Wedding Night

"The bride is going to sing for her husband." The MC announced and the guests cheered.

Lia choked back a cry of protest, people were watching her, a little too closely at that.

Her mother had loved to sing so she had been the one to add that bit to the ceremony.

Lia didn't want to do it. Not because she couldn't sing, she could after all she was her mother's daughter. She had a beautiful voice that could move people but she didn't want to sing for him.

This was all a sham, why waste her gift on a sham?

"Baby, you don't have to if you don't want to. She's very shy." Fernando said beside her and Lia looked at him. She looked at his eyes, searching to find the truth in his words. "I mean it," he whispered under his breath. "Your mother had included that there despite my refusal."

Lia relaxed at his words glad that she really didn't have to sing in front of all these people who believed this was real.

The MC took the hint and moved on to the next item; cutting of the cake.

Lia rose to her feet accepting Fernando's hand that was stretched towards her and together like a happy couple, they walked towards the cake that Lia had actually picked out.

It was eight layers of cake with a mixture of red velvet, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavours.

Chocolate was her favourite, red velvet was her mother's, vanilla was Fernando's and strawberry was just an added flavor.

She stiffened as Fernando pressed against her, his crouch pressing into her butt. She forced a smile as he dug his fingers into her arm, a silent warning for her to behave.

"Spelling the bride's name to cut the cake. J."

Lia gulped and wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Of course her mother's name was the name the MC would call. She wasn't the bride!

She fought back tears focusing on cutting the cake. With each letter, a piece of her broke and she wished she could turn back time. She shouldn't have gotten married to him, she should have fought.

"T!" The final letter and she let Fernando do all the work. She just stood there while he pushed her hand down with the knife.

It was time for the couple's dance afterwards.

*******

The driver pulled up in front of a huge mansion and Lia stuck her head out to stare, her mouth hanging open.

Was this his house? He really was 'the Fernando'.

"Are you awake?" Fernando asked, stretching his neck and Lia closed her eyes hurriedly cursing herself for it.

Why was she closing her eyes?

"Well I guess you'll be spending the night in the car tonight then. I can't carry you, it's not my style since I'm not a gentleman."

Lia heard movement around but she didn't open her eyes or shake. Fernando would know she had been faking if she made a move.

"Liam, help me get the madam into the house." Fernando's words reached her ears and she relaxed glad that he wasn't going to touch her.

She heard her door open and then someone, Liam perhaps lift her into his arms. She relaxed against his chest playing along, not ready to wake up just yet.

She heard a door open and she opened her left eye slightly to peep and quickly shut it when she thought she'd be caught.

She was exhausted so it was nice having her feet up for a while. When Liam placed her on the bed, she stressed and rolled to one side attempting to wake up.

Lia was just about to open her eyes when something cold splashed on her. Alarmed, she cried and shot out of bed staring at Fernando who was standing in front of the bed holding a bowl.

Did he really splash water on her? What did he want now? "What is the meaning of this?"

"I'd watch your tone if I were you." He replied and walked away disappearing behind a door. Lia assumed it was the bathroom and suddenly wished she could take a shower. Surely such a big house would have a stall as elegant as the one in her hotel suite.

"Now, we have to establish some ground rules." He continued as he walked into the room and settled on a couch Lia hadn't noticed before.

Lia remained where she was even though the temptation to go back to the bed was great. "What kind of rules?" She asked, already dreading what was going to come out of his mouth.

"We are only married in the eyes of the world and nothing more. To the outside world, I am your husband and you are my wife. But inside this house, you're no better than my servants." He paused and Lia listened raptly, not sure she could do anything else.

She wasn't surprised by his words, to be honest she had expected something much worse. Or perhaps he still had other things to say.

And he did. "You will cook my meals, wash my clothes, make my bed, iron and prepare all my clothes for the day. I mustn't have to go without a suit simply because you haven't washed it."

"Of course."

"You're not to tell anyone anything. If word gets back to the media, things will get harder for you. By the time I am done with you, your mother will think twice before leaving a man at the altar."

Lia simply nodded, choking back sobs at his words. He was really hurt because she disappeared on their wedding day. No matter what he did or said, he was covering his pain.

Lia made up her mind there and then to ignore whatever cruel thing he did to her. The fact that she looked like her mother would only make things worse but she would take it all.

"Now I'm starving and the staffs are not around. Go make something for me. If it isn't edible, you'd suffer the consequences."

"Yes." She walked out of the room without another word and climbed down the stairs feeding her eyes as she went.

The house was huge and beautiful. There was so much to see and touch. Pictures of Fernando were nowhere to be found making her frown. Didn't he like taking pictures? He had taken plenty today at the wedding but those had probably been for the public eye.

With a sigh, she searched the big house for the kitchen praying it had everything she needed to make a decent edible meal.

She was too exhausted and battered to start thinking of a dish on her feet. Whatever the ingredients said, she'd do.

"Wow." She gasped as she walked into what looked like just another room except it had pots, pans and other cooking utensils. This was the kitchen. Why was it more beautiful than her house, the one she lived in with her mother?

Lia spent ten minutes checking all the available cupboards in sight and ended up surprised and amazed at what she found. This wasn't a regular kitchen, it was a gourmet one; the kind of one found at restaurants.

Did Fernando love cooking or was it just a part of the elegance the house spoke of?

She opened the fridge and stared at the ingredients. Someone had definitely gone grocery shopping. There was lots of food there and she had too many options for dinner.

If she wasn't so tired and if it had been a different situation, she would have taken her time and thought about a befitting dinner. But right now, she scanned through the ingredients and she chose some eggs, bacon, spaghetti, some fresh tomatoes and other things that she could throw together.

Spaghetti it is.

***

The aroma of something sweet reached Fernando in the master's bedroom and his stomach growled.

The food, the caterer that had been hired for the wedding had made didn't quite do it for him. If the food Amelia was cooking tasted as good as it smelt then, he was never letting her go.

He loved food. Being a chef himself, he had installed his own gourmet kitchen so he could produce his own food.

He had lied, he didn't have servants. Apart from Liam who was his driver, Susan, his housekeeper and the gardener, he had no other workers. He told her that so she could behave.

Amelia was a sweet girl, innocent in every sense of the word. She didn't deserve to be punished for her mother's crime.

If his plan worked out perfectly then Janet Lawson and not Amelia would pay for her crimes.

He just had to play his cards right. In the meantime, he planned to enjoy his time with her. If she could cook this well, then perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad arrangement after all.

He'd hate to punish her for a crime she didn't commit but he couldn't turn a blind eye to what Janet Lawson had done to him.

No one had ever humiliated him as much as she had. She did it and without much effort.

He was so close to letting Amelia go but when she kept defending Janet, he got angry and reacted.

Marrying Amelia was an impulsive decision he hoped he wouldn't come to regret when all this was over.

No doubt she hated him and never wanted anything to do with him. He couldn't blame her but he also couldn't let her go.

He had to make one of the Lawson women pay dearly. If ber mother took his bait then she'd be free to go.

His phone rang pulling him out of his thoughts and he sighed reaching for it. It was his business partner, Adam.

"Congratulations on your wedding man. How is the Mrs doing?"

She ran away. He thought but said instead. "She's fine, cooking dinner."

"Already? That's not right man. Couldn't you have checked into a hotel for at least this night? It's your wedding night man."

'Wedding night ' Fernando thought in disgust. "Well I wanted to sleep in my own bed. What's wrong with that?"

There was laughter on the other end. "Nothing man. Don't you dare show up for work tomorrow, you're fired for the week."

Right, it was his honeymoon. Fernando scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. How had everything gotten so bad?

Why did Janet leave? Did he offend her without knowing? Everything had been going so well. Why did she have to ruin it?

The door of the room opened and Lia walked in looking beautiful in her mother's wedding gown. Fernando tried to imagine what Janet would have looked like in it and anger bubbled inside him.

"The Mrs is here man, I've gotta go. Take care of things and call me if anything…"

Adam hung up before he could finish, the dialing tone ringing in his ears. Fernando gritted his teeth in anger.

                      ***

He used his eyes to follow Amelia's movements and knew the exact moment she felt his eyes on her.

She stiffened and pulled her gown closer to her chest.

Time to execute a part of the plan.

Fernando rose up from the bed and walked towards her aware of how uncomfortable she was getting as he inched closer.

Be scared and hide , Amelia. You have to pay, you have to.

"It's our wedding night Amelia."