The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

The Vow

CENRIC

“I came here today to marry my girl, to cherish her, to protect and respect her, and to be the faithful husband to her. I knew the first time I saw you, and you would be the woman I wanted to spend my life with. I knew you would change me to be the best version of myself. Today, I swear to you to have your back, be your number one supporter, love you faithfully, and honor what we have from today and onwards. I give you my heart, my life, and my soul.”

I just watched my vow over and over again as she kept replaying it in the entertainment room. In the video, she looked so innocent as she stared at me while I read my vow.

I didn’t write anything. When you were caught in that moment, you just spoke from your heart—that was what happened that day.

She wiped her face again. She did that every time she played that clip. She was crying, and I didn’t know why. Did my vow touch her? Had she realized something, or had she changed her mind in marrying me again?

I didn’t want to disturb her, but I thought this would be a good time since I couldn’t watch her crying over that video.

She felt me. She quickly wiped her face and turned to me as I walked closer to her. “Hey.” Her smile was bright against the dim-lit room.

“Hey, you. What’s wrong, babe?” I wiped her face again then a tear fell down her eye.

She shook her head. “I watched your vow again and again.”

“And?”

“I was engrossed in checking you out at that time. I didn’t quite hear what you said until you slipped the ring into my finger. This is the first time I watched the video.”

“I remember I said something like see something you like?” I chuckled.

She laughed with a cry. “Yeah. Your vow was beautiful.”

“I meant it, babe.” I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips on top of her head. She smelled like fresh wildflowers. She always did. I didn’t know if this was her shampoo because mine was minty, but it didn’t matter. Even if she smelled like an alley, I still loved this woman more than my life itself.

I played it, and we watched it together. When it was her turn, I was fascinated by how she genuinely expressed her vow. She seemed to mean it, and no one could have thought it was the first time we met.

“You bring out the best in me. I can’t wait to marry you again.”

“Me too.”

***

“She went where?”

“She’s not running away. She said she would just visit someone,” Beck explained.

“Then why in the hell is Devin not picking up.”

“You put a tracker on her, then track her. Have you thought about taking it off?” Linden looked at me with a groan.

“I completely forgot about it, but she didn’t seem to mind now that she knew.” I checked the app on my phone. “She’s at her mother’s grave.”

Beck hit the road quickly. We stopped at the flower shop before we headed to the cemetery.

“She needs to visit her mother’s grave alone. Why don’t you give her time?” Beck asked. He clearly didn’t want to be there. Cemetery crept him out because we lost brothers. It brought back some sad memories to him.

“Because I want to be there too.”

He and Linden looked at each other before they shook their heads.

“Unbelievable. For a guy who has everything, you are clingy.”

“Thanks, Beck. I want her to be clingy, too.”

Linden snorted in disgust, “God, please don’t me like him. It’s disgusting.”

Beck snorted. “No way.”

“If you love someone, you’ll understand, asshole,” I said.

“She’d be fed up with you, and I can’t wait to see your face when she realized you’re clingy, jealous, and awful husband.”

Beck rolled his eyes at Linden. “Stop it. As if you can stop him if he wants something. I’ve tried it many times when they were just about to get married. I guess when you want it too bad, even if the asteroid is about to hit the earth, it won’t make him budge.”

“Thank you, Becker. That’s why you’re my favorite.”

“Asshole,” Linden spat. “Start hiring a chef.” He looked outside the window as we reached the cemetery.

Beck parked the car just beside the black Mercedes. Devin went outside the car. “She told me not to tell you, boss.”

“It’s alright.” I brought the flowers with me.

As I was closer to her, I heard she was talking to her mother about Jasper.

“Cenric, the Marine you gave our picture to, he’s actually a great guy. I’m married to him now, and he asked me to marry him again. I said yes.” She sensed I was closer, and she intended to louder her voice this time.

“Sometimes, he can be bossy, annoying, get jealous for no reason, but I can live with that. What I couldn’t, if he isn’t a part of my life anymore. God, he’s—I don’t know. All I want is to be with him.” She released a satisfying breath.

“You are the reason why we met, mom. I thank you for that.” She inhaled and sniffed. “I wish—it’s just an intimate wedding, but I still wish you could walk me in the aisle. I have so many things to tell you. I’m happy. I’m very much happy, mom.”

I slipped my arms around her waist and hugged her. “Here he is. The man behind my happiness. I’m sure you would approve.” She laughed. “He’s kinda persuasive and doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“I promise I will take care of your daughter. I will respect her and cherish her until my last breath, Yelena. You brought me to her, and I owe you big time. I also want you to know that this woman in my arms is the strongest woman I’ve ever met. No doubt, she got it from you. You have her compassion. You must be proud of her. Anyway, even if I asked Sadie to marry me again, and I’m still asking your blessing to marry your daughter again.”

“I think you got it, babe.”

I looked at my wife. “You think so?”

“Yes.”

“You are my everything, babe.” I kissed her.

“You’re mine too.”

***

After our fantastic sex, I pulled her into my arms. I could literally hear her brain reeling. “What is it?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s in your head?”

“We never talked about the future?”

“I guess I’m living for the day.”

“For a guy who thinks about the future economy, it’s impossible you never think about your future.”

“Of course, I have thought about our future many times, and I wanna talk about our future. I just don’t wanna scare you of how many kids I want.”

“Do you want kids?” Her question was hesitant.

“Of course, I do. I want five, but it’s up to you if you want more or less. If you don’t, we can just adopt. It doesn’t matter whether they are from our blood or not. I will still love them. Families don’t have to be measured by blood. I have Cas, Beck, the Corbins, Linden, and even Devin. I considered them my family. Back to your question, yes, I want to have kids with you. Do you want to be a mother of five?”

She just stared at me for a couple of seconds without blinking or saying anything. And it scared the living shit out of me. But she was full of surprises. She smiled and chortled. “You’re gonna be a great dad.”