Bands of the Unpaid Dowry

Chapter 36

Jace's eyelids squeezed together when he saw her frightened state and her lips silently moving. He reached out to grab her shoulders and her slightly hooded eyes widened when he closed his fingers around it. His own face showed a little anguish at the way she was disoriented next to him. He gently cupped her face with one hand as the music and dance continued to ensue around them.

"What's wrong, baby?" Millicent blinked at the question and took in a rugged breath before forcing out a smile. She was going to enjoy the day before thinking about all the possible scenarios that were currently running through her head.

She smiled and spoke sweetly, the usual shine in her eyes currently dimming which Jace could see. "Nothing. I just thought of something silly." He did not want to push her into speaking what she was not ready to.

Millicent denying everything, made sure to enjoy her last moments as a spinster in bliss but as the minutes trickled down and the day was nearing its, the disquietude her previous discovery brought spiked in the pit of her stomach. Manuela caught her gaze as she left final regards to the guests who were leaving and she could immediately tell there was something wrong with her friend.

And if anything could further sour her mood, Jace was not going to be around her for the rest of the night. The said man himself was extremely displeased as he held her in his arms and she basked in his smell and warmth that surrounded her.

"I can't believe they are separating us for this long." He grumbled holding her delicately while still being able to feel all the right dips of her body in the glamorous dress.

"I know. I already miss you." Jace mischievously leaned back and eyed her with twinkling eyes. He was happy to see her good humor back and yet the fact remained that she was not totally alright.

"I knew that you couldn't resist my charm!" Millicent scoffed playfully.

"Considering that you are literally begging for me to be walking down an aisle in a gown right now, I would say it is the opposite way." They both grinned and unable to contain herself, she leaned forward to drop a rather intimate and suggestive kiss at the corner of his mouth. She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt his hand that was curled around her waist tighten. She pulled back after a minute and smirked at his dumbfounded look.

"I'll see you tomorrow, darling." He was brought out of his delightfully stupefied state when a knock resounded in her room. Manuela and Sean stepped in both laughing and still swaying to the music.

"Okay, man. Time for you to be separated. I'm loving this culture. They make both of you suffer before the wedding." Manuela slapped him on the back of his head as Millicent shook hers at Sean.

"Technically, they can meet but he cannot see her in her gown. Except now none of us can trust them as they are the definition of pranks and fake plans." The couple grinned as they both discreetly looked at each other with thoughts of their journey flanking their minds.

Sean was able to pull a reluctant Jace out and Millicent collapsed on her bed placing her head in both hands. She felt the presence of Manuela in front of her and she looked up to see her friend's worried gaze. Manuela gently clasped Millicent's hands in hers, waiting patiently till the latter had the courage to speak.

"Ella, I think I may need a pregnancy test kit." There was no judgment in her friend's eyes as she smiled at her. For such a religious home as theirs, Millicent thought it was going to be difficult to tell her friend the truth. However, since university, the girl had been her partner in crime. She opened her eyes when she felt her hair being smoothed.

Manuela smiled.

"I'm right here and thankfully so is that crazy cousin of mine." A bubbling laughter burst out from Millicent's chest just as her friend giggled and she threw her hands around her in a hug.