The CEO's Sweetheart

She stood in front of a full-length mirror and gazed at the beautiful woman with bright blue eyes that were brimming with excitement. Her delicate, bow shaped lips sported a dazzling smile that seemed to light up her whole persona. The parade of the butterflies in her stomach seemed to be unending, only adding to the building anticipation she had.

The pearl white A-line wedding gown that she had spent hours deciding upon was truly marvelous. The sweetheart neckline, encrusted with tiny rhinestones that sparkled in the sun was a beautiful contrast to the otherwise plain bodice of the gown making it give off a simple yet classy look. Just what she was vying for. She barely even recognized herself, she looked like an exquisite, enthralling creature, almost too good to be true.

The impeccable dress, more than usual amount of make-up hid the trails of tears on her cheeks, her quaking feet and nervous form, well enough. She looked both beautifully and carefully put together.

She studied the woman in the reflection, this was the woman who was about to get married to the love of her life. The woman who was going towards the future she had only dared to dream of for so long. The woman who had been through hell and back to keep her dream from being sabotaged. Here she was today, finally.

She took a steadying breath as she put on the bridal veil.

Her mother handed a bouquet of white roses to her, her favorite. She had also read somewhere that white roses were associated with young love and eternal loyalty, that’s another reason why she’d chosen them for her bouquet. Should have chosen orange lilies instead, she mused thinking of how apt they would be.

She turned around to see both her parents looking at her with pride and their ever-encouraging smiles made her heart break, just a little. On any other day this would have given her the extra push she needed but today, it scared her.

Her mind was all over the place with her thoughts stirring up a storm in her head that not even a long, reassuring hug from her mother could cure. Amidst all the chaos both outside and inside her head, her heart seemed usually quiet for the occasion, then again it did help her make this decision in the first place.

She stood there as still as the wind before disaster strikes as her parents showered her with compliments and congratulations. Her parents were happy for her as they should be, they had wanted this for their daughter as well. They were there with her, by her side as she fruitlessly fought for control.

They wanted the wedding to go on smoothly, no matter what. If this were a few days ago, she would have thanked them for their support but not today. Today, it felt like they were smothering her to death.

As she stepped through the chapel doors, she wondered if that feeling was exactly the same feeling that a convict walking towards a prison after receiving a life sentence for a crime she did not commit. The soft music of a painfully familiar song played in the background, their song, her choice. She detested the amount of effort she had put in for the wedding.

The arrangements were just perfect. Each and every individual aspect was looked into by him and her. Though, it was more of her efforts to perfect everything so that on this very day, everything went seamlessly, according to plan. And it was. Everything was just as it was supposed to be, all the material things that is. But her raging emotions, confused head and taciturn heart were wrestling for control and meddling with her feelings about the day.

She caught sight of him standing there immaculately dressed, at the altar. In his fitted black tux, perfectly made black tie, with is brown hair swept back in a sleek manner he looked devilishly handsome. He was looking at her ardently with those brown eyes that had stolen her heart all those years ago. He stared into her eyes, unaware of the tears in them.

His bright smile, did not falter one bit as she matched his smile with one of her own. To any onlooker he looked like a man in love, a man who couldn't take his eyes off of his lovely bride but what they couldn't see was how watchful his gaze was. How calculated his movements were. He looked like a predator who’s cornering the prey, her.

He clasped her hand as her father gave her away. It may seem like a calming gesture, loving even. But was it? At this point, it was probably just a social necessity. Everything about the say felt so final, so binding and not in a good way.

She wistfully looked back at her father's retreating form. His head was held high and there was a bounce in his step. She was sure that her mother was there, somewhere among the seated guests thanking God for having them make it to this day. She, on the other hand felt otherwise. The preacher's opening words sent a shock through her body, paralysing her with fear.

She could hear her own heart beating so loudly that she feared that half the guests in the chapel could hear it. She was in a daze until the preacher asked them to exchange their vows. They had both written their own vows, it was his suggestion. He had said that it would sound more heartfelt that way, but now she doubted her heart.

She looked up at him with as he trailed on with his vow. She tried to keep her expression as neutral as she could as he recollected some of their precious moments. His bright smile never faltered and she saw the love that he felt for her shine in his eyes while hers remained dull, almost vacant of any feelings.

As he asked her if she'd be his to love and to hold for the rest of their lives, she realized she wasn't so sure anymore. Wasn’t the rest of her life too long a time to devote to her parent’s happiness? She looked at the wedding band he had placed on her ring finger sometime during his vow. The cold twenty- four carat ring felt like it weighed tons.

She moved her gaze back to the man she was about to marry. Lost, was the boy she had fallen in love with eight years ago, in his place stood a man with the same face, the same eyes, the same smile. It dawned upon her that his looks were the only things that had remained unchanged.

Her feelings on the other hand had changed. She didn't feel anything for him anymore. Her heart was not calling out for him and she feared that neither was his. She opened her mouth to speak. She knew that the word that was about to come out of her mouth was not going to be received well by the wedding party and the collective gasp that followed confirmed it.

"No." She had said clearly with unwavering determination caressing the word.

This simple two letter word created havoc at the wedding. Within a matter of two seconds, all hell broke loose. After a second of pin drop silence, the chapel was engulfed in not so hushed murmurs. Her parents had risen up from their seats and were looking at her with matching flabbergasted expressions.

"Don't do this. Not now." He whispered, giving her an accusing look.

That look was confirmation enough that the decision she took had been the right one. She didn’t need to put up with his holier than thou act any longer. This was her chance.

"No." She echoed the word again as she hiked up her gown and bolted out of the chapel.

The shouts of her parent's, the man she'd left at the altar and whoever bothered could be heard in the still of the day, but she had made a decision. She was going to live for herself.

With that thought, she hastily got into the brand-new Audi which was a wedding gift from her parents to them. She thanked Lord for the keys being there in ignition, cranked it up and drove away.

The last thing she saw was his defeated demeanor become smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror. Her parents were by his side with apologetic looks on their faces as they patted his back. She had been the cause of that, they felt ashamed of her and that was the only thing she regretted about that day.