He Was Never Mine

The sunlight reflected into the room, and the peaceful sound of nature echoed through the atmosphere. Carmen smiled as the makeup artist applied a thin primer layer to her moisturized skin. Her eyelashes gently touched each other as an eye primer got added to her eyelids. She could feel the softness of the brush when it touched her face as the lady applied the foundation to brighten her skin tone.

　　The door opened, and a classic woman stood at the doorway with a bright smile.

　　"Mini, Is the bride ready?" She asked.

　　"No, I am still touching up her makeup," Mini explained as she put some cream concealer on her finger and lightly dabbed her fingertips on areas that looked dark on Carmen's face.

　　Carmen turned to gaze at the woman, her lips curved in a grin. "Mom! What are you doing here? I thought you were out there greeting the guests."

　　"I want to see my daughter transformed into a beautiful bride." Her mother said with a smile.

　　Mini stopped working on Carmen's face a few minutes later after she had layered the color on her lip.

　　"My job here is done. Mrs. Smith, how would you grade my work." She said with a beam on her face as she lay down the lipstick and turned Carmen's chair toward the door.

　　Mrs. Smith's smile broadened, and her eyes sparkled, seeing how elegant her daughter seemed.

　　"Mini, you are amazing. She looks like the most stunning bride I have ever seen, and for that, I give your work an A-plus." Mrs. Smith said.

　　She walked away from the door and approached Carmen. Her hand gracefully touched her daughter's face, and her eyes teared.

　　"My beautiful baby." Mrs. Smith cried.

　　"Mom," Carmen whispers sadly.

　　Her mother's emotional outbursts were negatively affecting her mood.

　　"Mini, can you excuse my daughter and me? I want to assist her in wearing her wedding gown." Mrs. Smith said with a slight smile.

　　"Okay. I am going to leave now." Mini replied and left the room.

　　Carmen knew that there was more to her mother's statement. She looked at Mrs. Smith and saw that her smile had disappeared, leaving only sadness on her face.

　　"Mom, what is this actually about?" Carmen asked with an aching heart.

　　Mrs. Smith pulled a chair in front of her daughter and sat down.

　　Carmen and her mother were now facing each other.

　　"Does Liam love you?" Her mother asked.

　　Carmen laughed at first, but then her smile faded when she noticed that her mother was serious.

　　"Oh, you are serious. Mom, today is my wedding day. I will be his wife in less than an hour, and you choose this moment to ask me such a question?" Carmen said in a shaking tone.

　　"Carmen, I could not ask you this question since I thought you and Liam were just a flame for you and you would get over him soon. Plus, your grandpa seems to like that you were in a relationship." Mrs. Smith said as she held onto her daughter's hands.

　　Carmen slowly pulled her hands from her mother's grip. She was now tearing up and felt thankful to Mini for using waterproof makeup on her face.

　　"Why now? Why are you saying all this to me now?" Carmen cried.

　　The tears were now falling from her eyes uncontrollably. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffed.

　　"I did not want to go against your and your grandfather's wishes. But baby, this is a marriage you guys are talking about now. You and Liam have to live under the same roof and see each other daily, and I want to make sure he loves you. Because I don't feel like he does." Mrs. Smith explained.

　　Her daughter's teary face was aching her heart, but she knew this was the best decision she had made for Carmen.

　　"He loves me. If he did not, then why are we even getting married? Why will his family and his friends be here? Why would anyone want to be in this building?" Carmen screamed.

　　Her heart was racing, and she could not understand what she was feeling, but Carmen could tell it was not joy.

　　"Fine. Please stop crying. It's my fault. I should not have assumed." Mrs. Smith said as she embraced her daughter.

　　Carmen rested her head on her mother's shoulder and wept bitterly. She knew her mother was right. Liam never told her he loved her, not once in their relationship. But she thought it was because he was shy. Now that her mother had brought the subject up, she felt deep in her heart that Mrs. Smith was right.

　　After Carmen had cried out her fear and pain, it took her a few minutes to calm down. From there, her mother helped her wear her gown, and they did not discuss what had happened. There was only silence cycling within the room.

　　Liam was the only one in the groom's dressing room. He had not worn his suit yet. His hair was messy, and his face looked frowned upon. He was on a call, and his expression appeared gloomy.

　　"I don't think I can do this. It's not fair to you and me." He said.

　　"You can't do this to her. We both can't break her heart." The caller replied.

　　"How can't you expect me to marry a woman I don't love? Are my feelings not as important as hers are to you!" Liam lashed back in anger.

　　"That's not true. I love Carmen, and for her, I am willing to sacrifice my love for you."

　　Liam ended the call in rage. He looked into the mirror and hated his reflection.

　　"Why do I have to suffer for you? You denied me the chance to be with the woman I love, and now I will do the same for you. Every single pain I am feeling, you will undergo the same until you divorce me." Liam stated.

A few minutes later, the hall got crowded with relatives, friends, guests, and the family of the bride and the groom.

It took a brief while, but everyone finally got seated in their respective seats and patiently waited for the groom to appear.

Five minutes passed in silence, yet the groom did not show up as everyone expected.

Then within a split second, the hall got noisy as people started questioning Liam's lateness.

"Where is your good-for-nothing son!" Liam's dad screamed at his mother in a fit of rage.

But she scowled at him and lashed out, "Why are you shouting at me? So is he, not your son too!"

As the noise in the hall increased, the groom's family seats on the front roll became boisterous with questions. Liam's parents were taking all the heat from their relatives, even though they tried to give an excuse for their son to remove the tension from them.

Things were getting out of control, and the whispering got more emphatic as people continued mumbling and turning to the next person seated by them to gossip.

"Since the groom is not ready, we will call the bride inside. May we all stand as the bride enters." The clergyman announced.

A few minutes passed, and then everyone suddenly stood up from their seats as the large wooden door opening caught their attention, causing the entire hall to become peaceful.

The musician started performing the bridal chorus, and Carmen marched gracefully down the aisle.

Her glamorous white gown, veil, and matching diamond headpiece brought out the bride in her as her eyes beamed with excitement.

As Carmen slowly marched towards the floral arch, her eyes searched the stage for her groom for a while.

Then her finger clenched tightly around her white silk bouquet when she did not see Liam.

But Carmen kept her head high and continued walking, and then halfway down the aisle, her dad walked up to her, and she held onto his arm as he took her to the stage.

"Don't worry, Carm. He will be here." Mr. Smith whispered in his daughter's ear before going to his seat.

But Carmen did not believe her father's words as another two minutes passed, and people started getting restless.

After acting calm for a brief while, the guests started to look back at the door, wondering when the groom would walk inside.

Then another five minutes passed and another four minutes.

At this point, Carmen could feel her tears flowing again. Today was her happy moment, but she did not feel like the luckiest bride in the world.

All hope seemed to be slipping away from her heart when the door suddenly banged open, and Liam walked inside.

Immediately, Carmen turned her head to stare at her groom. Instead of feeling happy, her tears seemed to pull more, and she could not believe he entered the wedding hall wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

"What is going on in the head of your mischievous son?" Liam's grandfather shouted at his daughter-in-law and son.

But his parents could not answer as they bent their heads in shame, realizing that their son had brought embarrassment to the Davis name, and yet, they knew why he did it.

The hall became clamorous again. But this time, the noise was a bit louder than the last.

The whispering became more lucid for Carmen to hear, and the scandal people had to say about her wedding was unbearable for her to handle.

Their mocking statements and ridiculous remarks wounded her as much as seeing the scowl on Liam's face.

Keeping his gaze fixed on Carmen, Liam walked up and faced her.

As she focused on his eyes, she saw pure hate in them, and it hurt her to see such a look of misery in his expression on such a day.

With an aching heart, Carmen kept her head bent the entire time the clergyman spoke, knowing how much the look on Liam's face was breaking her heart.

Feeling completely desperate, all Carmen wanted to do at that moment was to look him in the eyes and ask him why he was acting like a jerk on their wedding day because she honestly didn't know.

The entire time, Carmen continued to puzzle over if it was her fault that he acted this way and what she did to get treated in such an awful manner.

"Now I need the groom and bribe to say their vows. So the bride can go first." The clergyman intoned.

Holding her breath, Carmen lifted her head and gazed directly into Liam's eyes before exhaling softly.

Then she faintly smiled to lighten the mood. But Liam's expression didn't change, and his face seemed to become stiffer.

However, Carmen was still hopeful that her vow would make him forget and forgive whatever she had done to him.

"From today onward, I belong to you and only you. I will love, stay by your side, trust you, and cheer you on for the rest of my life." Carmen boldly said, pausing for a second as she waited for a reaction from Liam.

When she got none, she bravely continued, "From the moment you wrote that confession note to me, I have kept those words close to my heart, and never will I forget them. I love you, Liam Davis."

'Here we go again with this damn love note. I never wrote it for you.'Liam thought, screwing his face into a frown.

"Groom, it's your turn." The clergyman said.

After a few seconds, Liam did not answer, but he still waited patiently.

But Liam seemed too focused on his thoughts to hear what was said to him, and it took the clergyman five calls to get his attention.

"Liam! It's your turn to say your vow to the bride." The clergyman awkwardly reminded him when their gaze met.

"Oh, I did not bring the paper that I wrote my vow on, and I can't remember what I wrote," Liam replied sarcastically.

Then he casually put his hand in his pocket like he did not care about what was transpiring.

"Haha, You have humor. But let's put the joke aside. Don't you have anything to say to your bride?" The clergyman said in annoyance.

"Wait, you are right. I do have something to tell my bride." Liam coldly intoned.

Immediately, Carmen's face lit up because of his words as she wondered if things would take a turn for the better.

With a deadpan expression on Liam's face, he drew close to Carmen and whispered, "I don't love you. I never did, and I never will."

Then he pulled away from Carmen with a sly smile as he stared at the devastation in her eyes.

Time stopped instantly for Carmen, and she stood still, suddenly numb from those words.

Even though she wanted to believe what she had heard, her heart shattered every sense of reasoning she had.

So when the clergyman asked Carmen if she would take Liam to be her lawfully wedded husband, she said, "Yes," without any hesitation, and with a frown face, Liam did the same.

"I now pronounce you guys husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The clergyman declared.

After hesitating for a moment, Liam removed the veil from over Carmen's teary face and went in for a kiss.

It took a second, and then Carmen mumbled, "Ouch," as the salty taste of blood pulled upon her tongue when their mouths parted.

Knowing that he had bitten her, Carmen swallowed her fear as the cheering and clapping sounds in the hall grew louder.

The excitement on the faces of people was joyful. But Carmen could not forget the coldness in Liam's voice when he whispered to her, "You made your choice. Now you have to dine with the devil."