up corset design, and I needed someone to untie the laces.