my brother's best friend

chapter xxiv

“the money-making one”
through elise hampton

"oh honey, look at this one!"

the chirped voice of my mother echoed through the long hallway, in which hundreds of white dresses of all species were flaunted to the greedy eyes of wealthy brides. and their mothers.

i happened to have a very interested and present mom to help me with the fundamental detail of my wedding with nicholas cargill, the infamous heir of the cargill fortune.

my tired pupils followed the figure of the grey-haired woman that rapidly clincked her way towards the distinctive dress. a large amount of lace covered my mother's avid expression.

"this is the one, i will take it"

the high-pitched tone of her social voice made me discretly cover my earlobe as i crossed my arms.

"wouldn't the beautiful bride want to try it first?" her concerningly elevated eyebrows directed towards my frame. before any words could escape my mouth, i was interrupted –

"well, it would be lovely"

i followed close behind them, watching as the thrilled woman revealed the large fitting room with the dramatic swing of a curtain.

reluctantly, my feet guided me towards the center. as the woman closed the room, my eyes roomed through the dress. it was truly a beautiful dress, its gold flowers would match my jewels. yet, i didn't appreciate it, it was the symbol of my undying love, which in this case was inexistent. nicholas and i weren't in love.

i had agreed to the wedding, of course. my future husband would be free to other women and i would be free to crash my third mercedes out of rage, among other things. we wouldn't be judgemental about each other, we were both broken – he couldn't remember his loved ones and i couldn't forget mine.

we were complete together. my mother was as expected ecstatic so she was commanding every detail about our wedding, and unfortunely the bride is obliged to participate in those decisions.

i ran my hands down the dress. the fabric moved with my touch, before rapidly returning to its firm posture. it was amazing, truly.

i pushed open the curtain. the lady clapped her slender hands fastely, a big smile occupying her whole face.

"undress, sweetie. accompany me, stelle, if you will"

i did as she commanded and soon we were heading out of the big glass doors of the entry. i held the bags in hand as we strood along the familiar faces of the elite.

the liberty avenue was very prestigious, it resembled in my eyes a tree – there was a large, eye-catching walkway that graciously dispersed into the branches, the weathly stores adorned with the finest architecture of the centuries.

the fundamental part was that it was all planned to entertain you:

they would immediately flash you the brightest smile, the money-making one and carry your bags as you pulled your credit cards out of your birkin.

i loved it! the rush, the coldness of the diaments on your fingers, the fabrics against your chest. when i die, this would be my personal heaven.

oh but as i sighed in the sudden fresh air, my mother interrupted.

"you will meet nicholas by the coroa, i will head to the car" she delicately pushed her big sunglasses out, the identical blue of her eyes met mine.

"oh there is the cargill" her hand subtlely waved at his figure, that shot me a smile of dreamy eyes. deep in my heart, i wished for devyn to replace him.

nicholas was the perfect husband, not lover. i couldn't fall for him.

i walked over to him, my black lace dress flowed with the weak breaze. my gaze found his cocky one. curving down, my slender fingers fell on his shoulder.

then, he received a kiss on his cheek. a soft giggle left through my painted lips as i took notice of the evident kiss mark on his trimmed-bearded skin. with a lot of care, i cleaned it up.

sitting down besides him, he looked up from his newspaper, his deep green eyes making a side smile appear on my blushed face.

"i saw your mother. has she took you dress shopping already?" he gave me a knowing look as he sipped on his tea. my eyebrows elevated once i directed my gaze elsewhere.

"of course she did. it's chosen"

"you will be the hottest bride, i can't wait to take that dress off you"

my mouth opened slightly at his truthfullness and he laughed in response.

"it's the truth!" he playfully extented his thick arms, before guarding his hands besides his armpits. nicholas has always been very, well, straightfoward. i believe that if, at this right moment, i pushed my face into his and whispered on his ear "let's fuck", he would umbuckle his pants and we would do it on this table. he was the most shameless person i have ever met.

"i still can't believe it's in three days" i softly played with my engagement ring, the big diamond shining against the sunlight.

"are you happy about it? i mean, you don't regret it?" he carefully spoke, making me glance cynically at him. blinking rapidly, my vision switched through every element around me.

"you are not the one i love, however i am joyous we will be wed. i hope one day we could also have a child of our own" peeping at his reaction, i was pretty astonished to see a small smile adorn his thin lips.

"you know we would need to have sex for that, right?" my tongue lifted to my teeth as i smirked at his argument.

"it can be arranged"

he laughed loudly before his expression slowly faded. an astonishing woman passed by, carrying a versace white dress. i noticed how his eyes adverted towards her acentued back figure, my chest rising with annoyance.

in my heart, i didn't feel jealousy, no, i felt true worthlessness. as i crossed my arms, i understood that maybe, just maybe, this would be more difficult than i would imagine.

why did i have to be the other woman every time? with nicholas, it was obvious that was my place. i held myself as he turned to look at me.

"what were you saying?"

was i making the right choice?