Astrid and Darius shared a panicked look. Neither of them was ready to tell Nikoleta the truth yet, so Darius just settled for something quite simple—faking confusion.
"I don't quite understand what you mean, mum." He frowned, now standing beside Astrid.
"There's something serious going on between you two and I want to know what it is." Nikoleta stated.
"Prenuptial stress." Darius simply said. Astrid marvelled at how he could lie while looking straight into his mother's eyes.
Nikoleta narrowed her eyes at them both. "You sure it's not a prenuptial fight?" She asked.
"Did we have a fight?" Darius asked, looking at Astrid.
"No." She shook her head. Oh, he's good. She thought.
"Why don't you want to go bridal shopping with me, then?" Nikoleta asked Astrid.
"It's just... I'm nervous." Astrid looked down, wondering how long she would have to keep lying.
"About what? It's your wedding! And I'll be there. If you want, Rose can come with us." Nikoleta offered.
Astrid looked at Darius, silently pleading for an escape. What she didn't expect was him actually agreeing to it. "Do you want your mum there with you?" Darius queried.
She blinked repeatedly at him in shock and confusion. "N-No. It's fine." She stuttered a response. Her mother wouldn't be too happy with how far the pretend game was going.
"Then let's go. Come on, we don't have much time. Flying to Spain and back in one day is going to weigh us down if we don't hurry." Nikoleta said, leading Astrid to where a car was parked and ready for both of them.
"Spain?" Astrid stopped immediately. Darius almost bumped into her as he was directly behind her.
"Yes. That's where the best of Darius's bridal shops is. For some reason, he didn't invest more over here." Nikoleta answered, glaring at Darius.
Astrid didn't understand how bizarre someone's life could possibly be. Flying out of a country just to find a wedding dress? One they weren't sure they would actually find? And for a wedding that wasn't going to happen.
She considered making up another excuse, but Darius placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine. Just go," he turned to Nikoleta. "Mum, I have to leave for work."
"In that outfit of yours? You never dress professionally! It's Monday morning." Nikoleta complained loudly.
"And you shouldn't be flying out of the country like this in your condition." He retorted, leaving.
"Smart mouth." Nikoleta murmured, glaring at the back of Darius's head. "Shall we?" She turned to Astrid with a smile.
Astrid gave her a stiff nod, still concerned about what she was going to do. She hated how she couldn't say no to Nikoleta without feeling hurt, herself.
She spent her time in the jet staring at the clouds and occasionally flipping through the different bridal magazines that Nikoleta kept cooing about.
"What fabric do you see yourself walking down the aisle in? I can't help but imagine you looking so gorgeous in lace." Nikoleta asked.
"Lace. That's what I was going with." Astrid nodded. It would be useless to have her dream wedding dress, anyway. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that a wedding hadn't crossed her mind in a long time. She had not fantasized about a dream wedding for a while.
She had always dreamt of owning a fashion house, even if she would be starting from scratch. That was one of the reasons why she had applied for a job when she saw the online vacancy for Titan Fabric; to learn more about fashion from one of the best.
She almost cussed herself out for throwing her dream away by agreeing to all of this, but she recalled that she would be getting a hundred million dollars from this. That was one hundred million dollars more than she had with her for the capital.
"Describe what you would like to be seen in for me. I need to text Cassia." Nikoleta said, pulling her phone out of her velvet purse.
"Lace. Just something simple. Maybe a little bit of stones, but not too noticeable. Definitely mermaid. Off the shoulder, but long-sleeved." Astrid described something right out of her sparse imagination, while Nikoleta nodded and texted every detail to Cassia.
"In my head, it looks amazing. And trust me, Cassia will make it even better." Nikoleta smiled brightly. "I really can't believe you're getting married to my son."
Astrid couldn't, either. Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have imagined herself lying and giving false hope to an innocent woman. In Greece!
She shifted uncomfortably, her guilt eating her up on the inside. She looked out of the window, staring at the clouds again until her eyes became heavy and she fell asleep.
.
"Hello!" A stout, short-haired lady waved at Astrid and Nikoleta as they got into the bridal shop.
When Astrid had heard about the bridal shop, she had imagined an average building, no more than three floors, like most of the ones she had seen.
She wasn't expecting a whole skyscraper with crowds of people moving in and out of the building like every woman in the world was getting married.
"Oh, Monica! Where's Cassia?" Nikoleta waved back at the stout woman, her other hand holding on to Astrid like she would escape.
Astrid noticed that a large number of people were already holding their phones up, taking pictures and videos. She couldn't possibly pretend that she wasn't fazed by it because she was.
Screams erupted from a corner of the ground floor as two people raced towards Astrid and Nikoleta with wide smiles on their faces. Astrid was thankful about the security guards that stopped them immediately.
"Let's go up." Nikoleta tugged at Astrid, who was still stunned at everybody's behaviour. For a moment, she had forgotten that she was engaged to a billionaire and a large percentage of the world knew her face.
Nikoleta and Astrid got into the elevator with Monica, who also could contain her excitement.
They stopped on the eleventh floor and walked into the large room, where a different lady was running around and looking at mannequins frantically.
"Cassia." Nikoleta called out. The lady froze, turning to look at them. "Nikoleta!" Cassia grinned, opening her arms and walking towards them.
She first engulfed Nikoleta in a hug, then she did the same to Astrid. Astrid liked her coconut scent. "You're even prettier in person." Cassia said to her.
"Thanks." Astrid smiled, trying to use her hair to hide the red tint in her cheeks.
"I managed to get all the wedding dresses I think you would like. If you don't find any of them good enough, I'll make you one myself." Cassia explained, showing her all the mannequins, draped in lace wedding dresses.
Astrid looked at each and every one of them. She liked them all. She could actually see herself walking down the aisle in any of them.
One of them, though, caught her attention the most. She let her fingers trace the details on the dress, smiling.
"Oh, that one's a vintage! It's my personal favourite. It has everything you requested for. You can see the tiny stones on the mermaid part. It's almost backless, but as you can see, there's an illusion net covering the back. It has a little bit of tulle holding the bottom together, making it look like something out of a fairy tale." Cassia rambled.
"Can I try it on?" Astrid requested. There was no harm in trying it on. She Just wanted to see herself in it.
"Absolutely. Help her get it on, Monica." Cassia instructed. It took a while for Astrid to put the dress on, and Monica used clamps to hold the back of the dress for her, as it was one size bigger than her size.
She stepped out of the changing room, preparing to look at herself in the full-length mirror.
Nikoleta covered her mouth with her right hand, almost bursting into tears. Cassia smiled proudly as Astrid stepped into the room with Monica behind her.
"Oh, God!" Nikoleta blinked back the tears in her eyes. She wondered what Darius's reaction would be if he saw Astrid in that dress.
"Are you ready to see how you look?" Cassia asked, clapping excitedly.
"I think so." Astrid let out a nervous laugh. Cassia and Monica turned the large mirror towards her and Astrid gawked at her reflection. "Wow." She gasped.
Someone instantly walked in, trampling on their excitement. They all turned and saw an older woman panting. "What's wrong?" Cassia asked, approaching the woman.
"Where I come from, the groom-to-be isn't allowed to see the bride-to-be in her wedding dress until the wedding day!" She said, looking around like she had just escaped a robbery.
"And?" Cassia asked, still confused.
"Mr Titan is on his way here! He's downstairs!" The woman exclaimed.
All the ladies in the room shared a look, their faces displaying the panic they felt.