Chapter 1: Groom less Wedding

"Poor bride. She’s been standing there for hours waiting for the groom," I heard a woman’s whispering voice.

"It’s truly so sad. I can’t imagine how sad she’s feeling," Another woman replied in a hushed tone.

"Do you think the groom has ditched her?" A man whispered in a low voice.

"That would be too sad. Please don’t say that…" Another woman replied with what seemed to be genuine sadness in her voice.

I stood silently in front of the altar in a white wedding dress that was far too elegant for my tastes and far too heavy for my comfort. The overly high-heel shoes that I was wearing was starting to hurt my feet and my legs were starting to feel sore from standing still for too long.

I clenched and then unclenched my hands together for the hundredth time, or something along those lines since I had already lost count.

The sequined lace fabric of the dress that covered my arms in a long sleeve was itchy, not that anyone cared. I didn’t choose this dress. I have never met my groom. I was in love with another man. Most of all, I didn’t want to get married.

Yes. Me, Malissa Maxford is being forced into a contract marriage with the heir of the largest global mafia syndicate.

It was cold inside the white marble church; however, I was sweating in discomfort. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here just waiting for my future husband to arrive. It must have been at least a couple of hours and everyone else have gotten restless and anxious.

If this had been a wedding that I wanted, I would have felt so worried that the groom has not shown up. However, the truth is, I didn’t care if he never shows up. Actually, it would be for the better for us all if he never showed up. Then the wedding would be called off and my grandmother and I can return to our normal and peaceful life.

I glanced sideway to see my frail and very sick granny sitting in a wheelchair with a nurse standing close behind her. I wish this wedding or whatever would be over quickly so that she can return to rest at the hospital. My grandmother was very old, and recently, I had discovered that she was very sick.

The doctors couldn’t tell me how much longer she had left but even my untrained eye could tell that it wasn’t very long.

"Where’s the groom?" a man asked in a hush voice.

"Good questions. We’ve been waiting for almost three hours already…" another man replied before yawning.

"Shhhh…be quiet. The boss will kill you if he hears," another man hissed to the other two.

"Has someone found him yet?" another voice asked seriously.

"I sent a bunch of men from my squad already. It shouldn’t take much longer…" someone else replied but I couldn’t sense much conviction from his voice.

"Don’t stare at the boss. He’ll kill you if he sees you staring…" one of the men hissed.

"That’s right. He’s definitely not in a good mood," another one said with a sigh.

"What is that damn son of his doing?" the other said in a very soft whisper.

"Exactly, it’s his wedding and he’s not even here…" another man replied in agreement.

"That kid is supposed to take over after this father? What a rotten joke…" an old man spoke up.

"Not so loud, the boss will hear you…" the man next to him said in a hurry.

"If only his brother was still alive…" the old man continued without much care.

"Let’s discuss this later. I hope he turns up soon…this church is fucking cold," one of the men said and I couldn’t agree more. At least they were wearing suits, my arms were covered only with thin and see-through lace.

The old priest standing in front of me looked pale and stressed with what was going on. Poor old man, I wonder what he did to deserve this. He’s been standing still for as long as I have, and his legs must be killing him at his age.

"Umm…perhaps we should postpone…" the old priest suggested hesitantly in a small voice.

"Shut up old man! I’ll shoot you in the face!" the mastermind behind this whole wedding ordeal shouted at the top of his lungs.

Oh My God…is that a gun? It’s a gun, right? It’s real right?

My eyes widened in shock, and I wished that I could just disappear from this place. I must be stuck in a bad dream, I tried to convince myself as I closed my eyes. My body shook in fear. I looked over at my granny. Thankfully she had not died from a heart attack from the shock.

I opened my eyes, and my worst nightmare was confirmed. This was really happening, and I was not in a dream. The reality was that the most influential mafia boss was pointing a gun at the old priest. The mafia boss who had forced me into this contract marriage was red in the face and has resorted to threatening the priest with a gun.

The Torex mafia gang was bad news. When the boss told me Hayden’s first name, I didn’t need to ask for his last name. If he was heir to the Torex gang then his last name is simply: Torex.

The rumor has it that the man who established the Torex family changed in last name to Torex and name the gang the same way. All members of the Torex family and their members are supposed to have a wolf tattoo somewhere on their body. Once again, I didn’t know if this rumor was true or not.

The Torex gang is world-famous and lived their lives above the law. Their business and evil deeds are common knowledge even to a normal person like me who had nothing to do with the mafia. Their business network spanned multiple continents and countries and involved businesses in many industries.

Some of their businesses were ran outwardly as a legal and successful conglomerate while others were completely underground.

I didn’t know everything about their business, obviously, but what I, or the average person with eyes and ears, would know was that they had businesses in tourism, healthcare, and entertainment. Plus, all the other shady and illegal things that a mafia gang is supposed to be involved in such as human trafficking, drugs, casinos, arms trade, etc.

To be fair, no proof has ever been found of their illegal activities but that’s probably the way they live above the law: by paying the law keepers.

Regardless of whether rumors were true or not, the Torex and all their members were bad news. As it happens, I’m about to marry one right now and non-other than the next heir to the Torex family. I didn’t know where life would take me but never in my wildest dreams imagine that it would take me here.

Well, that is if the groom in question ever turns up which I pray that he never would…

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