Arielle POV
Bianca hangs Loretta's wedding dress on the closet door within the bridal room and smiles at it. "You will look amazing in this." I shake my head and pace my room. "No. She'll be here any moment from now. There's no way she'll let Ariel wed somebody else — particularly not me." My best friend gazes at me, her expression irritated. "I do not get it," she says to me. "You've been in love with Ariel all your life. Why would you need Loretta to show up?" I stop and look up at her, my heart sinking. "Because he's continuously been hers, Bianca .Indeed if he weds me, the one he needs will continuously be Loretta. It's difficult enough to watch him cherish her the way he does, but lawfully being able to call him mine I know that his heart will continuously have a place for her. That would slaughter me, Bianca. I prefer to remain friends with him rather than be the individual standing between him and the lady he genuinely loved. I do not need to be a substitute, a replacement for Loretta. In case we get married presently, I'll never be able
to step out of Loretta's shadow. I'll continuously be a cheap replacement for her, a stand-in." Bianca shakes her head, her expression keen. "I've continuously found it so odd, you know? It never made sense to me that somebody who sparkles the way you are doing feels like they're cast in shadows. She's just like the moon, Arielle. Excellent on a forlorn night, but cold and far off. You? You're the sun. You're warmth and joy, and the centre of all that's great. Additionally, Ariel's world will rotate around you in case you give him a chance. I know my brother, angel. In case you give this marriage a real chance, he'll make you happy. I've continuously said this, and I'll say it once more:
there's always been something between Ariel and you. Presently you'll be able to at least give into it, and it'll be the finest thing you'll ever do." I run a hand through my hair and shake my head. Bianca," I caution. "Today isn't the day for your motivational talks and your sentimental heart." She only grins at me and gets my hand, driving me to my conceit. "You'll see," she tells me. "This is the beginning of something beautiful. He'll drop for you, and when he does, I'll tell you I told you so." A thump sounds at my door, and I look up strongly when my favourite cosmetics craftsman strolls in with three young ladies in a row. "What are you doing here, Mikel?" He grins at me lifting his look to gesture at Bianca. "Leave everything to me," he told her as she
places her hands on my shoulders. She presses firmly on my shoulder, venturing absent, and l take a look around the room. What has she done? She can't genuinely accept I'll be strolling down that aisle, can she? I observe through the mirror as Bianca comfortably steams Loretta's dress, a grin on her face. Today, more than ever, it's clear how insane my bestie is. She should be concerned about Ariel and me, but she's barely stopped grinning all morning.Mikel begins working on my cosmetics whereas a beautician begins to work on my hair, and nerves at last really set in. This can't be happening, can it? I get my phone and attempt to ring Loretta once more, for the sixty-seventh time today Loretta vanished after I left her flat, and finally, I heard she'd been spotted on a beach in Miami. I truly trust she realised what she did and came to her senses on time. If she doesn't get here within the next three hours, she'll make a botch she can never fix. "You look beautiful," Mikel tells me as he puts the wrapping-up touches on my cosmetics. He's done my cosmetics for every single function and grants ceremony for a long time, but he's beaten himself today. For one single minute, I'm wondering what Ariel would think when he sees me, but the moment , I shake my head and rationally criticise myself for the thought. That must be torment for
him. The minute he sees me , he'll be anticipating Loretta. It isn't in a good mood he'll see me . It'll be dissatisfaction and hatred. I sit up at the sound of a thump on my door, my heart dropping. The door opens, and my mother strolls in. I look at her wide-eyed, and she delays for a minute shaking her head. My shoulders collapse as reality sinks in. She isn't here. I'm sorry," Mother says. She looks at Mikel and his team and squeezes her lips together for a minute. "It's too bad your sister won't be here on such an extraordinary day. I'm not beyond any doubt what's gotten into her, and I trust she won't come to lament this."
"Me too," I mumble. What happens once she realises she's made a botch? What if she goes after Ariel and asks him for a divorce? His guarantee to me is nothing compared to the hundreds of guarantees they must have made to each other all through the time they have together. Am I condemning myself by concurring with this? Mother strolls up to Bianca, and together they hold up Loretta's wedding dress for me, making me wear it carefully. I designed this for her, so it doesn't fit flawlessly, but it's not too far off. This isn't what I would've made for myself, and it's however another update that I'm only taking Loretta's place today. Everything I'm encountering presently should've been hers, and it sickens me. "You look gorgeous," Mother says, but she finds it difficult to look into my eyes. "Thank you, sweetheart," she whispers. "I know this isn't simple for you. I'm so sorry that it's come to this, but maybe it is destiny, you know? At first, Ariel's fiancee was supposed to be you. Probably, Grandmother Adele was right, and this will all work out for the best." I look at her and clench my jaw. "Is that what you tell yourself to legitimise the position you've put me in? Is that what you've persuaded yourself of to ease your guilty conscience?" Mother recoils and looks down, drawing a temperamental breath. "Arielle, " she whispers. "I… I am so sorry.
On the off chance that your Father and I hadn't spoiled your sister the way we have, this wouldn't have happened. I wish… I wish I'd treated you better. I wish I hadn't taken you for granted.lf I hadn't, at this point maybe this minute between us would've been distinctive. It wouldn't reduce your give up in any way, but I'd have known how to comfort you, how to empower you." I scowled at her, befuddled. Mother has never so much as given me any sign that she was mindful of favouritism, the way she and Father both ostracised me. She touched my cheek and made gestures. "I knew," she tells me. "Of course, I knew how you felt. It's fair that Father and I felt so guilty toward your sister. She was so debilitated as a child
that she went through a lot , missed school, and had difficulty making friends as a child. I'm so sorry, Arielle. Maybe my words are cruel to you, but I needed to say it anyway. Presently the distance between us torments me. I wish you and I had this mother-and-daughter relationship. Today is your wedding day and I wish that, despite the circumstances, I could've been the one you turn to. My eyes are open presently, Arielle. I see what I've done, what my activities have turned your sister into, and what it's costing you." My eyes fill with tears that I squint away quickly, and I gesture briefly, uncertain of what to say. Out of everything I anticipated my mother to say right now this wasn't it. Mother gets my shoulders and grins at me. "Come on," she says. "Dad is holding up for you at the entrance of the door." I gesture and take after her out, my heart uneasy. Once I walk down that aisle there's no going back. I supplicate with all my heart that I do not come to regret this.