In the bridal suite of the Grand Pierre hotel, the scent of chocolate musk and a thick cologne filled the air. It was her day and she would not spare the tiniest drop of what would make her smell good. The lace was too tight and posed a great deal of discomfort as a wedding gown. But Adeline cared less about her suffocating lungs. After all, Julian loved it and bought it for her. She had told him it was very comfortable — a lie she didn't have to think about before telling it.
Adeline sat motionless, almost like a sculpture, as her makeup artist brushed gold over her cheeks. Her eyes were shut. But her face shimmered in the ring light.
The defeating silence of the room was broken by a knock on the door. She opened her eyes.
"Sarah, could you please check who's at the door?" Adeline spoke calmly.
Sarah was her friend. She headed to the door and opened it. Adeline watched through the mirror before her. A page handed a flower to Sarah with a written note attached to it.
"For the bride, ma'am," he said and disappeared.
Sarah shut the door and turned to Adeline with excitement looming over her face.
"It's a red dahlia, babe," Sarah said. "And…a note too."
Sarah sniffed in the scent from the dahlia and chuckled. "Julian is so sweet. Hold on. I will read the text for you."
Adeline was grinning from ear to ear. Her ears were desperately itching to hear those charming words in the note.
Sarah leaned forward and read the text. She cleared her throat and began.
"...The path you're walking will leave you at a dead end. Don't make the wrong decision. There's still time to avoid this mistake. I am waiting in the shadows of the choir loft."
Sarah grimaced. "What's this? Who's this? Not from Julian, right?"
She read the remaining part. "...From the lover you never gave a chance. I love you."
Adeline took the flower and the note. The petals were soft and tender. But then, the words on the text carried the tone of someone in her life she was fighting so hard to delete.
"Who sent this to you?" Sarah pressed on. "Getting something like this just a few moments to your wedding is crazy. Who is the —"
Adeline responded before she could finish.
"Viktor," she replied.
Sarah hissed. "Viktor? Who is that supposed to be?"
"Viktor Constantino," she said. "He has been sending flowers to me since I warned him to stay off my space and blocked him."
Sarah chuckled in unbelief. "Hold on a second. You mean Viktor. As in Viktor Constantino? The man whose father has been known to paint this town blood red on different occasions. Just last year, he turned the docks into a graveyard. Damn it, Ade. You never spoke about this to me."
Adeline made the artist to stop. She adjusted her position with concern on her face. She had thought she would be able to handle this. They were going to be an item until he mentioned his family.
"I don't know what to do, Sarah. He vowed to quit that life just to prove himself to me."
Sarah shook her head. "Ade, that man isn't good news for you. He is literally a walking death sentence, girl. You are not planning to go to the choir loft, are you? Who knows what he's planned?"
Adeline smiled. "You don't have to be so nervous, Sarah. Don't worry. I have no business with him. Today is my wedding. After today, nothing he does will ever matter again." She sighed. "He loves me, maybe. But I can't throw myself into that world of darkness. I need to be in the light. Julian is my light and he makes me feel safe."
Almost immediately his name was summoned, Adeline's knight in shining armour appeared. Julian. He swung the door open and walked in with quick strides. He looked like the prince charming he was meant to be in a white Italian tuxedo.
His strides were forced to a sudden halt and the smile on his face diminished the moment his eyes fell on the red dahlia in the hands of the woman he was going to be wedded to in a short while.
"I didn't send that," he said casually to Adeline. "Hello, Sarah."
Sarah waved back at him with welcoming grin on her face. She recoiled back into her shell to let the soon-to-be couple have their moment.
Beads of sweat formed on the forehead of Adeline and trickled down her cheek. She tucked the note under a lotion bottle and forced a smile as she approached Julian.
"Well, you didn't. Just stuff from someone you don't have to concern your about. He's not important. Just a ghost from my past. And that's where he will have to remain, my past."
Julian giggled. "Well, you know I can't bear the thought of sharing my woman with someone out there. So, I'll just have to—"
He took the flower from her and flung it into a disposable by the corner.
"You look so ravishing, my love," he said.
Adeline smiled sheepishly. "You are not supposed to see the bride till the wedding, you know."
Julian grabbed her shoulder firmly. "Maybe I can't spare five minutes without seeing you."
"You flatter me a lot, Julian."
Julian leaned forward and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead.
"Today, you will be mine officially. I love you more than you could ever imagine."
Adeline was getting emotional. "I love you too, babe."
Julian landed another lingering kiss and said, "See you out there in the next thirty minutes."
He left the room. Sarah cleared her throat, shaking Adeline off her dream world.
"There's no time," Sarah said. "Let's finish up so you can go to him."
Adeline smiled beautifully. As she sat d
own, Viktor's words crossed her mind.
Nothing could possibly go wrong today, right?