The Live-ins: A Glimpse Beyond The Vacationers

The Night Before the Wedding

Dardanelle was inside a presidential suite somewhere in the capital city of Entomon again. The hotel she was in was very close to a Christian Church, in fact, the only Christian church in the entire country of Entomon. She was weeping on the bed as the scene played itself over and over in her head. Her hair was frizzy, her body limp, and her blood trail gone again. With Damien sealing his betrayal, she had no other choice but to depend of Demetrius, her future husband.

Her mother, an elder morpho butterfly Type OV Entomonian, entered her bedroom dressed in the finest blouse ever. She went over to her depressed daughter and lay on the bed beside her.

"Aww," her mother said, "Don't fret. It will be good for us in the long term. Our families are both rich, we're friends, and the businesses will grow and prosper."

"But isn't Damien's family also like ours?" Dardanelle asked

"They are, yes," her mother replied, "but it was your Uncle Idris's offer to strike a deal through the form of an arranged marriage."

"I don't think Demetrius will like it," Dardanelle replied.

"I fear that it is true, but a business deal is a business deal," her mother replied. Dardanelle did not reply.

"Alright," her mother said, "shower up and get dressed. We will meet the family for one last time before both of them tie the knot for good." She kissed her daughter on the head before fluttering out the door. Dardanelle grumbled one last time before getting up and crawling to the bathroom.

...

Demetrius, the blonde 23 year old groom of Dardanelle, was sighing in the mirror. "I told you," his father told him, "You must marry the girl! The business depends on it!"

"But I don't love her!" Demetrius retorted, "It's Damien who does!"

"I know about their perfect chemistry very well and I wish they'd get married instead," his father replied, "But being the treasurer of the business, your sister told me that we are losing stocks, unless she has other plans in mind."

"What do you mean 'other business', Papa?" Demetrius asked.

"I don't know with your sister!" his father replied, "Never mind! I want you to be dressed by seven sharp! We will eat our last dinner with the family before you tie the knot."
He flew out of the bedroom and went to the corridor.

Before he headed to the shower, he passed by his sister's bedroom and approached her door. He heard her sister talking on the phone and some of the things she said were:

"Yeah, my brother's getting married, lucky him."

"Hahahah, Dardanelle's family is really one of the high class among the high class. It would be really good to get hands on the business."

"Even my boy Dammie is also part of that rich above the rich."

Well he knew all of these facts, which was okay, but---

"The marriage thing? It's actually a cover-up. I have enough money to hire assassins, looks like Dardanelle is going to die tomorrow."

Demetrius gasped and ran inside the room, disrupting the conversation.

"Hold on, alright," Ixie said, "Who gave you permission to enter this room?"

"I did because I'm your brother," Demetrius replied, "and what's this I hear about you wanting Dardanelle dead?"

"Me? Wanting Dardanelle dead?!" Ixie replied, "Why would I want that? I just want to see you two happy!"

"Really? And what about your obsession with Damien?"

"I love him, and I would do anything for him!"

"Even go so far to spin lies about the business, set me up with her even if I don't like her, and now this! Why sister?"

"Damien must be MINE for LIFE!" Ixie replied.

Demetrius sighed, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"I don't understand why she doesn't like the perfect chemistry of Dardanelle and Damien," he whispered to himself, "but Damien must know of this!"