In the Shadow of Diamond (COMPLETED)

Kabanata 8

Kabanata 8

I didn't want to do this today.

Not because I hate weddings. Not even because I was nervous. But because, deep down, I already knew what I wanted, and it didn't need catalogs or color palettes or seven kinds of imported gown.

But I also knew what he wanted.

"I hope you're ready, Miss Satin. I brought everything. You are going to have the most unforgettable wedding anyone's ever seen."

Hindi man lang ako nakangiti sa babaeng kinuha ni Cronus para sa pag-aasikaso ng kasal.

"That's... exactly what Cronus wants," tipid kong sagot.

Kumurap siya at ngumisi.

"Well, obviously! He will give you the moon if you want. But this is close."

She spread out swatches and catalog pages like tarot cards. Every dress seemed more expensive, more unreal.

I sat quietly on the chaise as she laid out another handful of swatches across the low table.

"This one has hand-sewn crystals all down the back," aniya.

I looked and just nodded. It was stunning, of course like something you'd wear to a coronation.

"You don't like it," she said, reading my silence better than I wanted her to.

I gave a shrug.

"It's lovely. I just don't know. I always imagined something simpler."

Tumigil siya sandali, her fingers still resting on the corner of the page.

"Miss Satin," she said gently, "you'd be happy in a slip dress and wildflowers in your hair."

"Yeah."

She smiled but it faded quickly.

"But Mr. Morfeo wants the best for you. You know that."

I looked down at the swatch in my hand.

"He told me you deserve the best," she continued.

Anong pakialam ko sa engrandeng kasal kung wala naman doon ang pamilya ko? Kung hindi ko naman mahal ang lalaking papakasalan ko?

I didn't know how to tell her that the best he wanted to give me didn't feel like mine. That every "you deserve it" felt more like a weight than a gift.

Hinayaan kong ang planner ang magdesisyon para sa kasal. Tinatanong naman niya ako kung pasado ba sa akin. Hangga't maaari, gusto ko lang sana itong maging simple dahil pagkatapos ng kasal na iyon, mawawala na rin ako sa mundo niya. Hindi rin ako magtatagal.

Kapag nakawala ako rito, ipapakulong ko siya sa ginawa niyang pag-kidnap sa akin.

I thought about my family, the ones who wouldn't be there to watch. I thought about the empty chairs, the empty space, the absence that no gown could fill. I wondered if Cronus ever thought about it. If he ever thought about the family I left behind, the people I was meant to be with, the life I was supposed to have.

I told myself it was temporary. This wedding. This life. Him. Everything. It would all be over soon, and then I'd be free.

But what if it wasn't?

What if, when the wedding was over, I didn't get to walk away? What if I was trapped forever in a world of diamonds that wasn't mine? What if this was all just a cage, and the dress was just the final lock?

But I had no choice but to go along with it. Iyon nga ang dahilan kung bakit ako magpapakasal sa kaniya, para makuha ko ang tiwala niya. Para makaalis ako sa mundong ito. Sa mundo niya.