The Unexpected Bride-Book One in Taming of the Shrew

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Six

I dedicate this chapter to Alatary for her beautiful book cover.

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Flowers. Bouquets of beautiful and vibrant flowers. Ranging from different colors, shapes, and sizes. They occupied a tenth of the enormous room bringing with them the smell of spring and new promises.

Standing in the middle was an arch decorated with various vines and flowers. It was standing at the end of a small bridge that appeared three feet.

Chairs adorned with gold, white, and silver ribbons, balloons, and strips of cloth sat in rows on either side of the bridge. With such an arrangement, the center of the room allowed space for two people to enter.

Lamps decorated like balls sitting on top of short and thin columns—four in total—were placed in the four corners of the bridge. Twirling bells, thistles, red roses, and daisies plastered to its railings; the bridge looked like a painting.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling produced blue and white light, which reflected like fairy lights on the floor and walls. The room looked straight out of a fantasy.

Beyond the arch was a sparkling fountain. Large enough for the space it occupied. From the beautiful built-in statue mimicking jumping dolphins, water flowed into a wide basin before traversing through a channel and entering into rectangular basins encased with transparent glass separating the chairs and underneath the bridge.

Silk, but opaque curtains, connected onto hooks spread across the ceiling. They fell on either side of the enormous tent concealing the outside world.

The entire room shone as if diamonds were in the water, and maybe it was. Moonlight seeped through the opened space of the ceiling, where transparent glass caused the inside of the tent to look more ethereal. Everything looked—maybe too spectacular.

Sharlene could not believe what her eyes were seeing. Standing frozen in the doorway of the gigantic tent, she held her breath because she was afraid of touching the shining black marble flooring, but that was far from her shock. No, far from it. It was the man standing underneath the arch and looking straight at her. With a full-blown smile that threatened to split his lips in half, Nicholas Ross looked smitten in his black suit and white bow tie.

Sharlene's hold tightened on the bouquet. She blinked thrice. She held onto the dainty flowers were a mystery. Glancing down at the beautifully arranged flowers, Sharlene gasped once more when she spotted a fraction of her reflection in the polished tiles.

She was wearing an unrecognized wedding dress. And it was far too beautiful to describe.

Quickly, she averted her attention to Nick when she heard his footfalls echoing in the room. He was already making his way towards her with his smile and the joy on his face intact. His presence was an oddity amongst the faceless sea of people, and she welcomed it.

With every step he took, her heart raced in her chest.

He looked dreamy, and she no longer focused on other irrelevant matters or questioned her surroundings.

All her attention was on the approaching tall specimen.

Her ears drowned out the loud murmurs, her heartbeats, and his footsteps in sync. As he drew nearer, her smile broadened. Tears of joy trickled down her cheeks. Sharlene was on cloud nine. She was getting married.

'Is this a dream?'

She thought, but Nick's gentle touch dismissed such thoughts. He gently held her hands and lifted them in between them.

"I have waited a million years for this moment."

His flowery words greeted her ears, and she blushed. Watching him bringing her hands against his lips, she turned to a puddle when he bestowed a kiss on the back of each.