Walking towards the lawyer's desk which was situated in a tent at the far end, Lian turned to look at her people. Everyone wore a serious face that she almost laughed.
So you people are this serious on my wedding? She asked inwardly.
"Fidel Nolan, do you take Lian Jones, as your legally wedded wife, to love and to cherish, in pain and in happiness, until death do you part?" The lawyer stood up and asked.
Looking at the girl before him, his feelings erupted. He just wanted her for himself. "Yes I do."
No one clapped.
"Lian Jones, do you take Fidel Nolan, as your legally wedded husband, to love and to cherish, in pain and in happiness, until death do you part?"
Lian looked at Fidel whose face was full of expectations, the crowd who were silent. Her sisters' faces frowned as they looked at her.
"No I don't." Dropping the flowers and taking off the veil, Lian said loud enough for everyone to hear. She held her wedding gown and ran back inside. Fidel stood dumbfounded while Kate and Julia couldn't hide their smiles.
Fidel looked confused. Eden walked to his side but before he could say anything, Fidel walked into the house.
"Mr. Jones?" Mr. Nolan fumed.
"Sir ... She's already in your hands, you can do whatever you want to her." Senior Jones said, fearing Mr. Nolan would go back on his words. Mr. Nolan walked into the house.
In Lian's bedroom, Fidel stormed in. This time Lian could sense his anger but she didn't care. She had already tore off her wedding dress and was in a simple white dress.
"What was the meaning of that?" Fidel roared.
Lian almost coiled because his voice was terrifying, but she held on. "You can't force me to marry you. At least you held me captive, but that doesn't mean I must marry you."
"Lock her up." A voice came from behind Fidel. Fidel looked back at his father. Lian was shocked, lock me up?
"I need to go out." Lian said. Everyone was silent. "At least you all know I can't escape. I've been locked from the outside world for two days. There are people I need to meet."
"You're going nowhere." Fidel roared in her face. She took a step back.
"Let the guards go with me. When I come back, you can give me whatever punishment you like." Actually she didn't mean it. She hoped by the time she got back, Fidel would have calmed down and she wouldn't be locked up. She was afraid of punishments, and far worse she didn't know where she was supposed to be locked and for how long.
"Eden, take few guards and go with her." Fidel said.
Lian wore her slippers and walked out past her family members and into the car where a guard opened the door for her. She left in company of Eden and three more guards and they drove to Dawn hotel. Eva saw her first and ran to her. She had not seen her friend for two days.
"Lian, where were you....why did you resign. Ooh my God! You don't look happy." Eva hugged her lightly and let go, observing her reaction.
"Something happened but don't worry about me." Lian forced a smile.
"Why did you resign?" Eva asked.
"Am here to see the manager. Is she in?" Lian asked. Eva nodded and led her to the elevator. She went to continue with her work as Lian entered the elevator and pressed the floor number.
The Nolan family had kept this whole marriage episode a secret. It would be the lead story in all media houses if they had wanted it to be public and Lian would be known as the tycoon's wife right now, but it wasn't disclosed to the public.
When the elevator stopped, Lian walked out and went into the Manager's office. The manager, Mrs. Mira looked at her with a sore face.
"Can you explain why I got the resignation letter please? I wasn't ready to quit working here. At least I would have informed you in advance." Lian said after casual greetings.
"Mr. Fidel Nolan. Came here and gave me two conditions, to resign you off job or he'll buy the whole hotel. You know, no one in history ever took the Nolan's word for granted and I wasn't ready to loose the hotel. I choose to drop you though I still think I'll never get an employee as dedicated and hardworking as you were." Mrs. Mira said sadly. "Who are you to Mr. Fidel Nolan? Or did you offend him in any way?"
"Am a nobody as far as I can remember. I don't mean anything to anyone. I don't understand why everyone hates me this much." Lian said.
"By the way, Richard came here looking for you. I couldn't offer a better explanation to him as to why you disappeared." Mrs. Mira said.
Richard had a long time crush on Lian and for years, he had stood by her side, comforting her even when her whole family didn't care about her. If anything, Lian would readily accept to get married to Richard. Though his family wasn't the richest and wouldn't be compared to the Nolans either, he generally had a good heart.