Chapter 189: One Last Time

Her face looked lovely behind the sheer white veil, like an angel floating in the mist of a glowing halo.

Her eyes were gleaming as she looked up at him, her beautiful blue eyes that had captivated his soul for a long time. Tristan felt a sharp twinge in his chest.

He had showed up here to marry her, he had showed up because he wasn’t willing to abandon her or cause her any form of humiliation. However seeing her in this moment, the solemn vows she took softly, the words of promise to be with him for the rest of their lives, an emotion foreign to him swelled in his heart.

Her dressed in an angelic white dress, standing there… she was waiting for him, waiting to be his bride. His hazel eyes glimmered and he raised his head slightly turning to the side to conceal his emotions.

“You may now all, kiss your brides.” The priest’s words entered his ears.

Slowly, he raised his hands, the weight of emotions in his heart caused his hands to tremble slightly as he raised the veil away from her face, setting it behind her head.

Taking a single step to close the gap between them, with every breath taking in the soft feminine fragrance of her. There were tears in her eyes and she lowered her head, looking downwards. He picked up her chin gently raising her face up towards him, slowly leaning in he pressed his lips to her own.

She closed her eyes and a tear slid down her face. The familiar softness of his lips against her own sending a sweet warmth down to her chest.

After a few seconds, he slowly pulled away, but maintained an inch of distance from her. She looked up into his hazel eyes, and pain choked her throat, she wanted to hold back the tears but was unable to as they trailed down her face. In a split second, his lips caught her own again.

Like a sealing promise she was aware in her heart would soon fade, but it was a moment of bliss she wanted to savour. Her hands grasped onto his shoulders, as he pulled back from the kiss minutely, tilting his head to catch her lips even deeper.

Hearts beating in sync, captured in a fading moment of love, one that they both savoured knowing it might as well be the last.

With his arms around her waist he pulled her close to him, so close it could be suffocating, like an attempt to blend her into himself and have her with him at every second, every moment.

She wanted to etch the memory of his kiss in the depths of her soul, the warmth of his lips, the safety of his arms around her, she didn’t mind how closely he pressed her to him, she wanted to hold on to him for as much as she could as well.

With a desperately lingering reluctance along with the desire to breathe, their lips finally parted. It was as if they had both been in a small world of their own in those moments where they had forgotten about the large crowd around them. But a rumbling applause filled their ears once they let go of one another to return to reality.

Celine opened her eyes to see everyone staring at them, including all the couples who now had their eyes on Tristan and herself as they applauded loudly.

She caught sight of Hailey who was beaming in excitement at her as if saying; she told her everything would be alright between her and Tristan.

His eyes were still on her, and she looked over at him again, her heart ached as she recalled that perhaps after this, she would not be able to look at him like this again, she might not be able to find the warmth and comfort of him around her.

In the moment of this kiss she had felt the gravity of their emotions, both hers and his merged together, so strong she’d have sworn he loved her deeply. Because why… Why did he always look at her as if she was the only thing he could see? Why did he always kiss her as if he wanted to blend her in with himself, as if it was the last?

More tears trailed down her face, but this time, while looking up at him, she didn’t wipe them away, a smile curved up her lips, one that turned bitter a second later. Even if she knew this was all going to end soon, she wanted to feel the slight joy of being his bride, she wanted to fixate this memory in her heart, the memory of him standing before her at the altar as her wedded groom, her husband.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed him once again, without a second’s hesitation he wrapped his arms around her waist again, pulling her in.

The crowd were full of enthusiasm. At first they thought this couple had a weak relationship, however seeing the depth of their love for each other, everyone couldn’t help but feel that they loved each other the most among all the couples.

Mr Reyes had a wide satisfied smile on his face as he applauded among the crowds.

Hailey leaned against her husband’s chest watching Celine and Tristan with a big smile on her face as well. It was so obvious that they were deeply in love. She was certain that things would be absolutely fine between them from now on.

***

The bright day soon turned to night as the sun descended down the horizon paving way for the stars to shine brightly up in the sky.

Celine stood on the terrace of the honeymoon suite assigned to her and Tristan, by the edge her hand holding the railings clutching tightly. Her emotions were in full distress at the moment, and she didn’t want to keep crying, but her heart hurt so much only the tears could relieve her of the pain.

“Please don’t tell me you plan to jump.”

She heard a deep husky voice behind her, his tone was soft. This was the second time he’d said these words to her, but she felt like this time held an unhidden emotion.

She slowly turned around to see Tristan standing at the entrance of the terrace. Though this terrace wasn’t as huge and luxurious as his penthouse suite where they’d met that night, she felt deja -vu once again.

Both of them stood on either side of the terrace, the wind blowing against them, but their gazes were still fixed on each other.

After some time, he raised his hand to show her what he was holding. Her eyes trailed down to look at his hand to see him holding a file.

She looked up at him in surprise, “This is…”

“We can now sign the contract.” He said, “Grayson Corp has successfully purchased the lands from the Rowena islands.” He relayed the good news, however, there was no trace of joy or triumph in his voice at their success in purchasing the land.

Celine wanted to smile, the reason they had come here in the first place had been finally achieved, and they wouldn’t need to keep staying here anymore, but instead she felt something choke up her throat which she tried hard to swallow down.

Tristan was also silent, they stood there for a few minutes before Celine finally broke her gaze away from him, she cleared her throat so it wouldn’t sound choked before saying, “Congratulations, you finally have what you want.”

She quickly wiped the tear from her cheeks hoping he wouldn’t see it.

He slowly walked towards her until he came to stand before her, he lifted her chin then gently wiped the tear from her cheeks with his thumb,

“Don’t cry.” He murmured softly, she finally lifted her gaze to look up at him.

Tristan could see it in her eyes, she was painfully heartbroken, his chest tightened even more at the pain in her eyes. “Don’t shed your tears for me… I don’t deserve it.”

She caught the fleeting sadness in his eyes before he suddenly turned around to leave, however she moved fast to clutch onto his arm stopping him from walking away.

He stopped walking but didn’t fully turn around to look at her,

“Why did you marry me? Why did you show up? You walked out on me and said that you didn’t love me, leaving me at the altar would have been easy, why did you have to come back, why did you show up?” She could no longer contain her emotions as she poured out successive questions.

Tristan swallowed the lump in his throat while trying to keep his face hidden from her. He didn’t say a word for a few seconds trying to compose himself, after a while he said softly,

“I won’t restrict you, before coming I’d already had Kaleb prepare the divorce papers, I’ll set you free. I won’t make things awkward for you, after we return, I’m returning your investment for Grayson Corp, you won’t have to keep seeing me everyday, it’ll be like I never existed in your life.”

Hearing that, Celine felt her heart shatter even if she had expected something like this to happen. She knew the marriage was just a sham in front of everyone, and she knew it wouldn’t last, but she still felt deeply pained hearing him say he had prepared for an immediate divorce before hand.

Her hand holding Tristan’s arm weakened and she slowly let him go. Immediately she released him he walked back into the suite, he returned some minutes later holding another file along with a pen.

He watched the lost look in her eyes for a few seconds then slowly approached her again handing her the pen and the file for her to sign.

Tears were gleaming in her blue eyes as she looked listlessly at the file he was handing her.

With slightly trembling hands she reached out and took the file along with the pen. She opened the file and felt a pang in her chest when she read the heading of the file that had written boldly; Divorce agreement.

Tears clouded her vision as she clutched the pen tight in her grip hovering over the paper to sign it.

Had she become his wife just for a fleeting moment only to lose it immediately after? Had she been given a taste of joy for a moment only to have it taken away once again?

If she signed these papers, her wedding with Tristan which had just happened a few hours ago would be annulled, and she knew if they left the islands, it would be hard for there to ever be anything between them ever again. She knew Tristan would do everything he could to avoid her. And he would also give her back the investment, which meant terminating all her connections with Grayson Corp since he was intending to set her free.

From the moment she signed these papers, she might never get to see him again.

Celine’s hand retracted the pen, she took in a deep breath, blinking back her tears, then slowly looked up at him.

If this was the last time she could ever be with him, she wanted it to be a beautiful memory she could keep in her heart forever.

“I will sign the divorce papers, and after that, I’ll walk away from your life, I’ll make sure you never see me again…” Her voice sounded hoarse with pain.

“But on one condition.” She had a firm look in her eyes as she held his gaze.

“For one last time… I want you to make love to me.” She said softly.

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