Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 253

00 VINICHING

I sagged my shoulders in defeat as the guards stood on either side of me and urged me to follow behind Alvise, until we reached the main room where the magistrate was already waiting.

Each step I took felt like I was signing my freedom away… like I was going to tie myself legally to a man who had once ruled my heart.

It should be a good thing.

I should be happy… right?

But I wasn’t. Not just because my freedom was being snatched away or because I suspected he wasn’t doing this willingly, but because I was scared of what life would look like after this.

I looked up, my shaky fingers doing nothing to hide my nerves as I studied the room. The magistrate, a woman I would guess was in her early forties, cleared her throat when I stood beside Alvise, her curious eyes looking me up and down.

“You can start,” Alvise instructed calmly, though the impatience in his tone was hard to miss.

The magistrate’s movements were rushed as she placed some documents in front of us and tried to arrange them properly.

My face fell as I watched her, the last glimmer of hope I had disappearing.

I’d thought she would realize I was being forced and raise an alarm, but it was becoming clearer that she wasn’t a normal magistrate.

She probably worked for the Bratva too.

As a foreigner getting married in another country, I needed my passport, ID, and a ton of other

documents, and I hadn’t really had the chance to bring any of that with me.

But now, as I stared at the things on the table, I was shocked to see all those documents I had hoped would delay the marriage.

With wide eyes, I glanced at Alvise. “How did you get my documents?”

He didn’t respond.

He didn’t even look at me.

My chest tightened as I looked away, but my mind didn’t stop trying to figure out how it was possible for him to process our marriage without me even being involved in it.

“Pakhan,” Igor whispered, walking up to Alvise and stretching out two jewelry boxes. “The rings.”

And then it made sense.

I had almost forgotten I was marrying the head of the Bratva, a man who killed people. Why did I think

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Ruined By My Brother’s Best Friend

bypassing the law was going to be difficult?

The woman looked around. “Who will be representing you both as your witnesses?”

“Igor and Simeon,” Alvise said, nodding toward his men.

“Okay,” the magistrate said, smiling politely. “Please face each other.”

With wobbly legs, I obliged, my heart pounding hard in my chest as my eyes clashed with raging blue

ones.

His face was hard, his jaw even tighter, and it was stripped of any trace of warmth.

His eyes were on me, but he was staring through me, like he was desperately trying to pretend I wasn’t standing there.

My stomach twisted.

Before I could snap out of my depressing thoughts, the marriage proceedings began, and then it started to feel real.

I zoned out again, trying my best to pretend I was in a dream and everything was going to disappear the moment I woke up.

“Arabella.”

I jumped, my heart racing as Alvise’s narrowed eyes assessed me. “Hmm?”

“Take the ring, dear,” the magistrate said, pointing to the opened jewelry box Alvise was holding out.

I took the box from him, making sure our hands didn’t touch before pulling out the gold band.

I tried to ignore the diamond ring glinting in Alvise’s hands, but it was impossible not to acknowledge it. It shone brightly, but it was the size and uniqueness that caught my attention.

It wasn’t massive, but it was nowhere near small either, and the cut was similar to what I would have gone for if I were picking out my own engagement ring.

I looked away, a bitter taste settling in my mouth. I’d wished the ring was ugly so I could hate it.

But it wasn’t.

The magistrate glanced at me, clearing her throat, and I raised my brows. “What?”

I could feel Alvise’s piercing eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look at him.

The magistrate, seemingly almost losing her patience at my lack of presence, repeated, “Do you, Arabella Whitmore, take Alvise Valerio as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to hold, in sickness and in strength, till death do you part?”

My blood ran cold in my veins, the ring between my fingers almost slipping off as I repeated the question in my head over and over again.

I looked up, fixing my attention on the man I was making the vow to.

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He looked calm, not a speck of disorderliness in sight, but his eyes, sharp and hard, told me he was running out of patience.

He was daring me to say no.

I’d imagined this day with him several times, in different locations, with different people, but… that dream was now in the past.

“Yes,” I blurted. “I do.”

Alvise slipped the ring onto my finger, and I held my breath, a shiver running down my spine as his fingers grazed my skin.

The magistrate repeated the same question to Alvise, and without hesitation, he answered, “I do.”

I wasn’t as smooth as he was while slipping on his ring. My movements were rushed and sloppy, but he said nothing, just watched me as I made the simple task look complicated.

I sighed in relief when I finally got the ring fully onto his finger and snatched my hand from his like his touch had suddenly burned me.

The magistrate began talking, but I was too lost in Alvise’s eyes to pay attention, until I heard, “…I hereby declare you husband and wife! Congratulations! You may kiss the bride.”

Air stopped flowing into my lungs, and I froze, barely breathing as I stared at Alvise, wondering if he was going to skip the kiss… hoping he was going to skip it.

He stepped forward, his scent wafting into my nose as he slipped one hand around my waist and another over the back of my neck.

My eyes bulged out of their sockets, a shocked gasp escaping my lips as he leaned closer, until all I could see were the endless depths of his blue eyes.

“My. Wife,” he whispered, and then his lips came down on mine.

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