MARRIAGE

Preparations for the wedding began. Both Rebecca and Luciano were unhappy with the situation, but they went ahead because the truth was that they had no other options, so they resigned themselves to facing their destiny. That marriage meant nothing more than another obligation they had to fulfill in their lives, so they never wanted to get to know each other, not even to exchange a word, because they were so frustrated with everything that they simply agreed that they would meet at the altar.

For the next 30 days, each one left the task of organizing the wedding and agreeing on all the preparations in the hands of their personal assistants. Only they and a couple of people who would serve as witnesses would be present at the ceremony. The orders that Luciano and Rebecca's employees received were that they should not invite anyone, as they wanted the whole affair to be as simple and quick as possible. Luciano believed that his future wife would hate him for that and Rebecca had the same idea with him, but in the end, it turned out that both wanted the same thing, only that neither really knew it because they delegated all the work to someone else, without even wanting to hear anything about that day. Both had asked their respective assistants to resolve everything on their own, as neither intended to worry about anything other than signing on the day of the ceremony.

"You have to do this," Rebecca said to herself, looking at herself in the mirror on the big day.

She looked beautiful in white. She had asked her best friend to get her a nice wedding dress, because even though she wasn't getting married happily, she at least hoped to do it looking beautiful, as it would probably be the only opportunity she would have to walk down the aisle dressed as a bride.

She took a deep breath and left the room where she had been getting ready, but she was taken aback when she entered the place of the ceremony and realized that Luciano was nowhere to be found. Her sister Diffu, her best friend Marisa, and the priest who would officiate the wedding were the only people present in that place.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked confused and seriously worried. "No one has arrived," Marisa replied, shrugging her shoulders to indicate that she didn't know anything. "Maybe they're running late. We have to wait a little bit more," said Diffu, remaining positive as she always did. Rebecca smiled at her.

The young woman sat on one of the benches to wait. She observed the bouquet of white roses in her hands as anxiety grew inside her. Her mysterious fiancé did not appear. Minutes passed without any sign of him or any member of his family.

"Please call my assistant and find out what happened," she asked Marisa. Marisa nodded and set about doing so. "She doesn't know what happened either," the girl commented after hanging up the call. "She promised to find out and let us know." "Everything will be fine," her sister said lovingly.

Rebecca tried to smile, but she was terribly disappointed. She didn't want to get married, but she didn't want to be left standing at the altar either, especially when her ability to assume full control of her parents' company depended on that wedding. She sighed with regret.

"They're on their way," Marisa told her a few minutes later.

Her assistant had called again to let them know that she had managed to speak to someone on Luciano's staff and he had told her that they knew they were running late, but that they would arrive soon. Rebecca sighed once more, not knowing whether to feel relieved or depressed.

A few moments later, the door of the room opened. Everyone turned in that direction. Rebecca's heart was beating fast with nerves. A middle-aged man, small, dressed in a suit, and with thick glasses, entered the room.

"Is that your fiancé?" Marisa asked, amazed to notice that the man arrived alone. "I thought he would be younger. Isn't he supposed to be your dad's friend's grandson?" "Well, I don't know," Rebecca whispered with a lump in her throat.

The man walked slowly until he reached the altar where the three girls and the priest were. The man introduced himself and showed them the briefcase he was carrying with documents. He was Luciano's lawyer and was there to inform her that the young man would not be coming to the wedding, he had sent him as his representative to carry out all the necessary paperwork in the process, and he was also requesting Rebecca's signature for a cohabitation contract he wanted to agree on.

"What an idiot!" she exclaimed, annoyed as soon as she heard all of that.

She couldn't believe what was happening. She didn't know what offended her more: that Luciano didn't even have the decency to show up for his own wedding, that he sent his lawyer to replace him, or that he asked her to sign a contract to protect his properties and force her to comply with more rules in that senseless marriage.

"Why is he doing this?" asked Rebecca, feeling that she deserved an explanation. "My client is not comfortable with the situation. Mr. Lombardo believes that you and your family may have ulterior motives in all of this, so he has preferred to protect his integrity and the material assets that may be compromised by this union." "He's an imbecile!" replied the girl even more annoyed.

Rebecca felt completely insulted. Both the presence of that lawyer and the mere mention of that contract represented a humiliation for her and her family. She didn't know who her husband would be, but from that precise moment she began to hate him.