Chapter 9

• “The ex-wife of Hollywood’s golden boy, Liam Tate, is now getting married—”
• I rolled the windows shut as we drove past reporters gathered behind barricades, refusing to hear more of what they had to say about me. Probably insults and degrading words to throw at my name. Well, if they know my name, that is when they keep referring to me only as Liam Tate’s ex-wife.
• “It’s just a wedding, why are some streets blocked off?” I turned to Kate who was sitting across from me inside the luxury car, her face glued to her tablet once again. She looked effortlessly elegant today as well, with her hair pulled back neatly.
• “It’s not just a wedding, Kerri.” She began, tapping and swiping on her screen, “It’s a Frantz Wedding.”
• I decided to drop the topic when she didn’t answer the question, and because I also had an inkling of what Kate meant.
• Arlo Frantz is no ordinary man and if he’s getting married then he deserves a grand ceremony, a history in the making.
• And the woman he is about to marry is me, the most hated divorcee.
• Outside, the city blurred by, but I caught glimpses of men dressed in black guarding every block and corners... with guns.
• “And why are there people carrying guns everywhere?” I ask again, pressing my forehead against the tinted window as it zoomed past them.
• A laugh slipped out of Kate’s lips, “If you’re marrying into the Frantz family, reporters are not the only people we should look out for,”
• I pursed my lips. I know I was beaten not too long ago, but having the guards carry rifles seemed to be excessive. Liam’s crazy fans were still out to get me, but I think they won’t do anything so unhinged as to warrant armed guards everywhere.
• “You’re shaking,” Kate pointed out as she set her tablet aside to study me.
• The silk of the gown I was wearing only made the tremors of my legs more obvious. While the bouquet resting on top of my lap shook as well.
• I sharply turned to face her and immediately blurted out an answer, “I just don’t like the color of my bouquet,”
• Kate’s gaze fell on the pure white roses, then back up to meet my eyes.
• “Why?” she asked.
• Because white is a symbol of innocence.
• And I am not too pure of a woman to be wearing one either, especially when Liam had already taken my innocence long ago.
• When the hum of the car filled the long silence between us, Kate sighed.
• “Relax, Kerri. I have known Arlo for so long and if I have to say one good thing about him is that he is good at making sure everything goes his way. He won’t let anything ruin this day, if that is what you’re worried about, not the press, not your sleazy ex-husband, not even you bailing out at the last second.”
• She laughed by the end of her sentence, so I was not entirely sure if she was kidding or not.
• I turned my gaze out the window once more, feeling my heart pound louder at the mention of his name.
• Arlo.
• Even thinking about him made my breathing uneven.
• “It’s just that... everything about him feels so inevitable.”
• I saw Kate tilt her head from the corner of my eyes, “Maybe that isn’t so bad. You’re not oblivious, you can see how he looks at you—”
• “Like I’m property,”
• “I take that back, you ‘are’ oblivious.” She huffed, then leaned forward. “Kerri...” Now her voice was softer, “Arlo cares about you, I wouldn’t say that just to keep you from running away once you see him at the altar. He is the type of man who does not waste time on things that don’t matter.”
• I wanted to refute her sentence, but my throat tightened before I could utter a sound. A shaky breath escaped me, and I managed a nod.
• Kate was right.
• The memory of that night in the alley was burned vividly in my mind – the way he wiped my tears and my blood with unexpected gentleness while the girls who harmed me screamed in pain in the background. Throughout my stay in his mansion, he treated me with gentleness, while I often saw him punish his men from time to time.
• He was a living contradiction.
• A devil who could hurt people without remorse, but hold me with so much care.
• It is exactly what unsettles me to the core.
• What makes me so special?
• Kate spoke again, her tone teasing. “Aren’t you wondering why your injuries healed faster than average?”
• I blinked once, caught off guard. I did remember Arlo treating my injuries from that night, and then the next day it felt like I was reborn.
• I thought it was because the bedroom I was given was too luxurious that it pulled away all my pain and sorrow, but I know that is ridiculous.
• “In Arlo’s line of work, injuries are a daily occurrence. That’s why we imported high-end treatments and prescriptions to—”
• I know Kate is about to say something cheesy about Arlo staying up to tend to my injuries. I appreciate him doing that for me and I admit it did tug my heartstrings a bit– but my mind immediately zoned out the moment I heard about Arlo’s line of work that often injures him.
• Isn’t his family in the fashion industry?
• The Frantz Corporation, a German luxury fashion house known for many things but never about being injured all the time.
• Before I could dwell on that nagging thought, the car slowed and the roar of the crowd grew so deafening that my gaze was pulled away from Kate and out the window to see cameras flashing as if they could burn the through the tinted windows.
• I felt Kate’s assuring hand squeezing mine, her lips curving into a kind smile. “Smile Kerri, today is your wedding... and coronation day.”
• I forced myself to straighten, clutched my bouquet tightly and smiled thinly.
• The door was opened for me and my vision was immediately filled with flashing lights.
• When I stepped outside and stood tall, the flashing lights flooded me, filling my vision with white that it is impossible to even see where I was going, but Kate pressed her warm hand on my back and guided me up the carpeted stairs.
• “How does it feel to get married again?!”
• “Congratulations Mrs Frantz-to-be!”
• “Look over here! Smile for the camera!”
• While I walk, I hear a jumble of words from the reporters, a dizzying roar.
• It was too much.
• It pulled me back to the nights outside the courthouse, the people jeering as tears streamed from my tired eyes.
• I almost stumbled from the weight of that memory crashing over me, my throat burned, and my knees weakened beneath my gown.
• But then –
• My eyes caught sight of him standing at the end of the aisle.
• Bathed in light, he stood there, tall and imposing.
• Arlo Frantz.
• The man who didn’t mind my tainted image and took me in.
• In an instant, the chaos of the crowd behind me melted away. My drumming heartbeat slowed into something steady, pulled into the gravity of his gaze.
• He looked upset, but for some reason, I know it wasn’t because of me, but because of the harsh reporters outside.
• His emerald eyes were locked on me, a cold sharp gaze, as if daring anyone to touch me, to mock me or reduce me again to that broken woman they feasted on. He was the one who got angry in my stead and in that silent look, my terror eased.
• Arlo is not Liam. And though he may be a devil, he will never abandon me the way Liam did.
• The cameras still flashed, but instead of shrinking like I always do, I lifted my chin and walked.
• The change in my demeanor made murmurs erupt from the audience, a ripple of surprise from my transformation.
• They expected the usual trembling, disgraced woman dragged into this spectacle.
• Instead, I gave them a performance of a lifetime by a woman draped in the most expensive silk and crowned with luxurious jewelry, walking with certainty that my revenge would come to them soon.