I was trying to make myself late again. I was currently standing in the middle of my closet as I tried to decide what I should wear or rather I was trying to make Josephine who was supposed to help me get ready think I was trying to figure out what I wanted to put on which was a lie.
I was not thinking of what I would wear because, in the end, I would grab the first outfit my fingers touched. Instead, I was trying to make myself believe that I was really getting married today.
My wedding was nothing like I would have imagined it to be if I ever had to think about what my dream wedding would be because there was no wedding.
It felt useless to get angry over the logical reason why there was no wedding ceremony, but it still irritated me and made my annoyance for Atticus grow.
He didn’t want to have any wedding, so we were just going to be signing the papers, and the lawyers were going to take care of the rest.
Dad had explained to me that Atticus decided not to have any wedding because he was being considerate of Dad’s condition, but I called bluff on Atticus’ supposed concern for my dad.
I was very much aware that the only or main reason he didn’t want to have a marriage was that there was no need to conduct one since he had already concluded that we were doing business.
Weddings were supposed to be a special moment for the bride and groom but we had no special relationship that needed to be celebrated, hence no wedding was needed.
“Did you find something you would like to wear yet? We need to be in your father’s room. You are already late, young mistress” Josephine spoke behind me, and I turned to give her a hard glare that made her flinch and whimper.
“Could you please keep quiet for more than ten minutes? I am not in the mood to be nice at all” I snapped, and her eyes widened a little from how harsh my words were, but I was too irritated to care at the moment.
“I’m sorry, young mistress. I’ll wait for you in the bedroom” She turned and left the closet, giving me space to think without the distraction of her constantly shuffling feet behind me.
She had been acting like a damn alarm clock for the last minute, adding to my already sour mood which had put her at the end of my backlash.
I knew it wasn’t her fault since she was just doing what Duke had instructed her to do but she didn’t have to open her mouth to remind me of something I already knew about every ten minutes.
I breathed in relief at finally being left alone. I knew Duke would come barging in at any moment from now. I was supposed to be at Dad’s bedroom forty minutes ago and yet I was still undressed and didn’t care.
Deciding I had kept them waiting for long enough, I snatched the white gown on the hangar beside me. It was a simple and plain gown which was perfect for my state of mind.
I was about to pull the gown over my head when my petty mind began to discourage me again.
Wouldn’t he think you’re wearing white because of the wedding? It would seem as though you are putting on a white gown because you couldn’t wear a wedding gown. Put it down Hazel, wear another dress and make sure it isn’t white.
It felt as though I had been burned by the way I had tossed the dress to the floor as petty thoughts invaded my head. I reached for the hangars again and pulled the blue gown that had been next to the white one and pulled it over my head.
I let my hair down. I had curled it earlier but that was the only thing I cared to do. My wavy blonde hair was almost at my waist as it framed my face and made my eyes stand out more.
I put on some lip gloss and blush to give my cheeks and lips a little colour before stepping out of the closet.
Josephine’s shoulders sagged in relief when she saw me, and I rolled my eyes at how dramatic she was being. I was being harsh on default today and I couldn’t help it.
I walked out of the bedroom, leaving her behind and I heard her scramble to follow me, but I didn’t slow down for her.
I considered taking my time and walking as slow as I could, but I just had to accept that no matter what I did, I was signing those papers so there was no need to delay it any further. I should just get it over with as soon as I could.
There was a total of five people when I walked into Dad’s bedroom. Three of these faces I was familiar with, and it helped ease my nerves even though the lawyer, Jeremy was not family but a personal lawyer.
I dared myself to look at Atticus and I could see he had a pinched expression. He had an irritated look as he watched me with disdain. This caused my steps to falter but hopefully, not too noticeably.
I tried to figure out why he would look at me like that when we had barely had any conversation with each other. Maybe he was a bit angry that I wasted his time again for the second time.
Men like him often hate to be kept waiting so maybe that was the reason. If that was it, then he better be prepared to wait on me for the rest of our lives.
It was a relief to see Dad was awake today. For the past two to three days, he had barely been conscious and that had terrified me a great deal because I was well aware that he was on borrowed time.
I walked around the bed to place a kiss on his forehead and another on his cheeks. He gave me what he thought was a smile, but his lips could barely curl up to produce one.
“Princess” Dad managed to croak out. His voice was just an octave higher than a whisper and if the room had not been dead silent then I probably would not have been able to hear him.
“Hey, Dad. It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” I felt stupid and terrible for asking him a question with an obvious answer.
“Terrible but being able to be here for this makes me better”
It was so painful to watch him struggle to get a few words out. To make sure I didn’t tear up in front of the people in the room, I turned to them so I could greet him. It would be foolish to ignore the man forever, not that it was possible.
“Hello, Mr Hayland. It’s good to see you again” I said and watched as his brows crept up an inch, but he betrayed no emotion.
He took the hand I had extended in a firm grip but not hard enough to hurt me.
“Hello Miss Reyes, It’s a pleasure to see you again. You look lovely by the way” he added.
I eyed him with suspicion. I didn’t know what he was trying to do when it was so obvious that I didn’t put any effort into my appearance. Was he teasing me? Atticus didn’t linger and turned his attention back to my father who was watching us interact.
“Shall we begin?” Atticus asked the lawyers who nodded their heads, and I took a seat beside Dad’s dead.
The lawyers had some documents with them as they flipped through the pages and discussed quietly for some minutes before Atticus’ lawyer spoke.
“We are present today to legally bind Mr Atticus Hayland and Miss Hazel Reyes in a legal marriage. We have prepared the terms and conditions, and I will read it out to you. If any of the parties have any objections to the terms, please indicate and we will try our best to see how it can be adjusted to ensure both parties are comfortable”
Wow, it felt like a business transaction and not a marriage.
“The terms are pretty short and simple and are also easy to comprehend but ensure that if there is anything that you don’t understand, you have to point it out so we can explain everything clearly to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the documents,”
Jeremy explained looking at me straight in the eyes as if he was trying to tell me a hidden message.
“Party A will be Miss Reyes and Party B will be Mr Hayland.” His lawyer explained. He gave Jeremy a curt nod and Jeremy fished out another file from the bag that had been sitting by his foot on the floor.
To be honest, the moment Jeremy began to read out the terms, I tuned them both out because I didn’t care for anything that had to do with the law. My eyes were on my dad who was barely awake and was trying to stay awake.
“Miss Hazel…Miss Hazel…Miss Reyes”
I snapped out of my thoughts at the mention of my name. I turned to see three pairs of eyes on me and blushed in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts. What were you saying Mr…?”
“To be honest, I wasn't paying any attention, I'm sorry,” I said sheepishly, and I watched both of their eyes widen in shock.
“Do we read the whole thing again for you?” Anthony asked and I shook my head.
“Duke, what do you think?” If there was anyone’s judgement, I trusted other than myself or Dad’s, it would be Duke.
“I think it is well drafted” That was all I needed. Duke would never lead me astray or make a decision that would harm me in the future, I trusted him with my life.
“Well then, I guess I don’t have any objections,” I said while looking at Atticus.
“Okay since that’s settled, you both can sign the documents now” Jeremy said. He gave Atticus about four documents, and he signed them first before Jeremy handed the documents to me.
The documents consisted of a marriage certificate, transfer of shares to Atticus, transfer of management to Atticus and the last one which was signed by only me, claiming all of Dad’s property as mine. He wanted to hand them all down before he passed.
“All documents have been duly signed and will be taken in for processing. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Hayland”