"I can't do this," Annalise said, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm sorry Mamá, Papá."
"How could you say no to us Anna? After all we've done for you? We took you in, gave you shelter, clothing and we raised you like you are ours! And now what? You can't do this little thing for your sister?" Her mother asked, her face red from anger.
Annalise shook her head furiously, that wasn't what she meant, she wasn't an ingrate but there was just something about lying blatantly to other people and this wasn't just a lie, it was a case of her pretending to be someone else entirely!
"Those damn Morenos!" Laura spat. "How could they trick us like this? They knew damn well no one would agree to marry their devil of a son and so led us to believe it was Leonard."
"You have to do this Anna," Her mother persuaded again.
"Of course she won't, she's that selfish!" Laura said glaring at her.
"Don't say that Laura, this could have been you." Her father said.
Laura shook her head. "Oh hell no! There's no way it could've been because if you hadn't pointed your finger at Annalise, I sure would have. You owe us the world Annalise, don't you forget that, my parents saved you from your lousy drunk of a mother and your neck deep in debt father and they gave you this life… You should be willing to give your life if we ask for it!" She yelled angrily.
Tears poured down Annalise's face more for the fact that she knew Laura was right, she was indebted to the Armillos and she was going to be for the rest of her life because her parents had given her up, she didn't know much about them but the one thing she certainly was aware of is that even the people who had given birth to her and were supposed to love her unconditionally hadn't - they had given her up to whoever was willing to have her.
Laura continued, "And you would be a good fit Annalise since you're always claiming to be such a saint, el ángel y el diablo - the angel and the devil."
Annalise took in a deep breath before uttering her next words,
"I'll do it," She said. "I'll live as Laura Armillo, Nicolás's wife."
**** **** **** ****
The agitation in church the next morning was obvious. Annalise stared around her with a fast-beating heart, the only people in attendance from her family were her parents and sister, the Morenos had the most population.
Her eyes darted from person to person searching for a glimpse of anyone who remotely looked like they knew the truth about what they were hiding, but no one was looking at her or bothering themselves with her - her groom was missing.
She still couldn't believe it that she was here right now, standing in the house of God, a bold-faced liar that she was and soon to be married to someone, it was scary and she felt her chest tighten in fear. She was going to have a husband to whom she'd belong, in body and soul.
"I guess he's too ashamed of his face, he's even missing his own wedding." Laura snickered from beside her.
Annalise said nothing in response, she and Laura had different problems right now and she couldn't blame her sister for being at ease, she wasn't the one walking into the devil's den.
She took a deep breath, in, out, to calm her nerves. Annalise wasn't a liar, she could never tell a lie, and the few white ones she'd told weighed heavily on her until she found herself spilling the truth, yet here she was, telling the biggest lie of her life, one with the capability of ruining her family's life if it ever came to light.
"I told him to be here!" Don Roberto yelled out suddenly. "I told him to fucking be here!"
A few Moreno men immediately surrounded him, trying to calm him down.
"Please calm down Don," Someone said.
"No! Nicolás is always doing what he wants, and I let him get away with it, but not this time. He is going to get married whether he likes it or not!" Don Roberto said angrily, Annalise saw her parents share a look, it was as though the Morenos had forgotten the bride and her family could hear them.
"Turns out the ugly bastard doesn't even want this wedding either, beggars can be choosers after all," Laura said.
Annalise pondered over her words, was it really so? Did Nicolás not want to get married after all? Or maybe something had happened to him, she had no idea what to think about the whole scenario but whatever it was that was happening, she hoped that her lies stayed hidden, it was the only thing that mattered to her right now.
Time passed by and agitation grew amongst everyone, Nicolás was now an hour late, Annalise wondered why instead of being worried Don Roberto looked mad, maybe something had happened to him but no one was considering that he wasn't answering his phone, and that was enough cause for alarm.
"Don Roberto," The priest called. "Please inform us if the wedding isn't going to hold, we have another wedding to officiate and we've spent enough time…"
"You shut the hell up!" Leonard said. "You will stand right there and wait until my brother gets here, do you fucking understand?"
The priest swallowed, "Yes."
"Now that is a man well suited for me, and I am going to get him," Laura said, staring at Leonard wistfully.
Annalise opened her mouth to speak when her mother walked up to them.
"This is good," She said. "If Nicolás doesn't show up then the wedding will not hold and we won't have to keep up with any of this lie."
Annalise nodded, that was true, Nicolás not showing up would be good, perfect in fact… He would solve all of her worries. Her eyes went up to Jesus on a cross statue that hung on the wall, she made a quick prayer to him to keep Nicolás as far away from the church as possible.
"His loss, I doubt his parents would ever successfully deceive any other family to give out their daughter to him," Laura said laughing.
"Shut up!" Her mother said looking around to make sure no one was close enough to have heard her.
"What? It's the truth, they tricked us and got us all involved with that monster." Laura said in protest.
"Yes but here isn't the right place to say any of that so you better keep your mouth shut or I'll kick you out of here!" Her mother threatened.
Annalise zoned out on them, they were making things worse for her, she didn't feel so good, the wedding dress they'd gotten last minute wasn't the best out there but it was the best they could find even though it was highly uncomfortable and made her feel like she had pins stuck in every part of her body.
When two hours had gone by and everyone looked like they were all ready to go home, Annalise sent a quick thank you the Lord's way, her prayers had gotten answered and she couldn't wait to go home and peel off this god-awful dress from her body.
"Mamá, I don't think he's coming." She whispered and her mother nodded.
"I'll go tell your father, we should cancel this and let everyone go back to their homes." And she walked away, headed to where her husband stood.
"C'mon Leonard," Don Roberto spoke in a dangerously calm tone. "Go with some of our men to Nicolás's home, inflict bodily harm if you have to, I don't care, just bring him here alive and able to sign his marriage certificate."
"That won't be necessary, father, although it'd have been quite entertaining."
A foreign voice spoke from the entrance of the church, the sun blocked him from view but Annalise found his voice unlike any other she'd ever heard - it was sensual and had a slight huskiness to it, the rich baritone sounding like he spoke from deep his throat, the voice chilled Anna to her bones.
The man stepped into the church in full view of everyone and Annalise heard herself release a gasp… Nicolás Moreno was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.