Castle | ✔️

Chapter Eighteen

I walked down the stairs slowly as if prolonging the time would stop the inevitable. I might buy time, but I wouldn't delude myself into thinking the wedding would stop. I knew that wasn't possible. Some fairy godmother wasn't going to appear and stop this wedding. I secretly hoped the place could catch fire or a big hole could appear in the groom's pants that couldn't be fixed in a month or two.

Luck, in my case, was usually nonexistent. I'd lived with facts and tragedies as they continued to pile up throughout my life. This wasn't any better.

I felt so sorry for Castle.

I'd promised him I'd be with him, but if I was going to be married to Devin, I wouldn't be allowed to spend time with Castle as much as I was used to. I would not be his nanny, but Devin's wife—and that was one big tragedy in itself.

Why had he chosen me?

I didn't even belong to a wealthy family like theirs; in fact, my family was dirt poor. If I stole a spoon from the Montgomery's kitchen, it was likely to make me rich and last a year, so why would Devin marry someone so far beneath him?

Unless he had a motive.

Was it lust? Did he think that marrying me would give him the authority to get me in his bed?

Or was I reading too much into it?

Maybe he found out about my brief fling with Castle, well, if you could even call that a fling—the sneaking around the house and exchanging a few passionate kisses. A servant could have seen something and gossiped around, or maybe Chandler notified Devin, so he decided he'd marry me to teach me a lesson.

That could be right.

There was no other explanation for it. None at all. He was marrying me to put a stop to my secretive meetings with Castle, and he thought that was the only way to do it.

Well, he thought wrong.

Even if I married Devin today, I'd do as I pleased.

My mind was going haywire by the time I reached the courtyard, and I tried my hardest not to dwell on the future and live in the present because that's how I was going to get through this—one step at a time, crossing one hurdle after the other.

I noticed just how beautiful the arrangement was. The archway was decorated with flowers. The sun was already setting, leaving yellow and red hue over the mountains, the shades blending perfectly with the green trees that lined the areas. It was like a gorgeous painting that was about to be grotesque by the current events.

Fancy chairs were lined on the side where a few people who I didn't recognize sat with a curious expression on their faces. I assumed they were the family's distant relatives or friends. It was quite obvious the ceremony was private and only a select few people were invited. Their Grandpa, Hugh, was sitting right in the front, and he stared at me in indifference with his glassy eyes. I hardly think he recognized me or, better yet, knew who I was. Dayana sat beside him, looking prim and proper, dressed in a lovely beige dress, her hair in wavy curls. Theo's girlfriend Madison was also there, and her eyes were only reserved for Theo, and she kept passing him flirty glances.

Theo stepped beside me, smiling kindly at me; I guessed it was my final sacrificial smile. "I'm going to walk you down the aisle to the altar. You're going to be my sister, after all!"

I squeezed his hand. "Theo, please stop this. I don't want to marry—"

"If there was anything that I could do to help you, Millie, I would, but my hands are tied down. I'm sorry. And if I should be honest..." his eyes pierced through mine, "I would love to have you in our family."