The Billionaire's Ex

44|surprises

"I do," Thea said, her voice echoing the silent hall. Freya held her lips in excitement.

'Now, you have been called to love one another. With the power invested in me by the church and the word of God, I declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.'

His hand went round her waist instantly bringing her close to him. He closed the gap between them without wasting any time, sealing their lips together in a deep kiss. Absent minded to the never ending cheering of the crowd, they sealed their newly founded bond.

When he finally let go, they were taking deep breaths, paying for the lost ones.

"Hey," he said.

She smiled back immediately, muttering something similar to a 'hi'.

---

Clinging unto his arms, she smiled at the guests that greeted hem warmly.

"Mr and Mrs Ryder, what a pleasure," Ashton shook hands with the CEO of Vogue.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gabriel," Ashton said immediately.

He pulled him forward for a hug but then whispered, "You caught a beautiful one there Mr. Ryder." Tapping his hands on Ashton shoulders reassuring and Ashton in turn, out on a smile.

When Gabriel released him, Thea was looking at them in confusion. "I will see you later, in the mean time. You need some alone time." Gabriel told him before walking away into the party.

"What did he say?" Thea asked, placing her arm back where they were initially.

"Oh, nothing important. Just something between the two of us," he said.

"I heard you guys are really close," they continued walking further towards the center of the room.

"Yes, friends with him since kindergarten. He's one of the friends that was with me through everything and I plan of doing the same."

"That's really great. A never ending friendship, I envy those kind of friendships,"

"What happened with Jane and Amelia still on your mind?" Ash asked.

"Sometimes." She chuckled. "I mean it comes and goes,"

"Well I don't want to you thinking about it anymore." Ash said to her. "You have a happy ever after ending with me now-"

"I never knew you talked about fairytales," she interrupted and they stopped walking.

"They are common stories actually and I will have you know that I watched them a lot," her hands slid to connect with his and he held them tightly.

"Oh really now, and what did you learn so far?"

"I noticed that," his hands went around her waist gently and in turn she wrapped hers around his neck. "They all end up with a beautiful bride at the end,"

"Does that make you my prince charming?" They began to move to the rhythm of the background music. The couple were given enough space to have their way on the dance floor.

He leaned to whisper into her ear. "You can say that again," she smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Thea," he said after a while.

"Hm," she replied with her eyes closed.

"I love you you know that," she finally opened her eyes. "And I promise you that you'll be happy with me." She loosened the hold she had on him.

"Ash-"

"Shhsh." She swallowed. "Remember when she were in school and everything was different, when we wouldn't even look at each other without cursing or saying something stupid that might probably cause us to quarrel for days," she scoffed as tears gathered in her eyes.