The sudden silence was punctuated only by the soft rhythmic click of heels on marble, as Evie stepped forward onto the red carpet that led to where her groom waited.
She squinted, momentarily overwhelmed as blinding LED camera flashes erupted from paparazzi on all sides, accompanied by the rapid, insistent clicks and whirs of a hundred shutters.
However, her father who immediately took notice of this, signaled for the guards at the hall to intervene, gesturing discreetly for them to ask the paparazzi to reduce the intensity of their camera flashes.
Smiling graciously, Evie winked at her father as the flashes soon reduced, before moving her gaze across the hall to check for her stepsister and stepmother who were surprisingly absent.
Unbothered, Evie decided to disregard it and confidently continued her poised stride a bit faster, fixing her eyes on the figure awaiting her at the altar– her groom, standing tall and handsome in his grey charcoal suit.
As she approached him, his dark eyes locked onto hers and his expression became slightly unpleasant but later turned calm. Evie's heart sank, her smile faltering for an instant before she regained composure.
Cursing herself for appearing late at her wedding, Evie hated the fact that she had delayed her groom several minutes for her arrival. She couldn't wait to apologize and plead for his understanding as soon as she got the chance.
Soon enough, Evie slowly extended her hand to Qin Shengyi in apology but drew back in surprise when his cold gaze met her as if she wasn't supposed to be there. Checking around the hall, Evie sighed deeply in relief as no one seemed to notice the embarrassing scene that just occurred between her and Qin Shengyi.
Turning to look at Qin Shengyi again, her expression was dreadful. She remembered his promise from two days ago when he had sworn that he wouldn't let anything ruin 'the most perfect day of their lives' which was their wedding today.
Feeling confused, Evie thought of what was happening and got a sense that something terrible was wrong from somewhere as a result of the fact that the expression Qin Shengyi had on his face did not judge the case of her late arrival but something otherwise more terrible than she had imagined.
Just as Evie turned to the altar, the priest already began with his eloquent speech about the power of marriage, stressing deeply on the importance and beauty of love, loyalty, and the journey that awaited the couple.
At this moment, Evie breathed in deeply, giving Qin Shengyi some time to recover from all that was going on within him.
She closed her eyes but surprisingly felt a pair of cold soft hands holding hers and then moved her head to look at Qin Shengyi whose expression seemed to have finally turned better and softer.
He smiled at her. Afterward, squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling deeply before opening them back.
However, as the priest's official wedding speech continued, Evie took her time to cheer Qin Shengyi up, reminding him about their first meeting in college, their first date together at the Red Phoenix Entertainment Industry, and their first kiss which was yet to occur after eight years of waiting for this day to come.
They all seemed to have brought Qin Shengyi back to his usual lively state as he giggled. But unfortunately, his expression turned frustrated all of a sudden.
"What's going on with you Qin Shengyi? If anything is wrong, please let me know about it?" Evie inquired, her voice tinged with concern.
But he said nothing, rather fixing his gaze at the priest.
The real fact was, that Evie knew him well enough to recognize the tension in his shoulders and the tightness in his jaw. It was a look she'd seen before, usually when his father would push him too hard to make decisions that didn't align with his own desires. This alone made Evie believe that he might be feeling bad about his father's choice of letting him abandon his childhood dreams as an actor, and taking over the family business after the wedding comes to an end.
Eventually, the priest's sermon came to an end and with a broad smile, he fixed his gaze at the couples before adjusting his glasses to the bridge of his nose.
"Let me first of all begin the marriage ritual with Miss Yong Qiyue." He said facing Evie who was more than prepared to dive into this endless happiness and glamour of marriage with Qin Shengyi.
"Do you willingly take Mr. Qin to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in your holy matrimony? Will you love him and be good to him, respect him, honor him, comfort him, and protect him in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, until death do you apart?"
"Yes, I do," Evie said undoubtedly without hesitating.
The priest shifted his gaze to Qin Shengyi, who had his face calm and slightly expressionless.
He continued with the marriage ritual, "Do you willingly take Ms. Yong to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in your holy matrimony? Will you love her and be good to her, respect her, honor her, comfort her, and protect her in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, until death do you apart?"
Seconds went by and the groom didn't say anything. The atmosphere grew tense, and Evie felt sick. Watching him heave slowly, she felt a bit at ease.
But suddenly, his face twisted into a sad grimace and he said,
"I'm sorry, Evie. I can't do this."