'Questions only yield answers when you go looking for them'
"What's up with your face?" A curious Kayden questions.
I shrug in response, yawning as I do. My eyes lock with my reflection in the mirror, only to find visible patches of eczema across my face, I sigh.
"Why are you here?" I ask Kayden who has made himself comfortable on my bathtub watching as I go through my skincare routine.
"Nothing better to do," he shrugs.
I raise my brow at him, locking eyes with him in the mirror. "Today's the wedding," I remind him bluntly.
"I'm aware," he shrugs. I frown, but dismiss him with a shake of my head and focus on my face.
I splash some cold ass water on my face in hopes that it will relieve my skin from this mid-day heat.
Going over my face first with my cleanser, I start to prepare my skin for the utter toucher it will endure this day.
"What's that?" Kayden asks. I look down at the bottle in my hand.
"Toner," I reply, spraying it evenly over my face before gently massaging it in.
"What's it for?" He asks.
"Toning," I shrug, catching him rolling his eyes at my answer. "No shit," he grumbles.
"What's that?" He ask again this time referring to the next product I use.
"Serum," I reply.
"Looks fancy," he concludes.
'For its price, it better be' I think to myself.
"What's that?" He asks again.
"Serum," I reply.
He frowns, "didn't you just use that?"
"That's a squalane serum, this is vitamin C," I explain.
"Oh."
Finishing my routine off with some under-eye patches, hoping it reduces some of my under-eye bags caused by the events leading up to this very day.
As I'm finishing up I grab the bottle of sunscreen sitting on my counter and toss it over to him. Him catching it almost effortlessly.
"If you wanted me to leave you just had to say so, no need to throw stuff at me!" he exclaims with evident amusement. "Violent woman," he adds as an afterthought, to which I roll my eyes.
"Use it," I tell him before leaving the bathroom and flopping down on my bed.
"What makes you think I haven't already got sunblock on?" He quirks his brow at me.
I give him the 'I-know-you' look earning myself an eye roll.
"Shouldn't you be in West-wing getting ready with your mum?" He enquires while lathering his face with SPF.
I shrug. He gives me a look. I sigh.
"Shouldn't you be with Ryan and the guys?" I shoot back.
"I came up to check on you--oh wait," he cuts himself off while delving into his pockets in urgent search of something.
"I almost forgot," he exhales before tossing what I identify as a granola bar towards me.
I make to effort to catch it leaving it to plop down right in front of me on the bed. I stare at it blankly.
Ever since the kidnapping incident, I found myself losing my appetite. It's been two weeks.
It took the guys two skipped meals to figure this out--much to my disappointment--so now they have taken it upon themselves to make sure that I eat.
'I wish mum cared that much' I sigh inwardly.
'She's just preoccupied with all this wedding stuff'
'Everything happening so fast'
'She'll be back to her old self soon enough'
I'm snapped out of my thoughts by a tap on my head. I lift my gaze to meet Kayden's.
"You spaced out on me," he points out. I offer him an apologetic look before moving my eyes back to the granola bar.
After much internal debate, I gently push the bar away from me, not feeling the familiar encouragement of hunger.
"You haven't eaten all day," he remarks, disapproval evident in his tone.
"Not hungry," I shrug.
"Well it's going to be one long ass day, you might not get a chance to grab a bite once the guests start showing up," he reasons with me--something I find him doing quite often now.
"Save it for later?" I negotiate.
"You skipped breakfast saying the same thing," he points out sternly. I sigh.
"Liv, what's actually going on?" He asks with a concern-filled gaze.
"Nothing," I dismiss, but he looks far from convinced causing me to sigh again.
"Why do some people want to stop this wedding so bad?" I ask him just one of the many questions that have been weighing on my shoulders lately.
My question immediately causes him to tense. I can tell my question caught him off guard. He controls his breathing, trying his best not to give away his vulnerability.
"It's wise we stay out of things beyond our control, Liv," he tells me sternly giving nothing away.
I roll my eyes.
"Where are you going?" He asks watching cautiously as I grab my phone and make my way towards the door.
I turn to face him, motioning to my maid-of-honour dress that is securely tucked away in a protective.
"Just eat something later on, okay?" He sighs in defeat. I curtly nod before making my way towards the opposite end of the mansion.
"Can you believe it's finally the day?" Mum acknowledges in excitement, her eyes closed as the make-up artist coats the top of her eyelid with a light nude shimmer.
"I can't believe it's finally the day," she exhales. I hum in response watching with caution as the hairdresser pulls at my locks drawing them out in straight lines with the help of her iron.
"Livy, honey what's wrong?" Mum frowns, discreetly turning towards me, so as to not draw the attention of any other bridesmaid present in the room.
I shake my head in dismissal, but she isnt buying it. I sigh.
"I'm just--" I cut myself off drawing out a long breadth. "I don't understand," I tell her truthfully.
"What don't you understand hon?" She persists.
"Anything," I chuckle bitterly. "Just too much to process too soon," I add.
"I know sweetie, but just give it some time and everything will go back to normal," she assures me.
"And this wedding? Just consider it a formality, everything will be just fine," she adds, gently squeezing my shoulder.
Holding her to her words--as much as my mind advised against it--I forced myself to relax.
It's her big day, and I should be here supporting her, not adding to her stress.
But the endless chain of questions enclosing around my mind in an iron grip makes it extremely hard to do so.
Just as the clock struck one in the afternoon the guests started pouring in from every entrance. Within the next twenty-odd minutes the once barren backyard is now bustling with over two hundred people.
'This is Ryan's definition of a small wedding?'
"It's almost time everyone get ready!" The wedding planner yells, clapping her hands for emphasis.
I help Mum with her dress, offering a small smile of encouragement each time she directed her gaze at me.
"You look stunning," I tell her while fixing her veil.
She smiles a radiant smile, "thank you honey," she beams.
"This is it," she exhales. "Can't believe I'm actually doing this," she adds as an afterthought.
I squeeze her hand in gentle encouragement, before directing my gaze towards the front.
The aisle lined with white and yellow orchids. Every member in the crowd dressed for the occasion, with the beaming sun glaring down at us in all it's furry. Yet everything looks absolutely perfect.
Ryan stood at the end of the aisle, his eyes locked with Mum, yet impassiveness cloaks his emotions from the world.
Light clicking sounds droned in the background of the song that has now started to play--our cue to start walking.
I scanned the crowd, spotting several paparazzi positioned at various strategic locations snapping away at their cameras and aiming them towards us.
The crowd lacked familiarity to me, with there now being over two hundred guests I find that rather astounding.
But each guest has a different emotion on display, with a majority of them rolling off the aura of authority and status. There is almost a noticeable tension amongst a few people in the crowd that I spot, but push that aside.
The crowd is intimidating, to say the least. But I find solace when locking eyes with Kayden, Wesley and Enrique on the opposite side of the aisle.
We take slow strides down the aisle, with me following behind mum--her smile never leaving her face.
Once all the way down, now standing face to face with Ryan and the rest, the priest gently instructs us to take a seat leaving just Ryan and Mum at the makeshift altar.
Followed by the usual wedding speech, the rings are exchanged and vows made.
With emotions thick in the air and soft music droning in the background, the priest takes a moment before continuing.
"Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace," the priest says, followed by a moment of utter silence.
"By the power vested in me by God and man, I pronounce you wife and husband. What God has joined together, let no man p--"
Cut off by the defending sound of a bullet piercing the air, followed by an ear-piercing scream, everything goes dead silent before utter pandemonium strikes the crowd.
My shoulders are grabbed, a rough tug I feel on my arms yet my mind shuts everything out. My eyes glued on one person and one person alone.
I look down in my lap, I find the familiar eyes I've looked into since my memory can serve me back. But this time there's something different.
How did I end up on the altar, I'm not sure. But what I'm very aware of is the feel of a blood-soaked gown against me and lifeless eyes staring back at me.
"Mum!" I yell, snapping out of my initial shocked state, violently shaking her motionless body in desperate hope.
"No, no, no! Mum wake up!" I yell again, my voice drowned out by the yells of the crowd.
"Wake up, please," I beg. "I can't loose you! Please!" Warm arms wrap around me pulling me aside, as four paramedics flood the scene.
"Please, please," I keep chanting. Praying, begging, doing anything within my power, hoping she's fine.
The person holding me doesn't say a word, letting me frantically mumble pleas and prayers as I watch with dread as the paramedics perform CPR on Mum while trying to maintain pressure on the gaping hole the bullet left in her stomach.
Everything happens so quickly. One moment I'm helping my Mum out with her wedding dress, the next she's shot laying lifeless in my lap. To now find myself wheeling her into a hospital with Ryan and the guys in tow.
Doctors and nurses flood the bed pushing us aside. Taken into the protective embrace of Wesley, not for a moment do I stop pleading and praying.
"She needs to be okay," I ramble out thoughtlessly.
"I need her," I cry out. "Just please, please," I mumble softly, my head tucked against his chest, his chin resting over my head.
Soothing me with gentle circular motions on my back, I feel Kayden's familiar cologne invade my senses as he softly strokes my hair.
A few dreadful moments pass. Utter silence follows us throughout. Deep down I know what's coming, yet I refuse to believe it. I just continue pleading and praying to no one in particular--until...
"Time of death 15:38," I hear the doctor call out, causing absolute numbness to encapsulate my body.
Author's Note;
Hey guys, I just wanted to start this note off with an apology for disappearing for so long.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. This chapter was particularly hard for me to write especially with the event of the past couple of months.
Not many of you guys know, but my mum had been extremely sick for the past couple of months and in the month of December she pass away.
So this chapter did take a lot of courage and will to write especially under these circumstances.
But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I will be trying to update more often.
Thanks for reading and all your support.
~Kia