Married

Lily heard distant voices as she regained consciousness, slowly the voices started to become louder and she let out a whimper as she opened her eyes. 

Her vision was blurry a little which made her close her eyes, she opened them again and moved her eyes around.

There were men in the room, she recognised two out of them, they were the ones who dragged her out of her house. But she couldn't recognise the others. She recalled what happened and as she was about to speak, she felt a sharp pain in her head which made her let out a hiss. 

She tried to move her hand when she realised she was tied to a chair, she looked around the room again and noticed it was empty. 

She sighed and ignored the pain she was feeling all over her body and after a few seconds, she spoke up.

“Wh… what is this all about? I didn't do anything wrong, I don't even know you people.” She said and they all stared at her without giving her a response. 

Her heart raced in fear and tears clouded her eyes, she had no idea what was going on, the men in her presence looked so scary like they were ready to hurt her.

She was about to speak up again when the door opened, a man walked in and she froze as he looked up at her. She recognized him, she knew who he was. 

It was the man she had a one-night stand with! 

‘Is he the reason I am here?’ She thought as she stared back at him. He walked fully into the room and walked closer to her, Lily looked up at him as her heart raced. 

“Did you forget our deal?” He asked and she raised her brows, a gasp escaped her lips when she recalled what he was talking about. 

The deal, the contract marriage, she completely forgot about that! 

“I… I’m sorry. I… “ She trailed off as tears streamed down her eyes. She thought about his her efforts went in vain and she got herself into a mess. 

“Why is her head bleeding?” Axel asked and turned to his men, none of them responded, instead they kept their heads bowed. 

“My… my head is bleeding?” Lily asked surprised and Axel turned back to her.

“They came into my house and dragged me out, they also knocked me out.” She replied and sniffed.

“They only did their job. You took my money and didn't show up for days.” 

“I didn't mean to, these past few days have been… “ She trailed off as Axel cut her off.

“I don't care. You are here now.” He said and turned to his men.

“Untie her.” He ordered one of them and he walked to her. He loosened the ropes and Lily sighed in relief, she ran her hands softly on her wrists and sniffed. 

“Get settled in and get some rest. If you are needed, you will be sent for.” He said and walked out of the room, Lily slowly stood up and shut her eyes as she felt dizzy.

“Ma’am.” She heard one of the men called and she opened her eyes to see them bowing.

‘Oh, it's ma’am now.’ Lily thought as she almost rolled her eyes.

“Please come with me.” He said and walked ahead of her, Lily slowly trailed behind him and they walked out of the room. 

She looked around as they walked down a hallway, they got to a living room and Lily couldn't help but admire it. It looked like a masterpiece, the plush furnishings, marble floors, and a stunning chandelier that sparkled like diamonds. 

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see a lady dressed in a uniform, obviously, she was a maid, there were other maids in the living room too.

“Please come with me, ma’am.” She said and Lily nodded, the maid walked up the stairs and Lily followed. 

As she walked behind the maid, she kept admiring everything she came across, the paintings, the decors. 

The maid stopped in front of a door and walked into the room, Lily also did and her eyes widened a little as she saw the room.

“This is your room ma’am. If you are not comfortable with some things in it, we can take them out and if you also want to make a few changes to it, we can too.” The maid explained and Lily looked around. 

“It's okay. It is fine.” She replied simply and the maid bowed in response. 

The door to the room opened and another maid walked in carrying a box, a first aid box. Seeing it, Lily could feel the pain in her head again, she had forgotten about it because of the distraction.

The maids helped her settle in, she was looking so pale and dirty. They helped her with her bathing and tended to her injury, the maids helped her get dressed in new clothes too and Lily felt a lot better. 

“That will be all for now ma’am.” One of them said with a bow and they headed out of the room. 

Lily exhaled heavily and lay on her bed, due to how exhausted she was, she fell asleep in minutes. 

********

Lily heard chatters from her sleep and she slowly opened her eyes, she looked around and saw maids in her room. They didn't seem to notice she was awake because they kept on with their chattering. 

“Do you think she is Mr. Blackwell’s wife?” One of them asked.

“He finally got a wife? I thought he wanted to end up being alone for the rest of his life.” Another one replied and the rest of them giggled. They were three in number.

“If truly she is his wife, don't you think she is way out of his league? He went for a commoner instead of someone better.” Another said.

Lily didn't want to hear any more of it, she slowly sat up and they froze. They cleared their throats and bowed at her. 

“Ma’am.” They chorused. Lily didn't care about their conversation, at this point in her life, she cared about nothing. The only reason she cared is dead and gone.

“Is there a reason you guys are here?” Lily asked.

“Ye… yes ma’am. Mr. Blackwell ordered us to get you ready for the ball ma’am.” One of them replied nervously.

‘Blackwell? Is that his last name?’ Lily thought.

“What ball?” She asked, confused.

“We have no idea, ma’am.” Another replied. Lily sighed and turned away from them, she looked out the window and noticed it was almost dark. She slept for a long time.

She got off the bed and walked towards them, she noticed there were different bags on the couch. 

“Aren't we getting to it?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” They answered nervously and rushed to the couch, they picked up the bags and walked back to her. 

They opened the bag and brought out different dresses, jewellery, and heels. Lily wondered what kind of ball it would be because of how beautiful and expensive the dress looked. 

“Please make your choice ma’am.” 

Lily randomly picked a black gown with silver heels, she picked the jewellery at random too. She wasn't so happy, as much as she tried to be, she couldn't. Her father's death has been a week but it still feels like it happened yesterday.

“I will go with these.” She replied, referring to the ones she had picked.

The maids set to work immediately and helped her get dressed, in half an hour, they were done and it was dark already. 

The black gown fitted her perfectly, the gown had diamond beadings all around it. It had a backless design which added a sultry touch revealing the graceful expanse of her skin that sparkled like diamond itself. 

Her hair was styled and she had light makeup on. 

“That's all.” One of the maids said as she was done helping her with her heels, Lily admired herself in the mirror but the whole feeling only lasted for seconds, her mind got clouded with sadness again. 

The maids helped her out of the room and down the stairs, she got to the living room and looked around. The maid's eyes were on her which made her feel a little uncomfortable. 

She was about to question one of the maids when Axel walked down the stairs. She stared at him as her lips parted slightly. 

She couldn't believe he was the man she had a one night stand with, she couldn't admire his looks on that day, she was too bothered too.

She could see him clearly now, he looked so elegant in his black tuxedo, and his looks screamed ‘perfection!’

He walked to Lily who was still lost staring at him, he looked around the living room and the maids got the message, they bowed and left leaving them all alone.

“Hi.” Lily called softly.

“Ready?” He asked and she nodded in response.

“Okay. We will be going to a ball, it's the first ball of the season and everyone important will be there. You will be meeting my parents too and remember, you are my wife. We met while I was on a business trip months ago, okay?” He explained and Lily nodded in response. 

He brought out a box and opened it, it contained a ring and Lily stared at it. She never imagined a man would be sliding a ring into a finger randomly. 

Axel held her hand and slid the ring into it, she stared at it for a few seconds before looking up at him.

“What's your name?” She asked. She didn't know his name, she couldn't ask the first time.

“Axel, Axel Blackwell.”

“Oh, I'm… “

“Lily.” He cut her off. She already told him her name on their first meeting.

“Lily Blackwell.” He added and her heart skipped a beat. He added his last name with her name, this isn't a dream. It's real, it's all reality. 

She is married to the man she had a one-night stand with!