The Tyrant's Wife

By the end of the week, everything looked so real that Zaria nearly believed she was getting married today.

“And now, for the bachelorette party.” Ximena whistled excitedly.

“We both know how that one’s going to end. Let’s not waste our time.” Zaria brushed off the idea. Ximena laughed but didn’t argue with that.

“You have a point. We are all going to end up in our men’s arms and ditching the party anyway. I don’t think they’re having a bachelor’s party either.”

“That’s a relief. I don’t want strippers all over my fiancé.” She exaggerated, making Ximena laugh. They were just finishing up the finest details of the real wedding in her house. Apparently, it wasn’t difficult to plan both weddings at the same time. In fact, the fake one had created enough time for the real one to be planned.

Someone knocked on the door. The part-time babysitter was yet to leave so she opened the door, and in came Evan.

Ximena wanted to block his view of Zaria and tell him Desmond was not home. However, Evan didn’t seem to try and flirt with Zaria anymore. Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe he had realized how stupid it was to be obsessed with an engaged woman, whose fiancé just happened to be his best friend.

Whatever it was, he was doing the right thing by respecting their engagement.

.....

“I’ll give you two a moment.” She started, only for Evan to stop her.

“I’m not here for her.” He interrupted and gave her the box he had brought. “Except maybe to give you this.”

She didn’t know what it was but she frowned. “It’s a fake wedding.”

“I know. I’ll get something more to your liking for the real one but this is just a little token of apology.”

She had no idea what he was apologizing for but she nodded and accepted it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Is Rosaly home?”

So that was who he was here for.

Luckily for him, Rosaly had rejected Zaria’s idea to go out to play today in favor of a dance class with her best friend.

“She is upstairs with Laia. Her dance class should end soon, so you can wait for her.” She suggested.

“Or I can watch her practice. The little ballerina does look adorable on her toes.” He couldn’t believe it either but as soon as he was shown to the makeshift dance room, he watched the rest of the little girls’ practice, barely blinking.

He had watched ballet performances before. It was always admirable how graceful the dancers looked, especially after he found out the amount of hard work and strength it took for them to look so light and beautiful on stage.

However, he didn’t think any prima ballerina could hold a candle to these two girls. Maybe that was just because they looked so adorable that they would steal hearts even if they did nothing but jump on stage.

Or maybe, just like Desmond, he was a girl dad in the making. He had to admit that Rosaly did make him smile with her antics.

“Evan!’ She called out happily when she finally noticed him.

“Rosaly, let’s finish your class then you can play with your friend.” The instructor smiled sweetly at Rosaly, then shot him a mean look.

He shrugged. He hadn’t done anything. He had merely appeared and Rosaly couldn’t wait to run to him.

As expected, the girl couldn’t concentrate anymore. She messed up her choreography four times in a row, her eyes glued to Evan. She was probably thinking about all the games they could play now that Evan was here.

With a huff, the instructor ended the class and let the girls run to Evan.

“Girls, can you go and tell Zaria your class is finished?” She asked. The girls ran out of the room, racing for the staircase despite his yell for them to be careful on the stairs.

The woman was glaring at him when it was finally just them in the room.

“Mr. Fort pays me by the minute to teach his daughter ballet.”

He shrugged. “It’s not my fault that Rosaly likes to play and besides, do you think Desmond cares about money?”

She hissed angrily. “I do care about money, do you understand? I had to end the class thirteen minutes earlier. Do you know how much I’ve lost?”

“Well, I can make up for the difference.” He offered. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

She looked like she wanted to slap him across the face. She took deep breaths and glared at him. “If you ever disrupt my class again, I will make you wear a tutu.”

He burst into laughter. With that fierce expression, he had expected a worse threat.

Apparently, the girls had been practicing choreography as a gift for Zaria’s wedding. When they came back from telling Zaria they were done, they couldn’t wait to show him. He couldn’t wait to watch it, but his mind was focused on something else.

“Will your instructor come again?”

“Miss Clarion? She will come tomorrow.” Rosaly answered, to his relief.

______

On Saturday.

On the island, Zaria was more nervous than ever.

“Did Nathaniel RSVP? What about Gabriel?” She couldn’t help asking as Ximena did her makeup.

“Don’t worry. They are both coming.” She assured her. She then wiped off the smokey eye she had done on Zaria so she would try out a milder look.

“It’s just a fake wedding, Xim. It doesn’t matter.” She reminded her.

“It matters.” And for some reason, she couldn’t get the makeup right. She had never had trouble deciding anyone’s makeup before. What she chose first would always turn out so magical that it would end up being the final look.

Perhaps she was more nervous than she thought. This plan was insane. The closer they were to the end of it, the crazier it sounded. What if it failed? They would all die if they couldn’t do it in one fell swoop.

However, she didn’t need to voice this. Zaria trusted Desmond with her life. Besides, he would never forgive himself if any harm befell her or their baby. He was going to make sure they came out unscathed.

Which is why when the door opened and a woman who looked a lot like Zaria came in, she was not nearly as surprised as Zaria was.

“What’s going on?” Zaria asked.

Moments later, Desmond walked in and went straight to Zaria to hug her. “I didn’t want to take any risks with you.”

“So you brought another woman to take my place and possibly lose her life in a family feud that has nothing to do with her?”

“Not exactly. Ciara is an assassin.”

The woman introduced herself and shook their hands. “I have been through more dangerous shit than Desmond described. I will be fine.”

Zaria stared at her then at Desmond. If he was putting an assassin in her place, he knew it was going to be dangerous. So what about him?