White Vow

Chapter 5 - Guilty as charged

This was the first time she'd been in a church with Emmanuel Rios. When she'd agreed to have Emmanuel accompany her today, she had been thinking about how it would conjure up feelings inside her heart. He was there, sitting right beside her in a church set in the outskirts of Central City. He looked impeccably attractive in a black suit and a red tie. She remembered how anxious she had been all morning as she waited for Emmanuel to arrive.

Before that, she had struggled to find the right dress to wear. She had eventually settled for a white strapless high low cocktail dress with crystal V neckline and elegant chiffon ruffle train.

Emmanuel's eyes were all over the place, obviously awed by the extravagant decorations and the wealthy, influential people around. When he had stopped looking around, he leaned toward her and said, "Man, rich guys sure know how to throw a wedding."

She had to agree that people who had billions of money can afford to celebrate in luxury. She watched as the bride reached the groom and they joined hands before facing the priest. The bride was a beautiful brunette with crystal blue eyes. She gave off an image of a princess in a fairy tale, and the prince was as handsome as any prince. They were such a perfect couple.

Her brother had always dream of her own wedding for his personal pleasure and to annoy her sometimes. She never had such fantasies, though her brother would encourage her from time to time. He said that every girl dreams of her own wedding.

However, she wasn't like every girl in the planet. She briefly glanced at Emmanuel and released a soft sigh. She was truly in love with Emmanuel, but it was something that she couldn't voice out. She knew for a fact that Emmanuel wasn't interested in romance or in her.

She looked straight ahead as the vows were being exchanged. The soft, loving eyes and the words they've uttered were pure and beautiful. Julienne's heart melt for it was touching moment.

Just then she felt Emmanuel's grip, entwining her hand in his. Stunned, she looked at him, and he looked back at her with a smile on his face. "You and I will get married someday too."

Her eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't hide the redness that stained her cheeks when he said that, and it was useless to even try.

Emmanuel's face warmed as he let out a nervous chuckle. Why did he say such things? Oh, yeah, because Angelo gave him these weird ideas last night on the phone about how to set the mood. Now his heart felt like it was going to jump out of place any second. "Umm…I mean…I'm pretty sure you'll get married to a nice, strong guy someday, and he'll be one lucky guy," he said, sitting back and facing front again.

Julienne sighed. Of course, this was Emmanuel Rios. His remark about them getting married had no romantic meaning behind it. He wasn't trying to say that they were going to marry someday. But perhaps he was learning a thing or two about romance now.

As the ceremony ended, they made their way from the church to the reception at a high-class restaurant. Surprisingly, Emmanuel realized once again just how much the rich were willing to spend to make a grand occasion perfect. Of course, he had to hold back when it came to food, even though there were all so scrumptious and tempting. He had to be polite and sophisticated.

During the course of the meal, Emmanuel gathered much unexpected impressions from the people Julienne was familiar with.

He was having mixed feelings about their impressions. One girl, who was about their age said, "He's pretty cute! Where'd you find him?" That was one comment he liked.

But the following comments weren't much of a compliment.

"He's an unfamiliar face. Whose son is he?"