5. Wedding Without Love

Nadine returns to the office to meet Anna.

"You're really weird today. Suddenly want to cancel the contract. And make a fuss with Mr. Miller."

Nadine only smiled faintly at Anna's nagging.

"You know Mr. Miller's in a bad state right now? His father just died two days ago. And he has to hand over his resort to this company."

Anna immediately fell silent because she realized that she had said too much. But Nadine continued Anna's words.

"Plus his aunt was seriously injured and still in hospital, had to separate from his lover and was forced to marry an evil woman like me. That's about Adrian's misfortune, right?"

Anna panicked when she heard Nadine's words. But Nadine didn't seem to mind at all and instead laughed a little at Anna.

"That's why I want to cancel our wedding Ann...."

Anna was surprised by Nadine's statement. She, who had been doing various ways to get Adrian, suddenly canceled their marriage.

"You're really weird. Today, you did things you wouldn't normally do. Dare against your father. Say hello to any employee you meet at the office. Say thank you to me and even ask for my help. And most spectacularly, you cancel your wedding. Are you sure you're Nadine Merrick?"

Nadine was surprised by Anna's statement.

"You also dare to criticize me now Ann."

Anna was surprised and immediately corrected her words.

"You're the weird one. I'm just making sure you're in good health."

Nadine is still studying the documents given by Anna.

"Ehmm so what kind of person should I be Ann?"

Anna seemed hesitant to answer Nadine's question.

"Come on... I won't be mad. I'm determined to be a good girl from today on."

Nadine's wide smile made Anna even more hesitant to answer.

"Hmm.... It seems that you are indeed afraid of me."

Anna immediately denied it.

"Not like that, Miss Nadine. It's just that..."

Nadine put down her pen and stared at Anna, waiting for Anna to answer her question.

"You are too stiff, rarely smile even to greet employees. You always do your own work. You will do various ways to get whatever you want. Ehmm, even though it's the wrong way."

Nadine listened carefully to Anna's statement. On the other hand, Anna, who felt that Nadine was looking at her sharply, looked a little panicked.

"Ooh.... Calm down, I'm not mad. I was just thinking. How boring I am."

Nadine again checked the documents that Anna gave.

"So you changed out of boredom?"

This time Nadine laughed at Anna's question. Anna who saw Nadine laughing out loud looked surprised.

"Ha ha ha.... Maybe I'm tired of playing the bad girl. So I want to relax a bit and be a supporting role maybe."

Anna still looks confused by Nadine's words. Seeing that Nadine again explained her words.

"The point is... I want to make amends for my past mistakes. And I want to enjoy my life without ruining others' lives."

Anna chuckled hearing a strange reason from Nadine.

"Tsk... It still feels weird that you've suddenly changed."

Nadine just smiled faintly and commented again.

"Believe me.. It took me a long time to realize that my life is too wasteful if I only use it to pursue something that doesn't belong to me."

Nadine closed the document in front of her and gave it to Anna. Anna just shook her head and immediately left the room after getting the signature on the document.

Nadine rushed to finish her work. She wanted to go home immediately and rework her plans to restore the Millers' resort. But her plan didn't seem to be working when Anna came back into her room.

"Miss Nadine. Your father wants to talk to you."

Nadine took a deep breath and immediately got up from her chair to meet her father. Before entering her father's office she took a deep breath.

"Looks like you went back to your original plan to marry Adrian."

A smirk appeared on her father's face.

"You know what mess you made in order to marry that man?"

Even without her father telling her, she already knew. After their first meeting, Nadine, who still wants to avenge her defeat in her project, begins to find out who Adrian is.

She hired someone to follow Adrian and report his activities to Nadine. Over time, the cold Nadine seemed to be fascinated by Adrian's friendly attitude towards everyone. Nadine, who had been tough and stiff all this time, began to admire Adrian, who was the opposite of her.

Maybe the expression of curiosity that can kill you is very suitable for Nadine's current condition. Her curiosity grew into love and like someone who is obsessed with something, she wanted to have Adrian all to herself. Even though she knew at that time Adrian already had Olivia.

She openly confessed her feelings to Adrian at that time and of course ended up being politely rejected by Adrian. Not giving up, she keeps trying to seduce Adrian to be her boyfriend, which makes Adrian annoyed with Nadine.

She looked for another way to get it even if it had to be the wrong way. She wanted to make Adrian indebted to her so that she would marry her.

"Nadine?"

Her father's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"You created a fake partnership project with them. And caused a huge loss to them. Their property will even be confiscated by the bank."

Nadine smirked at her father's contradictory words. Her father must have been happy because of their mess he could build a new hotel in that strategic place if Adrian couldn't fulfill their agreement.

"But you seem happy with the matter. You are even willing to persuade Mr. Miller to sell his resort to you."

His father took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his eyebrow. Nadine, who wants to know what made Adrian's father willing to sell the hotel, provokes his father to confess his actions.

"Nadine... As good as the location of the hotel is, if he is still having problems with the bank and the tax authorities, I will think again to buy it. It's wasting my time if I have to take care of it."

Nadine still doesn't believe her father's words.

"How could Mr. Miller so easily give up his assets to you? Didn't he always protect his family-owned hotel no matter what."

Nadine still remembers when she convinced Adrian's father to join her hotel. He politely refused because no matter what happened he wanted to keep the hotel, owned by his family.

"I also don't know for sure what the reason is. The certainty is that when I cross-checked their financial and tax statements, there were many strange things. Just so you know Nadine, I refused the purchase first. But..."

Nadine waited for her father to speak.

"When Miller said he would guarantee his son would marry you, I agreed. In the end, I put the five-year terms of marriage to ensure that his son doesn't run away after marrying you."

Nadine was surprised to hear her father's explanation.

"You know what that means?"

Nadine is still silent.

"I helped them pay off their debt so the hotel wouldn't be confiscated."

Nadine was about to refute her father's words but her father quickly spoke again.

"You really are good at destroying people's business Nadine."

Her father gave Nadine a round of applause. But not to praise Nadine but to mock Nadine.

"Huh! I don't know anything about their financial reports. I just made a fake offer of partnership to them. So that they incur a lot of operational costs and lose money."

Nadine denies her father's accusations. She had absolutely no idea of ​​their internal financial matters. All she knows is that Resort Miller is busy looking for partners to expand their business.

"Never mind... Anyway, the reason I accepted their offer is because of you."

Nadine was again shocked by her father's statement.

"Me?"

"Yeah... Because I don't want you to be called a crazy woman who chases her love. And I don't want them to report you for fraud. You know that your image is very important to the company."

Nadine had hoped that her father would say that her father did that as proof of his love for Nadine. But she was wrong, the company and the image of the company is still more important than Nadine.

"Oh... And thanks for doing it."

Nadine answered with a smirk.

"Anything else? I want to go home and sleep. I'm getting married tomorrow so I don't want to 'embarrass' you by coming late to my wedding tomorrow."

Her father took a deep breath and allowed Nadine to go home.

"That's all. You can go home. I'm leaving first for the event tomorrow. I've asked Jim to take you."

"Okay father."

Nadine immediately came out of her father's office. His father held his head and sighed again. He opened his desk drawer and took out a box. While looking at the photo of a woman and a small child he said.

"Clara..."

He opened the box in front of him. There was a white gold necklace with a pendant in the shape of an infinity symbol decorated with diamonds.

"Your daughter, Nana is getting married tomorrow. And I still don't have the courage to give her this necklace that you left behind."

Henry closed the jewelry box again and put it back in the drawer. He sank back into the pile of documents in front of him.

***

Nadine came out of the bathroom and looked back at her mother's wedding dress in her room.

Remembering her parents' wedding photo filled with happy laughter made Nadine a little sad. The dress is a symbol of her mother's happiness because she will be with the person she loves and love her back, a wedding full of love.

In Nadine's case, the wedding will not be filled with happy laughter. Because their wedding is a wedding without the love of the groom.

Memories of his past flashed through Nadine's mind again.

Just then she arrived at her wedding hall with a happy look on her face. When she entered the room a faint smile was plastered on her beautiful face. Everyone looked at Nadine in amazement except Adrian.

He didn't even look at Nadine. Adrian is just carrying out his role as the groom who will tie the knot with the bride.

There was no smile or happiness on his face. His gaze was as dull as a robot that had been set up to obey Nadine's orders.

After the wedding ceremony, Adrian did not join in the party that her father organized. He also did not meet their invited guests. Nadine instead saw him busy receiving a phone call that Nadine believed was from Olivia.

After the event was over, Adrian just put his things at Nadine's house, changed clothes and left without saying goodbye.

Still admiring her mother's wedding dress, Nadine again promised herself.

"I promise I will soon find a way to let you go, Adi. That's a form of my love for you now."

Nadine then prepares to sleep and hopes that everything goes smoothly and according to her plan.

***

"Miss Nadine.... It's done."

The maid looked nervous after she finished helping Nadine to put on her wedding dress.

"Thank you."

The maid showed her surprised face to hear the thanks from Nadine.

"Why?"

The maid quickly shook her head. Nadine chuckled and said to her maid.

"Tsk.... I'm not going to fire you girls. I'm really grateful."

Nadine saw her appearance in the mirror. She agrees with her maid, she looks beautiful in her mother's wedding dress.

She looked effortlessly elegant in a sheer long-sleeve lace dress with all over floral embroidery. Her slender body looks stunning in an organza trumpet gown, what's more, her V-line collar makes her neck look slender.

Unfortunately that didn't make her happy. Because no matter how beautiful she is, Adrian will not turn to her.

As the maid put on the veil, someone knocked on her door.

"Miss Nadine... Jim asked are you still needed for a long time? Mr Henry already asked..."

"I'm done... I'm going out now."

Nadine rushed out of her room. Assisted by two maids who held Nadine's skirt. Outside Jim was ready to open the door for her.

"You look beautiful Miss Nadine."

Jim's small compliment made her smile. The maids who helped Nadine looked surprised at Jim's bravery.

"Thanks Jim."

Jim looked embarrassed to hear Nadine's thanks and Nadine's two maids were surprised again.

Before leaving she ordered something from her servant.

"Please clean the guest room at home."

The waiter looked even more confused.

"Alright Miss."

Nadine smiled back at them.

"Thank you. You did a great job."

The maids still couldn't believe what they heard. And immediately rushed back into the house to carry out Nadine's orders.

"Ehmm... I guess they are really scared of me, don't you think Jim?"

Jim sighed and immediately started the car.

"Haaah.... They just haven't gotten used to the kind version of Miss Nadine yet."

Hearing the ridiculous nickname that Jim gave to her made Nadine laugh. Jim shook his head again at Nadine's behavior.

It didn't take them long to reach the building. On the outside, Nadine's father seemed to be impatiently waiting for her. Nadine who knew her father's anxiety grinned at her father.

"You thought I was going to run away huh? Wait for me in front of the building?"

Nadine just looked at her father's relieved face without getting a reply for her comment.

In the past, her father did not wait for her in front of the building. The worst is her father had appeared just before she entered the altar.

"You're late Nadine..."

Nadine casually replied.

"Oh... I didn't want to embarass you so I took a while to get ready."

Nadine linked her hand around her father's arm. And get ready to enter the room.

"You have to take responsibility for your choices."

Her father repeated the same words. In the past she had confidently answered his father. She said that Adrian was the right choice for her. Her father just chuckled at that. But this time Nadine gave a different answer.

"Sure.... I will take responsibility and correct all my mistakes."

Nadine thought her father would give the same response. But this time something different happened again.

"Hope you can get what you wish for."

Nadine was a little surprised to hear her father's words. Nadine looked into her father's face trying to figure out if it was his father's wish or his father's challenge. But when her father gently patted Nadine's hand which was linked around his arm, Nadine smiled faintly.

"Thank you. These are the best words I've ever heard from you father."

***

In the hall of the building which has been decorated like a wedding altar, it looks boisterous with guests who are talking. Most of them looked happy.

But happiness did not appear on the face of the groom who was already standing in front of the altar waiting for his bride to enter the room.

Not long after, Nadine entered the room with her father. Adrian was not at all interested in seeing it.

Until Nadine was beside him, he still wouldn't look at him.

"If you want to run... There's still time Adrian."

Surprised to hear Nadine's words, Adrian spontaneously turned and glared at Nadine.

Adrian was a little surprised to see Nadine that words did not come out from his mouth. But the annoyance was still visible on his face.

This time Nadine smiled with satisfaction and said again.

"Now you see me, Adrian."