Dangerous Love: You Are My One and Only Bride novel Chapter 596

Jackson appeared by the steps leading to the Lanes’ residence the next morning while it was bright out. Behind him, a striking procession of cars lined up in a neat row outside the entrance to the complex.

Tiffany had only (reluctantly) rolled out of bed after a call from her beau before dragging herself to wash up. Lillian, in contrast, was much more excited for the event. She was already all dolled up, so she lent her daughter a hand with the latter’s make-up.

“Uh, youngsters nowadays! I told you to head to bed early last night, but did you listen? Now look at you — your eyelids are practically glued close!” she chastised. “Jackson’s waiting for you downstairs, young lady. Just look at all those cars lining up outside — pooh! Now that’s the Wests for you. But if all of this is for a mere engagement ceremony, then how grand would the wedding itself be?”

Tiffany cracked yet another jaw-breaking yawn in front of the dresser. “Can’t we do this at, uh, a later time or something, Mom? As long as we, uh, make it to the diner for lunch, right?” She slurred. “I’m like, so sleepy right now. I wanna go back to sleep. You slept pretty late last night, too, right? How did you manage to — yawn — wake up at all, huh?”

Lillian grabbed hold of the girl’s ear and pinched hard. “That’s because a proper adult like myself knows that there are more important things in life than sleep! Unlike you, young lady — you youngsters have zero ideas of priority! Jackson’s been here since ages ago, yet you see no problem lazing around in your bed. What foul manners! Ugh, be quick with your dressing up so we can meet him as soon as possible already. By the way, I didn't hear any news about Ari. Is she not coming?”

The mention of Arianne served as a small wake-up cue for Tiffany. “Oh, I should call her and ask. She should reach the Capital’s airport by noon today; said she’s gonna rush to us at full speed because she doesn’t wanna miss out on something as momentous as this. She promised me this much during our video call last night.”

Tiffany called, but a robocall answered and informed her that she could not engage with Arianne. Reasoning that her friend was still in the middle of the flight, Tiffany set the issue aside.

While all of this was going on, Jackson had been anxiously waiting for more than an hour downstairs. He was getting more and more restless. “You guys wait here. I’ll go and see if everything’s alright.”

Lillian answered his door and quickly supplied, “Oh, it’s you, Jackson! Er, we’re almost ready, so — don’t worry, okay? Tiffie is doing her make-up. She’s gonna be done very soon!”

A rare moment of Jackson’s cheeks turning sheepish pink ensued as the man realized his relationship with Lillian had upgraded to in-laws. “Oh, uh, that’s cool. Yeah. I, uh, will go in and say hi and come back out there with the two of you afterward. I mean, after she’s done.”

Unfortunately, his good mood took a little dip the moment he stepped into Tiffany’s room, for lo and behold, his bride-to-be had fallen asleep right in front of her dresser. He had been losing a whole night’s sleep waiting for today and leaped right into a flurry to see her, and this was how Tiffie chose to welcome their engagement day?

Lillian lifted Tiffany off her desk briskly. “Oy, what in the world — Jackson‘s here!”

The girl’s eyes immediately snapped open, though her bleary, glassy eyes took some time to focus on the man standing next to her mother.

Jackson tugged a car door open and beckoned. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ve told you that I’ll give you nothing but the best, so no, this isn’t over-the-top at all. You wanna see what actual pomp looks like? Then wait till you see what we have for the wedding.”

Though bewildered, Tiffany felt relatively neutral about it. Lillian, however, found her vanity sated by the grandeur. She had dreamed of rising back up like a phoenix since the Lanes’ downfall, and now her wish was finally coming true.

The procession arrived at the five-star hotel by half-past ten in the morning. There, members of the upper-class made for a serried crowd within the hotel’s otherwise capacious hall. Summer and Atticus, who had long arrived since earlier, were already waiting.

The hall was flawlessly decorated. Two of the most basic romantic yet pompous hallmarks of ceremonies — fresh flowers adorning every awning and corner of the doors and the most premium white roses blanketing the steps — were already in place. If one must describe the sheer magnificence of the arrangement, the best they could describe was that it was the stuff of high society, grandiloquent, elite, and without any fault nor foible.

All of it was urging Tiffany’s anxiety. As she watched the deluge of people in front of her, her hand tightened around Jackson’s cuff and refused to let go. “Jackson? I don’t think I can handle this. Um, c-c-can we like, find somewhere quiet with nobody but us?”

“Huh, what’s wrong?” Jackson said, surprised. “Is the grandeur making you nervous, or is it because of our engagement? I mean, it’s not like you’ve never been through ceremonies and events as grand as this one in the past…”