Most people don't consider the chime of wedding bells being associated with murder. Yet I stand here at the altar, with my newly minted husband's arm around me, and our hands steeped in blood. The crowd breaks out in applause as the officiant announces the completion of the marriage-oblivious to our circumstances and overflowing with their own sense of joy- ,they don't see what I do. What came before this wedding day.

A dead man on the floor in a pool of blood. My husbands cold gaze. The murder weapon clutched in his hand. 

He holds my hand now, sliding his fingers over mine and I look up. Gasp at the contact. I look into his beautiful, intense green eyes and his chocolate brown hair. The man who I had never thought i would be marrying. Daniel Lockwood. My best friend's older brother and the man I had secretly coveted for years. Fate works in mysterious ways and although I was getting what I wanted, I realise that it seems all wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this, not at all.

Flashback

I came into the abandoned warehouse, shivering from the cold. I clutched the lapels of my coat tighter around me as the door came into view and i stood in front of it with my hand raised, ready to knock. Reluctance overcame me and i fished out my phone from my pocket and stared into the message flashing onto the screen. My brows furrow in confusion as i read it over and over again, trying to decipher why Daniel would call me to a place like this. Sure enough, the location where i am is accurate- despite how eerie it appears. I knock on the door, tentatively at first, then lodged, putting considerably more force into it. Daniel's voice comes muffled from the inside, 'come in'

Relieved that I'm in the right place and this wasn't a fluke, i enter, only to stop dead in my tracks. Daniel stands in the center of the room, clutching a man who is bound and gagged. His other hand holds a knife, which he brings near the bound man's throat. A scream lodges in my throat and i stumble back, slapping my hand over my mouth. Daniel watches me quietly and i wonder how different he looks to me now. He pushes the man in front of him forward and showed me his face,

'Is this the guy?' 

I stare at him in shock, completely dumbfounded by this turn of events. How did he know about the person who was blackmailing me? 

I gulped, unable to answer. 

'Is this him?' He repetead his question, his voice hardening.

 I nodded, and tears began streaming down my face. I stepped closer to him, 'Daniel p-please don't' 

'DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!' He yelled at me, and i turned away unable to face it any longer. I heard the swishing sound of the knife, the sound of kin being cut through almost unmistakable followed by the thud of a body landing on the ground. Footsteps approached me and i turned around to face Daniel. His eyes were calm, too calm and his face was emotionless, though his features softened subtly as soon as i met his eyes. 

I cried harder, 'I dont understand.' I looked arounf frantically, truing to figure out how to hide this. He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to remain still. 

'Cecilia, i need you to calm down. Come on sweetheart, breathe. In and out, that's it." His voice was firm as he coached me through it and i gradually calmed down. But then my anxiety peaked again and I whispered, 'what going to happen now?' My voice was so weak, i could barely recognise it.

'Now were going to wipe off all traces of us from this room, and we will leave. We will never speak of this again, and this secret stays between us'

'B-but what..what if-'

He cuts her off by holding up a ring in his blood covered hand, the metal gleaming in the dim light. 

'Marry me, and keep this secret. You said you want to protect our family, then this is how you do it.'