Elvina and Claire glanced at Emily who was cowering in fear.
''D-Don't kill me… I won't tell anyone…'' Emily shivered, her face was tear stricken as she glanced at the burning bones. It was her Uncle... Her Uncle who raised her.
And now, she will kill her too.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she desperately shook her head.
Elvina stepped towards the woman, the corner of her lips tugged up as she raised her hand, her index finger pointing towards the woman's neck.
''Livy, stop!!'' Claire raised her hand and a silver ray shot out of her finger, grazing past Elvina's wrist.
Elvina's hand moved from its position and her magic dispersed in the air.
''Forget about what you saw here today,'' Claire approached Emily and looked into her eyes, and the woman's trembling shoulders relaxed, ''You don't want to marry Archer Cardale. You were only obsessed with the thought of being his wife but now you have realized how much of a mistake you were going to make.''
''I don't want to marry him… This was a mistake… A mistake…'' Emily turned around and walked away from the cave as she constantly mumbled these words under her breath.
Her footsteps came to a halt when she reached the entrance of the resort, ''What am I doing here?" she blinked and glanced at her surroundings, ''Oh, I came for a walk…''
She was about to step inside but she stopped in her tracks and glanced at the resort which resembled some grand palace from ancient times, ''What was Uncle Alex thinking when he called me to this place for marriage? Tsk…'' The term marriage made her frown, ''And marriage…''
She wanted to be the daughter-in-law of the Cardale family but Archer did not love her.
Could she survive a marriage without love?
Back in the cave, Claire walked towards Elvina, ''Why were you trying to kill her?" she glanced at her younger sister with a frown on her face.
''Does it matter? Just another insignificant human life, isn't it?" Elvina's eyes were lazy as she spoke in a laid-back tone.
''Emily is innocent! Why would you think of killing her?''
''Our parents were innocent too,'' Elvina's brows raised subtly, ''Who spared them?"
''So, you will go around killing people like this?"
''I will discard anyone who becomes a thorn in my path,'' Elvina's lips thinned, ''To me, this world is insignificant. All these humans might as well burn and crash... and I still would not spare them another glance.''
''Livy, the future is not predictable. We might be extraordinary in the world of humans but we are not omnipotent. God forbid you to develop affections for these people then will you still say the same?"
''We spent 16 years on the land. When did you see me getting attached to these mortals?" Elvina scoffed as if she heard some joke, ''Clairy, stop reading those novels and imagining the impossible.''
Claire's expression however did not change, ''Promise me... Swear on me that you won't kill an innocent,'' her voice was stern.
''You...''
''Livy, swear on me!"
Elvina sighed, ''I swear on you I won't kill. people. randomly.''
''Are you saying that you will kill them for a reason? Like how you were about to kill Emily because you changed your target for who knows what reason?"
''I won't kill the innocent,'' Elvina gave in, ''There you go.''
Claire sighed in relief.
Behind her sister's beautiful face was a ruthless side that she did not want to be unveiled.
Not now, not ever.
''We decided on Emir as the target and we were working on it. He is an easy man, unlike Archer who shows something and is something else. Then why...'' Claire glanced at her in confusion, ''Why did you have to choose a man like Archer?''
''What do you mean?" Elvina raised an eyebrow.
''Don't tell me you haven't noticed it? Archer Cardale has a reputation for being a saint, an obedient son who took over the family business when his parents asked him to and who gave in to marriage when his parents insisted,'' Claire frowned, ''But he is not that simple. When I slapped you, he handled the issue smoothly. It looked like he was following his father's instructions by coaxing me, but he smoothly saved you out of the pickle by putting me on spot."
Elvina thought about that incident. That was a ploy to get Emir's sympathy and his attention which they were getting until Archer interrupted.
''He didn't even meet you before but in front of his father, he pretended as if he gave you his word for work,'' Claire shook her head, ''Unlike Emir who seems like an unruly man but is actually sweet and caring, this Archer is much more complex. He is sly, manipulative, and double-faced. You are asking for trouble if you are planning to do what I am guessing.''
''My dear sister Clairy, since we are settling here in between the humans, I thought I should make it exciting. More the dangers…'' Elvina winked, ''…More will be the fun. Don't you think so?"
''I can't believe you,'' Claire sighed exasperatedly, ''Don't tell me you chose Archer just for fun?" She thought there was more to it.
''What else?'' Elvina shrugged.
Claire laughed, ''Fine, I understood. Come now, let's go back. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.''
As soon as Claire turned her back on her, Elvina's eyes flashed briefly.
*Flashback ends*
The bride and the groom finished saying their wedding vows to each other.
''You may now kiss the bride.''
The crowd cheered for the couple as the priest's words dropped.
The groom stepped closer and lifted the veil from the bride's face.
As soon as her face came into everyone's view, cheers died down and the audience looked at the bride in shock.
''She is not Emily Hale!" Someone shouted after a long period of silence. ''The bride has been replaced!"
And the place erupted in chaos.
The flash of cameras resounded as the reporters clicked close-up pictures of the 'bride' who had replaced the well-known fashion designer, Emily Hale.
But soon the hall turned silent as the groom held the back of the bride's neck and leaned closer to her.
Elvina was momentarily stunned.
She cupped his face such that no one could see his lips, ''You don't look surprised,'' she pressed her thumb on his lips.
The corner of his lips tugged up as he kissed her with her thumb resting between their lips, their eyes meeting each other, ''You said the vows just now and I have grown up listening to Emily's voice.''
What he was saying was that there was no way he would mistake her voice for Emily's.
Elvina's lips twitched, ''But you still didn't back out from this marriage. What's the reason?" She had even changed her voice just now. What was with this man and her voice? He could hear her singing unlike other humans and now he could even see past her disguise.
Abd what more, he readily married her despite knowing that she was not his childhood sweetheart.
She mentally twirled her hair in her fingers.
No matter how attractive she was, must he fall in love with her so easily?
She sighed exasperatedly in her heart. If only there was some magical pill to decrease her charmingness.
Archer: "_" Why is she looking so smug?
Meanwhile, Claire who was seated amidst the guests and her bodyguards in the VIP seat facepalmed herself inwardly when she saw the self-assured expression on her sister's face.
She was undoubtedly floating on another bout of narcissism.
…
"Mom, don't you think you need to explain this?" Archer flashed the text that his mother sent to him just a moment after he entered the wedding hall.
The text read:
'Son, the woman you are about to marry is not Emily, but Elvina. I'll tell you about everything but please don't do anything that will harm the reputation of our family. Go on with this marriage no matter what. Don't do what your sister did. We can't afford more humiliation to our family.'
Other than Alex, Della and Archer, there were only Elvina and Emir present in the room.
Elvina looked around for the signs of Archer's sister, Lily, whose information she had found.
'Which sister would not be present at her brother's wedding?' Elvina wondered the reason behind it.
Emir glanced at the beautiful woman wearing that white gown. White must be her color because she looked like an angel wearing it.
Her curious blue eyes looked around the people in the room.
Was she scared by everything that happened? Was she intimidated?
She must be. She was so delicate. How could she not be afraid?
He took a step towards her but in the end, his fingers curled into a fist. He turned around and walked towards the window, facing his back towards the people in the room.
Alex looked at his wife, ''Why would you do this?"