The Billionaire She Was Forced To Forget

“Alya, you need to listen to me, and whatever you do, don’t let him know you found out.” Zara’s eyes filled with tears.

“Zara, you’re scaring me. What is it?” She asked, frightened.

“Please don’t marry him; he’s not what you think he is.” She pleaded as Alya watched, while she had her wedding dress on, looking puzzled while waiting for her sister to blurt out what she had to say.

“Do you remember the night at the hotel? The night you called me crying?”

Alya’s expression changed.

“Barely. I remember being drunk; I remember him taking me home.”

“That’s what he told you”.

“What do you mean?”

“What happened after that?” Zara asked, hoping her sister would remember.

“I— I don’t know, Zara. I can’t recall that night. What is it you’re scaring me about? I’m supposed to be walking down the aisle in 5 minutes!”

Zara pulled out her phone, her fingers shaking as she opened the video.

“I found this yesterday. I watched it so many times that I started wishing I had never seen it.”

She turned the screen towards Alya.

Alya started watching the video, struggling to understand what she was seeing. She saw herself in bed asleep. Two people walked in, one who looked like her best friend June and the other, she couldn’t really tell.

“What is happening, Zar? What is all this?”

“Just keep watching.”

There was no sound coming from the video, but they were speaking to each other while she was still asleep in bed.

Alya enlarged the video to the person she couldn’t seem to know who it was. Alya’s eyes widened, confused.

“That’s Jaydin. What is he doing with June? Why is she in the room with us?”

Zara stayed quiet while still looking at the video in her hand.

That’s when she got the shock of her life. Her boyfriend and her best friend started making out, removing each other’s clothes, carrying her as she wrapped his legs around him while he sat on the chair with her on top of him. She looked at herself on the bed, still asleep. No idea of what was going on.

Alya’s face went pale.

Zara turned the phone off. “You’ve seen enough; now you know what to do.”

Alya stood there, in shock, speechless.

“AAARRHHH!”

Alya screamed as she threw the bouquet from her hands and fell to her knees. She was not upset, but she was angry and betrayed.

“Alya, not here. He doesn’t have to know you found out. We can just walk away and not walk down the aisle; you don’t have to see him ever again. We will make him pay for what he did, and June, she can fuck off. Let’s leave while you still can.”

It was as if she didn’t know him again; after loving him for 3 years, and her best friend, a friendship of 7 years gone to waste, she just couldn’t accept it.

“No!!” Alya said angrily.

“What? What do you mean no, Alya? This is enough evidence that he’s cheating on you with your best friend for God knows how long.”

She crawled on the ground, picked up her bouquet, and stood up. She walked to the mirror and looked at her reflection, touching up her makeup.

Zara looked at her, confused, as if Alya didn’t care about what she had just witnessed on the phone.

“Don’t tell me you’re still going to marry this filthy man!”

She stayed silent, walking to the door.

“Alya!” She called out.

“Come on, let’s go; we have a man to marry.” She said, forcing a smile, as if it was all just a dream.

She got to where the ceremony was being held. The sounds of the violin started playing. People stood up as she walked down the aisle. Their heads turned towards her. She walked as her fingers trembled around the bouquet of white tulips.

At the other end stood the man he had promised to love her the rest of his life.

She looked at him, his eyes fixed on her, his crocodile tears rolling down his cheek.

She looked to her right where her bridesmaid happened to be. The woman who had held her hand through every heartbreak. The woman who had helped her choose her wedding dress, the sleepless nights, the woman she had told every secret she was scared to share with anyone else. Her best friend, June, smiled at her while she kept twisting the ring on her finger.

She forced a smile, her eyes filled with tears; she didn’t mind since it was her wedding day; everyone would just think those tears were from joy.

When she reached the altar, Jaydin took her hand.

“You look really beautiful,” he whispered, leaning closer to her so only she could hear.

She smiled at him.

The officiant was standing between them as she arrived. He began his speech and went on.

Do you, Jaydin, take Alya as your lawfully wedded wife?

He looked over at her and smiled before speaking.

“Yes, I do.”

She smiled while looking at him.

“And do you, Alya, take Jaydin as your lawfully wedded husband?”

Her legs started to shake; her mind went back to the video of him and her best friend, thinking to herself what she did to deserve this.

Before she could speak, the screen on top of them turned on. People probably thought it was a slideshow of them because that’s what it was supposed to be. But there it was, the same video she had watched before walking the aisle.

Everyone looked confused. Waiting to see what happened next.

She watched again, hoping it would just be a dream or that she had just imagined it before.

Everyone in the ceremony gasped; there it was.

“Stop! What is all this?! Shut it off!” Jaydin’s voice echoed through the hall. His face turned red.

She looked over to her best friend, frozen, her face drained of color, as if she had seen a ghost. She stared at the screen, then at me, her mouth opening and closing as if she couldn’t decide which lie to say first.

Yes, she had arranged for the video to be played at this exact moment.

She and her sister planned this. Did you think she would end up marrying this dirty piece of trash? She wanted to see the look on their faces. She didn’t care that she had over hundreds of people watching, she didn’t care that it would carry on with her life and have everyone gossip about her.

She just wanted to see the look on their faces, the faces of people that had betrayed her and used her.

And she watched as her wedding collapsed on a screen in front of everyone she knew.

“Alya, this is fake. Someone has edited this. You know, people can easily manipulate videos now. This isn’t real!” June spoke with confidence, thinking everyone would actually believe her.

She grabbed her arm. “Please tell them to turn it off; you’re embarrassing yourself over something that isn’t even real.”

A short, disbelieving laugh escaped her lips.

“I’m embarrassing myself?”

Her expression faltered. She pointed towards the screen.

“That’s your face, Zara.”

“It’s blurry.” She said with a laugh.

“What part doesn’t it show?”

She went quiet.

“Alya, let’s just close this and forget about it. None of this is real, and you know I will never do that to you.” Jaydin said, reaching for her arm.

“No! Don’t touch me! Three years of loving you, Jaydin, 3 years! Do you know what that means? I gave you my all; I cherished every moment together. Today I was supposed to be your wife, but you just don’t care about anyone but yourself!” She cried.

“And you!” She called out to her best friend as she pointed a finger at her. “Did I mean nothing to you at all?” Was I just your best friend so you could sleep with my boyfriend? What a shame!”

They both stayed silent, not knowing what to say after they had been exposed.

She turned toward the officiant.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

Then she faced the guests.

“There will be no wedding today.” She announced

A wave of shocked murmurs swept through the room.

My fiancé caught my wrist.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me.” He said with a glare

She looked down at her hand till he released her arm.

Then she met his eyes.

“You had years to tell me the truth. You had every chance to be honest with me. Yet, you waited until I stood in front of you wearing a wedding dress, waiting to give you the rest of my life.

Her voice trembled, but she didn’t look away.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do with my life anymore”

She turned down the aisle and was ready to walk out. While holding her dress up.

As she was about to leave the door, June called after her.

“Alya, wait!”

She kept walking. Then she said the words that made her stop.

“I didn’t know he was going to marry you after what happened that night!”