Unexpected 34

Chapter 34
Chapter 34
“You may now kiss the bride,” the priest informed them, and for a few seconds, both Ryland and Amanda stared at each other. Neither of them had thought this through, so instead of acting, they simply stated one another, impatiently waiting for the other to take the first sleep.
There had been a time when Ryland wanted nothing more than to kiss Amanda. He had days where he dreamed of this day, but now that it was here, he could not act upon the instruction of the priest.
To both of their surprise, the priest coughed, “I believe I said you may kiss the bride.” The priest joked, and so the crowd of. people in the church erupted into a laugh, which further made Amanda nervous.
“Come on, kiss the bride already.” Both Amanda and Ryland turned their heads to look, and they both saw that it was none other than Jay that had said those words. The crowd around them began laughing again at them, but neither knew that Jay was simply trolling his brother.
Amanda turned around to look at Ryland, but to her surprise, before she could say anything more, Ryland’s lips landed on hers, and they kissed. Never had Amanda thought in a million years that she would be kissing a man who, a few months ago, was her employer.
The kiss, although passionate, had gone as quickly as it had begun, with Ryland wasting no time but staying away from her. Once again, the crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers and whistling. Amanda, however, had her eyes on only one person, and that was Ryland, looking back at her.
The two of them were in complete shock at what they had just done; finally, they were officially husband and wife. Although not in the marriage sense of it all but rather in the contractual sense that Amanda would be nothing other than a puppet wife
Before Amanda could utter any other words, Ryland’s father came to the podium and shook his hand.
“Congratulations, son; you have truly made your mother and I proud,” Ryland’s father told him. And for just a moment, Ryland felt a sense of great joy hearing his father say those words.
Almost all his life, he had repeatedly worked hard to please his father, and yet nothing seemed as though it could be good enough-that was until this very moment.
“Thank you, Father; I am glad that I’ve made you proud,” he responded before turning back to Amanda and taking her hand in his. Together, they walked out of the church, hand in hand, with a group of people throwing confetti at them. Both Ryland and Amanda had put on their very best faces, making sure to smile at each and every person.
Once the door shut, Amanda was quick to pull her hand away from him, and Ryland did not seem to mind. He was very much aware of their contractual agreement, and this really was nothing more than a show for the gullible.
“I’m sure you know what this means, right?”
“I’m not an idiot; you have told me a million times that this marriage is nothing but a contract,” Amanda told him angrily as she crossed her and over her chest.
“Is it good that you know that? I’m not that bad, though,” Ryland explained, and just then Amanda scoffed, which got his attention.
“And what was that?” Ryland asked Amanda, as he was curious to know why she had scoffed at him.
“Nothing,” she answered plainly, as there was no use in arguing with him.
Ryland clinched his jaw in anger, as he had not expected a calm response from Amanda. Looking ahead, he cleared his
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throat.
89%
“You do not need to worry about your child; I promise you that it will be taken care of,” he explained. Never in his life had he thought that he would become a father, even if that meant that i was a stepfather.
“If you say so,”
Playing the part of the happy wife was beginning to get exhausting, and even worse was the constant smiling with everyone, even the people that Amanda did not know.
Staying true to the Scorpio family traditions and standards, there were, of course, many people that Amanda did not know. at the wedding reception. She had seen a couple of celebrities that she would only have dreamed of seeing on TV and among the elite attending her wedding reception.
For the past two hours of the wedding reception, Ryland’s arm had been in hers the entire morning, and even though she tried her best to get away from him, there was no escape from Ryland Scorpio.
There had been multiple occasions that Amanda had been referred to Mrs. Scorpio, and for some reason that felt strange. knowing what she knew. Not long after, Amanda felt relieved when Ryland left her side to converse with a few of his friends. His absence meant that Amanda could breathe much better without worrying that the rest of the world might know their
secret.
She had seen a glimpse of Ryland’s anger, and that was the last place she wanted to be. She knew why she was here, and all this was for the sake of her unborn child.
“Amanda, is that you?” Amanda quickly turned, only to meet face-to-face with Bridget. Clearly, Bridget was shocked to see Amanda, so shocked that she could not even fake the expression on her face.
It had been months since Amanda had laid eyes on Bridget; in fact, the last time they met, Bridget had found out that Amanda was carrying her fiancé’s child.
Without wanting things to seem awkward between the two of them, Amanda did her very best and plastered a smile on her face. “Good evening, Bridget,” Amanda greeted her in a soft but welcome voice.
Amanda stood firm and brave, and she pretended as though she was filled with confidence as she looked at Bridget.
Bridget, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable in the presence of Amanda, who looked beautiful and was wearing an array of expensive jewelry. What seemed to have bugged Bridget more was that Amanda was resting her hands on her swollen belly.
“Is there anything you like to say to me, Bridget?” Amanda questioned, and it was only then that Bridget removed her attention from Amanda’s belly.
“Honestly, when I was invited, I did not think that it was you who was to get married. I see you’ve done quite well for yourself,” but not one bit did she look happy for Amanda.
“Of course I’ve done quite well for myself; I have married into the Scorpio family after all. And besides, it’s a step up from”
“I suggest you watch your mouth.” Bridget was quick to interrupt her as soon as she realized that Amanda was indeed mocking Stephen. Seeing Bridget’s face turn red with anger made Amanda’s day.
“But why are you angry at me? I haven’t even”
“I know what you are about to say; you are about to mock my husband because you married someone who is richer than him. I wonder how your husband will feel if he finds out that that baby you are carrying is not his,” Bridget asked with at wicked smile curved and the side of his lips; Her response was something that Amanda did not deal well with.
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Looking around her and making sure that the coast was clear, Amanda neared Bridget, and now that she was up close with her nemesis, Amanda cleared her throat.
For your information, my husband is very well aware of my condition, but I wonder what would happen if I were to walk to your husband’s office and tell him that I am carrying his child.” Amanda asked that question, and fear cast a shadow over Bridges’ face.
Clearly, this had been a fear of Bridget all along-the fear that Stephen might find out that Amanda had been carrying his child all along and that eventually it would lead to him leaving Bridget for good.
You would not dare do that,” Bridget dared her. Amanda threw her head back and laughed.
“Believe it or not, I have nothing to lose; my husband is quite okay with the fact that this child is not biologically his. On the other hand, Bridget, you will lose your husband. From the look of things, your marriage does not seem to be so stable after all, so tell me, is Stephen still cheating on you?” She questioned Bridget.
“Well, the joke is on you because, as I’m expecting, Bridget fired back as she hoped that her words would hurt Amanda, but to her surprise, Amanda’s lip turned into a smile.
“Well, I guess the both of us have to battle it out for who will give Stephen Benson his first child,” Amanda teased, but that did not sit well with Bridget at all. She was angry and turned around and stomped towards the exit.
Seeing Bridget stomp out really made Amanda feel some sort of joy in her heart, but yet, a small part of her still ached as she rested her hand on her swollen belly.
“What were the two of you discussing?” Amanda almost jumped up with fear as Ryland appeared out of nowhere. She quickly raised the hand and rested it on her chest while feeling her heart beat rapidly.
“You scared me; I thought you were with your friends.”
“I was with my friends, but it has occurred to me that the two of us have to do a dance,” Ryland explained, and one look at him and Amanda could tell that he was in no mood to dance.
“Well, I do not dance, Amanda said quickly before allowing her eyes to prawl through the crowd.
“Look, I do not want to do this anymore than you want to, but it is expected of us,” Ryland told her as he lowered his mouth to her ear.
“Who expects us to dance?” Amanda was angry, but she still kept her voice low.
“My parents and everyone, we are fooling this evening,” he replied, and from Amanda’s peripheral vision, she could see that all eyes were on them as the live band stopped playing the music that they were playing and began playing soft music.
There was no way that neither of them would get away from this, so even against Amanda’s will, Ryland took her hand in his, and together they walked to the center of the dance floor.
“Have I told you that I do not know how to dance?” She told him, and just then, Ryland’s eyes grew wide with shock.
“Why did you not tell me this?” he asked her irritably.
“Well, if you spent some time learning about me, then you would have known that I do not know how to dance well,” Amanda said, looking back at him, to which Ryland simply rolled his eyes.
He gently took Amanda’s hand in his while resting the other hand on her hip but not breaking eye contact with her.
Just keep your eyes on me, and it will all be okay,” he told her, and just then Amanda was made to feel special again, but she quickly got rid of the thought once she realized who he was dealing with. She was dealing with Ryland Scorpio, the man who had stolen her life away from her.
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