Chapter 2: His Substitute Wife

After what felt like a short eternity, we finally arrived in front of the altar where my groom was waiting for me. It felt like time had stopped and in that moment nothing else in the world mattered when I laid eyes on him. Just taking a peek at him from the other side of the veil that I had on made my heart race dangerously in my chest.

“Do your job properly. This is going to be all over the news,” my father whispered close to my ear.

Honestly, he didn’t need to tell me that because I knew from the moment that we made our agreement that I had to do my best to uphold my end of the bargain. Once again, I reminded myself that I wasn’t doing it for them, but I was doing it for my elder sister and for myself. My poor excuse of a father walked away from my side, and I was left alone to face my groom. Seeing him again right in front of me in the flesh reminded me that we had been apart for far too long. The day I left this country, I never thought that I would one day return and I definitely did not think that I would return to marry him or all people.

“Diana...”

His voice sounded like heavenly music to my ears but the name my groom called so lovingly wasn’t my name but that of my sister. Despite knowing that something like this was supposed to happen, I still felt a twisting pain inside my chest and then I felt tears sting the back of my eyes.

“Anthony...” I called his name softly.

Anthony Vulkan, my first love and probably the only man that I have ever truly loved, and also my sister’s fiancé.

His name felt so foreign to my lips, and I realized that I haven’t said it for more than four long years since the day that I left this country and my family behind. In my mind, I tried to forget him and that was probably why I had avoided saying his name as well. A bittersweet feeling filled my chest at the sound of his name. He reached his hand out to me invitingly and I slowly placed my hand into his much larger one. The moment his fingers curled around my hand, I felt the warmth of his touch and the reassurance of his presence.

Given how identical I looked to my sister, I wondered if he knew who I really was. We looked so alike that almost everyone, including our parents, could tell us apart. Once again, I regretted not having a chance to meet or talk to him before our wedding day.

“Welcome back. You look extremely beautiful,” Anthony whispered sweetly in my ear.

Did he just say, ‘Welcome back’?

My eyes widened at the sudden confirmation that Anthony did indeed know that I’m not my sister because he wouldn’t have said something like that otherwise. It seemed like my parents did keep their promise of making sure that he was fine with me taking my sister’s place after all. As for the reason why he had agreed to this wedding while knowing that he would be marrying my sister in name only, I wasn’t quite sure. I could feel the eyes of everyone watching our every movement and knew that all the questions that I had would have to wait until I was alone with Anthony.

“Even with my veil still on?” I replied teasingly before smiling.

“Of course. This might be a little out of order but...I’d rather see your face properly” he said in a low voice that was meant for my ears only.

Slowly, his hand approached my face, and then the thin lacy veil that was covering my face gently lifted. With one smooth motion, Anthony lifted my veil over my head and revealed my face. The clear view of his face literally took my breath away. Maybe the fact that I missed him and wanted to see him so much was responsible for making his face more attractive than I had remembered it.

Anthony was dressed in a white tuxedo that brought out the color of his blond hair and highlighted the depth of his ocean-blue eyes. Nothing felt more fitting to that face than his beautiful straight nose and his perfectly formed lips. I knew that I was staring with my eyes wide open, but I just couldn’t stop myself from marveling at his good looks. I wasn’t wrong when I thought that he looked even more attractive than the last time that I saw him in person.

When he smiled at me, I could feel heat rush to my face as my heart started to race fast in my chest. Nothing else mattered at that moment and everything and everyone just faded away as it felt like we were the only ones left in the world.

“You really look wonderful. Shall we?” he said invitingly before showing me another kind smile that tugged gently at my heart.

“Yes...” I replied softly with a slow nod of my head.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep everyone waiting forever and we had to get on with the rest of the ceremony including our wedding vows. When I was younger, I wasn’t at all confident about my looks. However, the fact that everyone thought that my sister had an outstandingly beautiful face and smile made me feel like it had to apply to me as well. After all, we are twins, and we look so identical that everyone had trouble telling us apart from each other. With that logic, I was certain enough that Anthony must have meant what he said when he told me that I looked beautiful.

With my hand still in his, Anthony led me toward the altar where the priest would be guiding our vows of marriage. I was too nervous to pay attention to anything but the fact that Anthony was really standing by my side. It still felt out of this world unreal that he would become my husband formally in a matter of minutes or even seconds.

“It’s your turn...” Anthony whispered to me as I felt his hand squeezing mine softly.

With widened eyes, I realized that I had been spacing out and it was now my turn to say my vows.

“I do...I do...” I blurted out quite loudly before repeating myself again.

“You may now kiss the bride,” the priest said with utmost satisfaction as he beamed a smile our way.

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