Eventually, the priest spoke up. "Helen Lane, do you take this man as your beloved husband?"
Chaz was grinning ear-to-ear as he and Helen turned toward each other.
Then, making sure everyone else was out of earshot, he whispered under his breath, "Don't worry, Helen. I've discussed the favor you asked for with Titus Lionheart, and he said yes."
"Really?" Helen did a double take but soon appeared troubled.
Her reaction left Chaz's gaze flashing coolly as he smiled. "But he had one condition."
"What is it?" Helen's heart skipped a beat, feeling a foreboding sensation.
Chaz's grin broadened. "His brother Wilbur will be the one having your first night."
"What?!" Helen gaped in shock and disbelief. "Chaz Graves, you're a—"
"What, is that a no?" Chaz shook his head, chuckling. "Don't worry. I'll only record a video and use it appropriately—rest assured, my lips are sealed."
"You're a sick pervert!" Helen growled through gritted teeth under her breath.
"You flatter me." Chaz grinned brazenly. "It hurts to let young Wilbur have my wife, but there's no helping it. I'm making sacrifices for the sake of my family's future."
Naturally, he would never tell Helen that he would be showing the video he recorded to Frank once he had Frank captured.
He would make Frank watch Helen suffer that humiliation just to break Frank in every way he could.
On the other hand, the audience suspected nothing, believing that Helen and Chaz were flirting since their exchange was brief.
Helen only despaired further as he unwittingly turned to find a fat boy sitting in the middle of a tight but fawning escort group.
He was not even twenty, but he was as round as a ball, with hives growing around his exceedingly grotesque facial features.
He even stuck his tongue out at Helen, his eyes narrowing vilely.
All she saw was the crowd waiting for her to say yes, Wilbur who was lusting after her body, Gina who kept gesturing at her to go on… and Chaz's evil smile.
She did not want this at all.
"But…"
That was when Helen remembered Frank and his sonorous laughter and raging declarations that night.
"Hey, what's going on? Why's the bride freezing up and staying silent?"
"Yeah, is she getting cold feet?"
"Shit, if she is, it wouldn't just be her—it's over for the Northstream Lanes!"
As the restless whispers soon reached Gina's ears, she had enough of her daughter's hesitation.
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