Fiona's POV

I glanced around at our family members and realized none of them had noticed him ignoring me. Maybe he hadn't meant to be rude, or maybe he just didn't see me trying to help him on our wedding day.

I quickened my pace to catch up with him as he wheeled himself further into the venue. When I finally reached him, I approached with what I hoped was a friendly smile.

Our eyes met and my breath caught in my throat.

Up close, he was even more devastating than I'd thought. His attractiveness surpassed any man I'd ever encountered in my entire life. This wasn't fair at all.

He was nothing like what they'd told me. I'd braced myself for someone hideous, someone whose appearance would be difficult to look at. Yet the man before me looked like he'd been personally crafted by the moon goddess herself.

How could a man confined to a wheelchair still command such authority? He looked confident, powerful even, with this incredibly masculine and attractive aura radiating from him.

"Do you realize you're in my way?" His voice cut through my thoughts and his brows were raised in annoyance.

"Oh! I'm sorry." I apologized quickly, realizing I'd been staring like an idiot. "Let me help you."

I reached for his wheelchair but he jerked away from my touch.

"No! I wheeled myself up to this point. Isn't that enough to show you I'm fine on my own?" He snapped the words at me while squeezing his face like I'd just stepped on his foot.

Then he wheeled himself past me once again and I was left standing there speechless, hurt, and completely embarrassed.

Holding my dad's hand, I entered the wedding auditorium and took in the decorations. They were decent enough with a touch of something old-fashioned that didn't really bother me much. My focus wasn't on the decor anyway.

It was on my groom.

I was amazed by how handsome he looked even in that wheelchair. Despite his disability, he had this captivating presence with piercing blue eyes and chiseled features that could make angels weep. There was something familiar about those eyes though I couldn't place where I'd seen them before.

Gathering every ounce of courage I had, I approached him and soon we stood facing each other at the altar.

The priest instructed us to look into each other's eyes but my groom completely ignored the request.

"Adam?" the priest called out gently. "You may face your bride."

I glanced at him timidly and watched him roll his eyes hard before turning toward me with the meanest expression I'd ever seen on a human face. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment and I looked away quickly, but when I dared to peek back his condescending gaze was still fixed on me.

It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

He was being forced into this marriage just like I was.

I kept my gaze lowered and avoided his piercing glares as the ceremony dragged on like some kind of torture.

"Now," the priest announced cheerfully, "Adam, please hold your bride's hand."

Silence.

Adam remained completely still and said nothing. I felt heat flood my cheeks as I waited and anticipated his touch, but all I received was pure disdain from the man who was supposed to be my husband.

"Adam?" the priest called out again with concern creeping into his voice.

I dared to look up and found him glaring at me like I was something disgusting he'd stepped in. My face burned even hotter as he finally turned his attention to the priest.

"Can we just get this farce of a marriage over with?" he snapped, his tone dripping with contempt. He seemed eager to be literally anywhere but here participating in what he clearly considered a complete sham.

"But you need to hold your bride's hand for the ceremony to proceed," the priest insisted gently.

I glanced around nervously and avoided Adam's accusing gaze. I felt like I was the one begging to be married here.

I caught Serena's eye across the room and noticed a sinister smile playing on her lips. She was clearly finding endless amusement in my predicament and viewing my entire life as some kind of comedy show.

"You know I don't approve of this wedding, priest," Adam said condescendingly. Despite his meanness, his voice was smooth and strangely enticing. I could almost forget his physical issues or even the part about him being an illegitimate bastard and imagine him as the perfect groom, if only he weren't so incredibly mean and arrogant.

"I'm only doing this for my father, so why don't we just get it over with?" he added while glancing around dismissively.

I felt a pang of relief when I realized only the priest and I had heard him. My heart sank with self-pity anyway. Despite his disability, he was doing an excellent job of making me feel absolutely zero sympathy toward him.

It seemed like he was actively trying to make me hate him already, and frankly he was succeeding spectacularly.

The priest sighed heavily and shook his head but continued with the ceremony anyway. "Fiona Larson, do you take this man, Adam Blackwood, to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, until eternity?"

"I do," I replied quickly, realizing I'd been holding my breath the entire time.

I just wanted it all to be over as fast as possible. Adam narrowed his eyes at me before rolling them dramatically and looking away with obvious disgust.

Oh no, I thought miserably.

The priest nodded and turned to Adam. "Adam Blackwood, do you take this woman, Fiona Larson, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, until eternity?"

The auditorium fell completely silent.

Adam remained stoic and stared at me with those piercing blue eyes. I felt like I was personally responsible for every single problem in his entire life as I blushed crimson with shame.

"Adam Blackwood?" the priest called again nervously.

But Adam remained completely unmoving like a statue.

I was too embarrassed to turn around and look at the guests, but I could sense their growing unease. Murmurs filled the room and I wished desperately that the ground would just swallow me whole. I closed my eyes for a moment and prayed for this nightmare to end.

Finally, after what felt like an absolute eternity, Adam spoke.

"I do," he muttered grudgingly with his eyes still fixed on me in what looked like barely concealed hatred.

The priest smiled with obvious relief and beamed at us as if everything was going perfectly according to plan. "Now, by the power vested in me as the priest over this union, I pronounce you husband and wife."

He paused dramatically. "You may kiss your bride."

Everyone watched us expectantly and the tension was suffocating.

I didn't know what to do. Should I go to him for the kiss? Or was he supposed to wheel himself toward me? What was the protocol here?

My confusion turned to absolute shock when Adam expressed his annoyance directly to the priest in front of everyone.

"Oh please! Why would I even do that?" he asked with clear annoyance ringing in his tone. "I'd rather kiss a frog."

I heard gasps of surprise ripple through the guests and my stomach dropped to the floor.

They'd all heard him too.

I was beyond mortified. I wanted to die right there on the spot.

Fiona's POV

"You looked splendid today, congratulations!" A couple said to me as they walked out happily from the wedding reception.

"Thank you so much." I smiled back at them with my plastered-on smile that was way too convincing for anyone to notice it was just a mask hiding how I truly felt inside.

I turned away and sighed heavily as they disappeared into the crowd.

The ceremony was finally over and I'd just escaped from speaking too kindly with one of the guests when I looked around and realized Adam was nowhere to be found. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he always seemed to have better places to be than his own wedding reception.

With an exasperated sigh, I decided to search for him and adjusted my ridiculously oversized dress to move more easily.

Lost in thought about where he could have disappeared to, I collided hard with someone and their drink spilled all over my dress. The cold liquid seeped through the lace and chilled my skin instantly.

"Oh my gosh. Crap. Holy crap," I muttered under my breath.

Then I looked up and realized it was my beloved sister, Serena.

Double holy crap, my subconscious groaned.

"Oh my gosh Fiona, I didn't see you there!" Serena exclaimed in mock sympathy while her pouty lips curled into a barely hidden smile. I could detect clear excitement in her voice and it made my blood boil.

I attempted to wipe away the soggy red stains from my dress, but with each swipe the stains just worsened and spread even more, further ruining my already hideous wedding attire.

My subconscious let out a frustrated sigh. This day literally couldn't get any better.

I looked up and tried desperately to blink back the tears threatening to spill.

"You know, you should really learn to watch where you're going next time," Serena said with a nasty smirk playing on her lips.

I looked at her and decided right then and there that I'd had enough. Between Adam's horrible attitude toward me and now this deliberate attack from Serena, I was completely done.

Not thinking clearly at all, I immediately shoved her aside hard and her butt collided with the floor with a loud thud as I stormed off in pure irritation and frustration.

"Fiona!" Serena screamed my name with complete anger and surprise lacing her tone. I'm pretty sure she didn't expect me to actually fight back. "No, you didn't just push me to the damned floor, you bitch!"

"Oh, my leg!" She exclaimed dramatically like she'd just been shot in a war zone. "You've hurt my leg, you sick bitch!"

Of course she was blaming it all on me. Typical Serena, always playing the innocent victim card.

"Serena!" I heard Nathan call out and that sound broke my heart all over again as I turned to see him rush to her side in obvious worry.

He squatted beside her and examined her legs carefully like she was made of glass. Anyone watching would think Serena had been actually shot with the way she stayed there in mock tears.

"Are you alright?" I heard him ask her in the most worried voice I'd ever heard from him.

I watched my mother and father rush to her as well and I let out a bitter sigh.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Dad asked her gently.

Mom turned to me with pure anger blazing in her eyes and I braced myself for the inevitable attack.

"How could you be so mean, Fiona?" Mom berated me harshly and I felt deeply ashamed of myself despite knowing I'd done nothing wrong. "You'd better stop being such a mean girl to your sister and pull yourself together right now."

"You don't have to transfer your aggression to your sister simply because you're mad at your husband for what happened today at the altar," Dad added like I was some kind of monster.

Tears clouded my vision instantly.

"If you keep this up," Mom said with harsh determination, "transferring aggression to innocent people, even the husband you finally managed to get arranged to will end up hating you completely."

I tried my absolute hardest to blink back the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks.

No one was even asking how I felt about any of this. No one bothered to ask about my ruined dress or my humiliation. Then again, I was being materialistic by caring about my ruined dress instead of minding that my beloved never-do-wrong sister was on the floor in severe fake pain that I had supposedly caused.

Never mind that I was in the middle of a complete mental breakdown.

I heard the wheels of something approaching and to my surprise I looked up to see Adam wheeling himself toward us. His presence commanded immediate attention and everyone else fell completely silent.

He gazed at each person in the room with those piercing blue eyes and absolutely no one dared to speak a single word.

Hope sparked within me like a tiny flame.

He was my lawfully wedded husband now, so surely he would be on my side, right? 

I watched him while holding back tears and hoping desperately that he would stand up for me, reprimand my family for their false accusations, and finally vindicate me.

He was supposed to be my prince charming after all. Surely he must have seen everything between Serena and me and could tell who was actually at fault here.

My heart quickened with a tiny spark of hope as I looked up at him and prepared for him to ignite it into a blazing ember of justice.

To my absolute shock and horror, Adam wheeled his chair directly toward my sister and focused his gaze on her instead of me.

"Are you alright?" he asked in the most concerned voice I'd ever heard from him.

I had never heard him speak so peacefully to anyone. Serena sat on the floor still feigning injury from our collision and all eyes were on her while completely ignoring me, the true victim.

Or so I thought anyway.

I watched in surprised anguish as it all unfolded before my eyes like some terrible movie.

Maybe I wasn't actually the true victim after all. Perhaps Serena really was hurt and just like my mother said, I was being a horrible mean girl by not acknowledging my fault.

"I'm fine," Serena said sweetly while still playing her victim card perfectly.

My subconscious rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell out. I watched Serena bat her eyelashes dramatically because the drama queen was finally getting exactly what she wanted, which was everyone's attention and sympathy.

"Here," Adam said while extending his hand to her with genuine kindness. "I'll help you up." He smiled warmly at her and it absolutely broke my heart into pieces. "You should be more cautious while walking next time," he softly reprimanded her.

She nodded obediently while I just stood there watching and hurting.

I looked down at the floor. Of course he would dote on my sister instead of me. What was I even expecting? That the asshole had some basic sense of fairness?

I watched with my hurt and confusion intensifying as not only my ex-boyfriend Nathan and my parents sided with my sister and blamed me for something that clearly wasn't my fault, but what made it a thousand times worse was that my newly wedded husband also joined them and unexpectedly supported my sister in her overtly exaggerated victimhood instead of standing by me.

I guess I was just the unlucky girl. There's always one in every million girls, right? The girl whose side absolutely no one is on. Not her parents, not her ex-boyfriend, not even her newly wedded husband who'd barely been married to her for a few hours.

Guess I was that one unlucky girl in a million.