"Why are they not here yet?" Sara asked her aunt as soon as she joined her in the room she was waiting at.
It"s been over an hour now and the wedding ceremony was soon going to begin but neither of her parents where anywhere in sight.
"I just called your father. He said they are almost here and you should not worry too much" Cixi informed her.
"Aunt I think I really need a tranquilizer" Sara said nervously as she continued to pace around.
"You are going to be fine. You are always so bold and collected but now you look a mess. Cheer up!"
"Your Aunt is right. You"ll be alright" Hoy said from the door before walking inside with two large envelopes in hand. He gave a curt bow to Cixi before looking at Sara.
"You look very pretty." He complimented th a pleasant smile.
She wore a long sleeved, V-neck wedding gown with Sheer lace bodies. The gown hugged her body from the top to the bottom, perfectly accentuating the perfect curves she always hid in her oversized clothes. The color of her gown was between gold and yellow, no one could really tell.
On her earlobes, a pair of silver earring dangled about whenever she paced around. And on her neck, was the necklace Muchen had gifted her. She had refused to wear any other necklace except for that particular one with the initials "SW".
Her hair was tied in a bridal updo and was adorned in silver and gold clips. The veil attached to her hair was also as long as the gown itself, but for now, the veil was open and not covering her face.
The reason Sara could freely pace about was obviously because she was not wearing a heel. Underneath her gown was her usual sneakers.
She did not want to embarra.s.s herself by wearing a heel. Obviously not today!
"The wedding starts in twenty minutes. You should control your emotions. No one is going to bite you." He advised one more time.
Joreen, who had been busy looking around the beautifully decorated large church, joined them.
"h.e.l.lo little girl. Happy birthday" Hoy bent to greet her immediately he saw her enter.
"Thank you very much" Joreen said with a wide smile.
She was so happy that day. Happy for a whole lot of reasons put together.
"Here is a little something for the birthday girl." He handed her one envelope on his hand, which elicited a confused look from Joreen and the other women there.
"It"s a script. The shoot will take place in San Francisco in three weeks."
Joreen thought she died the moment she heard him because her heart stopped beating.
She was finally going to appear on TV? It was hard to believe so.
"You... Mean it?" She asked to be sure.
"Of course. Since your big sister refused to join the entertainment industry, you should do well so she would get jealous." Hoy said cheekily which caused Sara to laugh.
Cixi had a mixed emotion as she watched her daughter"s shocked look.
"San..Fransisco?" The location suddenly registered. "Can.. I go mum?" Joreen turned to ask her mother in a low voice that showed she was still in disbelief.
Cixi tried not to cry when she nodded. "You can"
"But school_?"She looked at Hoy in confusion.
"Don"t worry. We"d fix all of that." He a.s.sured her with a genuine smile.
Whenever he saw her, she seemed to look cuter than the last time.
Her dark, curly, Afro hair was packed together which willingly formed a bun on the top of her head, like a crown.
Joreen wore a pretty red gown and heel that was probably only an inch. And even without a single make up, she looked perfect! She was the prettiest brown skinned girl he had ever seen.
Hoy was really curious to see how she would look like in the next five to ten years.
Would be absolutely stunning!
"And this right here..." He gave her the second envelope.
"It"s from your cousin-in-law to be. He is asking you to be a child model for the company."
"Oh my G.o.d!" Joreen gasped aloud.
Everything was too much for her that she could no longer hold it in and burst into tears while wrapping her arms around Hoy"s neck who had been squatting down the entire time.
With a smile on her face, Cixi also cried alongside her daughter.
Sara was almost crying also, but Cixi had warned her not to try it because she was likely going to ruin her perfect make-up and they did not want that.
"Let"s talk about this with your mother later. I really have to leave now."
Hoy bowed to Cixi and congratulated Sara once more before leaving the room.
Hoy was genuinely happy for Sara. He had been a bit conflicted with his feelings for her at one point, but now he knew Sara was more fitted to be his friend and sister-in-law than anything else.
Maybe he had been confused because he did not understand his feelings since he had never been close to any female before. But he knew better now.
As Cixi was still trying to calm Sara down, she received a call from Luo Jaime to let her know he was inside the church already. She did not want to leave Sara alone, but thankfully, Changyu and Jianjun appeared just in time. She watched how they both panted like they had ran there and thought it was the best time to leave.
Cixi quickly excused herself from there with Joreen following behind her.
"Where have you two been?" Sara complained but was relieved to see them.
Still panting, Jianjun began to explain. "Apparently, she did not want her daughter to get married before her."
"So..?" Sara stressed since she did not see how it related to them coming late.
With a big smile on her face, Changyu raised two certificates in front of Sara"s face before announcing, "We are legally married."
"Oh my G.o.d!" Sara gasped before quickly hugging her. "Congratulations."
Once she left Changyu, she hugged her father next. "I hope you realise you are both also going to throw a party?" Sara said to the both of them with a big smile on her face.
The news did a great job in easing her nervous heart.
The next people to come see her was Li Fazhan and Jiang Dana.
Fazhan did what he knew how to do best—teasing her.
"So finally, you"ll become my daughter-in-law. I thought you said you did not want my son?"
"Can we please stop dwelling on that topic? It still embarra.s.ses me" Sara pouted.
Dana simply stood by the side as they both conversed. She was too embarra.s.sed to approach Sara. But Sara was a very open-minded person. She had hugged Dana first and told her how happy she was to be her daughter-in-law.
Even though Sara had not actually meant it!
"I am so sorry for everything. I hope we get along well." Dana said with an apologetic smile.
"I hope so too"
Sara slowly released the breath she has been holding when the door opened wide, creating an entrance for her to walk down the aisle with her father taking her hand.
Sara was still very much nervous. She did not know why, but she could not look at Muchen who was patiently waiting for her at the altar.
She thought she might turn emotional once she saw him and probably do something to embarra.s.s herself. Luckily for her, her veil was hiding her face from the people, so no one saw how she was trying to control her anxiety by breathing in and out.
Thankfully, the guests were not very many.
As she walked down the aisle that seemed to be endless, she noticed everyone was staring at her father.
Shoot that! They were all staring at her, but she did not want to think that.
She saw her Aunt smiling proudly at her, and Cixi looked like she was crying. Joreen also happily waved her, seemed like she had gotten over the earlier shock.
As herself and her father walked to match the soft piano sound, her eyes continued to dance around in nervousness.
She saw the Li family sitting on the other corner. They all looked at her with a happy smile on her face. Heya, Hoy, Minde, plus all the elders in the Li family. There were also some she had never met before.
But it was not difficult to recognise Sun. She was still in a wheelchair, and had a smile plastered to her face.
She heard a sniffle beside her and turned to see her father trying to wipe off tears from his eyes.
"Are you crying?" She asked in a whisper as they continued to make the walk that doesn"t seem to end.
"I am not. You better focus on the altar" Jianjun warned her before he continued to wipe his tears.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, she would have chuckled, but instead, she turned emotional and soon began to feel her eyes water.
It was difficult to imagine waking up every morning without seeing Jianjun.
In a bid to distract herself by continuing to look around, she saw Changyu.
Her mother who had always been composed in public had tears in her eyes.
A woman who thought she had no child. Suddenly, she was in her daughter"s wedding.
If that wasn"t a miracle, then what was?
Now, she had no choice but to look at Muchen, because her father had given him her hand.
Once her hand touched his, she felt her beath cease, and tears slowly began to drop from her eyes.
Everything still felt surreal even to this very moment.
She was marrying Li Muchen. The man every woman wanted, she was the one beside him.
Even today, he still looked very das.h.i.+ng in the white suit he wore.
Muchen had been staring at her. From the very moment the door opened and she entered, it was as if he was struck by lightning and the only thing he could do was to stare, transfixed at her.
Not because she was looking so pretty,
Not because she walked so confidently even though he knew she was nervous.
Not because of the gown that made everyone to Wow!
He had seen her in the gown when Hoy invited them to come make their choice.
He had seen her almost every single day to know she was the prettiest woman alive.
So why was he so focused on her like he was falling in love over again? Or was he?
Maybe it was hard to swallow the fact that she was finally becoming his wife.
They had not known each other for very long. Probably just three months. But he was certain that she was the one.
From the very moment he saw her, he knew there was no mistaken about it. And he did I not need a year or more to convince himself that she was his Bride. Anyone who heard or read about their love story would agree with them that they were both perfect for each other.
He began to remember from the very first moment he saw her in the bar threatening Minde. He remembered to when he saw her in his hotel confronting Jinyong and Weiyoing, to when he offered her a job, to when he watched her workout with his sister in those gym clothes that made him go crazy, to the first time he hugged her and told her he missed her, to the first time he kissed her and she kissed back, to how she had denied her feelings for him and said he was her employer and then "a brother to her", to how she finally accepted him and told him all of her secrets.
Everyone present there were solely focused on the couple standing on the altar, facing each other.
They had been continuously getting shocked from the moment they entered.
First, The lady he was getting married to was really Sara w.a.n.g!
Secondly, Sara w.a.n.g was Song Changyu"s daughter! That shocked the h.e.l.l out of them since no one knew Changyu had a daughter.
Thirdly, Li Muchen was crying alongside his bride!
Seeing him cry, people naturally began to cry. They did not know why, but they just found themselves crying.
"Mr Li Muchen, do you take Miss w.a.n.g Sara as your wife, to love and to hold, in sickness, in health, for richer, for—"
"I do!" Muchen interrupted. He did not like the fact that the vow was taking too long. Sara had to be his wife as soon as possible.
"I do too." Sara answered without waiting for the priest to ask.
"Well well well. Looks like this new couple is rather inpatient" The Priest said in a jokular manner which caused everyone to laugh.
"You may exchange your rings" The Priest instructed the both of them and they heartily complied.
Once they were done with that, the priest gave the last instruction.
"You may kiss the bride"
Muchen smiled widely when he opened her veil to reveal her perfect face that had a nervous smile.
"I am shy. My family is watching" Sara whispered with flushed cheeks that even her make-up could not hide.
"Don"t look at their direction" He said to her before letting his lips meet hers.
Cheers and joyful shouts immediately followed after their lips locked.
As Cixi used a hand to cover Joreen"s eyes so she would not watch them, Jianjun shut his eyes and tried his best to control his emotions.
"She"ll be fine" Changyu a.s.sured him with a gentle tap on his back.