Vienna's POV

The next morning Scarlett left for Paris and by the evening when Andrei, the man that Ryan asked David to assign to keep an eye on Scarlett, reported back to Ryan with the happenings of the day, well...Ryan was fuming red as he was informed that Scarlett didn't just take any flight to Paris...she fled to Paris by her friend's, who invited her, private jet.

Oh well, I'm all for freedom and all, but yet we can't change or ignore the fact that she is still a young kid, she's just seventeen, she should have at least informed us of her traveling plans and her traveling companions.

And what got Ryan even more worried and mad was the fact that we didn't even know her friend's name, but since Ryan is...well Ryan, it was a piece of cake for him to find out who that friend of hers is.

His name was Ivan and turned out he was a couple of years older than Scarlett, thankfully he came from a well reputed family and had no criminal record or anything like that, along with this information we also recieved a few pictures of this guy and fortunately he didn't look like a druggie, which did manage to keep Ryan's mind a little sane but yet he was still worried about her and he will remain so until she comes back home safely.

And I do get it...she is his little sister after all.

And that fortunately and unfortunately reminds me about my own siblings...fortunately because I do have siblings and I have spend some really good times with them...and unfortunately because I no longer get to see them...and I don't even know if they'll be there on the biggest day of my life or not, I think it's safe to say that while finding love...while trying to be with the love of my life, I lost my family.

But I still have Ryan...and his family...which is now mine too and I don't think there's anything more I could have ever asked for.

And I'm happy.

"Come in" I said snapping out of my thoughts when I heard the soft knock on the room's door.

"Mrs. Knight, there's someone downstairs who would like to see you" Mila, one of the house helps, said.

"Who is it?" I asked confused.

"I don't know, ma'am. I did ask for their name but they refuse to tell me" She replied as I frowned.

Who could it possibly be? I don't even know anybody here, in Russia, except for Ryan and his family.

"Okay, I'll be downstairs in a minute" I said before she left nodding her head.

Should I really go see who it is? Or should I call Ryan first?

But I don't want to disturb him while he must be busy with his work.

And if somebody has managed to get through the main gates without any hassle, surely they must be somebody whom we know and obviously not someone who wishes us any harm.

So I guess, I'll just have to go and see for myself, who it is, thinking so I made my way downstairs.

It would be a great lie if I said that I wasn't nervous...because honestly, I was...even my palms were sweaty for some unknown reason...what if it's someone who hates Ryan and is here to harm us or something?

But then again if it was one of his enemies, then of course they wouldn't have been able to get inside the premises in the first place.

Yeah so stop overthinking, my subconscious said rolling her eyes at my silly, nervous thoughts.

"Hello. Anybody here?" I said calling out for my unknown and unexpected guests, as I walked towards the main door, which was open, but they were no where to be found.

"Mila" I called out as she come running towards me.

"You said we have some guests, where are they?" I asked turning around to face her but before she could reply, we were both startled by a bunch of familiar voices.

"Surprise!"

Yeah familiar...to me at least.

"My goodness!" I gasped as I turned towards the source of the familiar voices.

"Sofia, Alex, Nan" I exclaimed enthusiastically while looking at my siblings and my best friend as the three of them pulled me into a group hug.

"What are you guys doing here? I mean when did you get here? And how? And why didn't you guys inform me prior" I added, boomeranging them with my back to back questions while pulling away.

"You are getting married in a week and you are asking us what are we doing here?" Sofia said shaking her head slightly.

"Duh. We are here to attend your wedding...you dumbo" Nancy said playfully before pulling me into another tight hug.

"God! I missed you so much, Nan" I said hugging her back.

"Yeah I can tell..." She replied sarcastically before pulling away.

"You never called me after you left me to fly to Canada all alone...I almost thought you were dead or something" She added.

"Nan, I'm so sorry...I couldn't call you..." I trailed off with a sigh.

"You have no freaking idea how worried sick I was when I called David, asking to speak with you, but instead I got to know that you never went back to Ryan which only meant one thing that..." Nancy paused taking a quick glance at Alex and Sofia, who were both looking at us, confused by our cryptic conversation.

"That you were missing" She whispered to me.

"I know you were worried for me, Nan, but trust me I was just so caught up in my own mess..." I paused with a sigh once again.

"Trust me you have no idea what I went through" I continued to which Nancy frowned in confusion.

"Vienna, I don't understand. What are you guys talking about? Are you okay?" Sofia asked concerned as she heard our conversation.

"Yeah. I'm totally fine" I replied.

"Anyways. Where's mom? I asked while glancing behind them.

"Um...Vienna...she let us come here but..." Sofia trailed off.

"But what, Sof?" I asked.

"But she refused to come to your wedding" Alex replied.

"Oh" I muttered with a sigh as I felt my eyes welling up with hot tears.

"Vienna..." Nancy said placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Everything will turn out to be fine, trust me" She added as I pressed my lips together and gulped the sudden ball of emotions down my throat while nodding my head.

"Come on, you guys must be tired" I said a few seconds later while wiping my tears off before leading them into the living room.

"We are not that tired though, because Ryan made sure we flew by business class" Sofia said.

"Did he?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah" She replied.

"Thank you" Nancy said to Mila as she served us all some tea.

"Please let me know if you need anything else, Mrs. Knight" Mila said.

"Yes, I will. Thank you, Mila" I replied with a smile before she left.

"Mrs. Knight? Already?" Sofia said with a teasing smile as I couldn't help but roll my eyes while trying to hide the slight blush heating my cheeks up.

"They call me that ever since Ryan and I got engaged" I replied trying to play it cool but honestly every time someone calls me Mrs. Knight, I feel butterflies in my stomach.

Speaking of the devil, I thought as I glanced down at my phone, which went off, showing a message from Ryan.

‘Hope you liked your surprise...I know it's a bit incomplete right now but as I promised, it'll be complete soon.’

‘Loved it. Thank you and I know you might have tried your best but as I told you earlier she's a hard nut to crack...’

I quickly typed a reply.

‘Yeah that she is...just like you...now I know where you get it from.’

Reading his reply, I couldn't help but chuckle.

‘I love you.’

I typed.

I know.

He replied with a winky face emoji and I couldn't help but shake my head with a smiling face.

"Speaking of, where is our brother-in-law?" Alex asked trying to sound authoritative, snapping me back to reality.

"Why? Are you gonna act all 'protective little brother' and interrogate him?" Sofia asked sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Oh trust me, you wouldn't wanna do that" Nancy replied with a sly smile as I glared at her, asking her to keep her loud mouth shut.

"He is at work, Alex, he'll be back by dinner" I replied to Alex, who nodded his head.

"Of course, he is a billionaire after all...he must have really worked his butt off to get where he is today" Alex said and I think he sounded a little proud.

"Yeah I recall when mom told us that you are..." Sofia stopped abruptly.

"What? What did mom say?" I asked confused.

"Nothing important" Alex replied before throwing a glare at Sofia which obviously didn't go unnoticed by me.

"Alex, Sofia, tell me, right now" I said in my 'big sister' tone.

"She said that..." Alex paused.

"She said that you are with Ryan just because he is wealthy or else you would have never agreed to marry a guy like him...who already left you once" He continued as I heard a gasp beside me, coming from Nancy.

"She even called Ryan a fraud...a cheater" He added.

Wait. What?

I think I heard him wrong. My own mother...

No. She would never accuse me of something like that.

"Alex. I think I heard you wrong..." I said only to be interrupted by him.

"You heard me right, sister. That's exactly what mom said" He said.

"And that's complete bullshit. I know" He added shaking his head.

"We don't trust a word uttered by mom, Vienna...we know that you love Ryan and that's the only reason you are marrying him" Sofia said coming by my side and holding my hand.

"And just don't mind her words...she was just so mad and hurt that you are getting married against her will..." She paused with a sigh.

"So she said some things that are completely baseless and that she shouldn't have said and she knows it too" She continued, giving me a sympathetic look.

I cannot believe my own mother said that about me...I get it that she's mad at me but that doesn't give her the right to call me a gold digger.

"I-I don't even know what to say anymore..." I trailed off as I felt my eyes welling up with tears once again.

"Vienna...it's okay...just don't think about it, you are getting married in a week...that's all you should keep in your mind right now" Nancy said.

"Nan, you heard what Alex said right?...my own mother basically called me a gold digger...and she didn't stop at that...she even called Ryan a fraud...a cheater" I said as a few tears slipped down my eyes.

"Yes I heard him...but she didn't mean any of those words...she's just mad at you...and she doesn't wants you to be unhappy and in her point of view...Ryan would give you exactly that...unhappiness..." Nancy paused.

"Just because he left you once...she now believes that he'll leave you again...she's just concerned for you" She continued.

"She might be mad and she might also be concerned but none of that gives her the right to judge Ryan and my relationship...she has no right to judge our love for eachother..." I said fuming.

"He loves me to no ends, Nan, and so do I...and I'm getting married to him because I love him...not because he is wealthy. I was with him even when I thought he had nothing...when we all knew him just as a common highschool guy..." I trailed off.

"And nothing is hidden from you, Nan. You know our story better than anyone else...you know how much pain and heartbreak we have been through before finally getting here..." I continued.

"I know. I know. You just calm down" Nancy replied.

"No. I cannot...she has no right to judge me and call the man that I love, a fraud" I said wiping my tears off with the back of my hand, with my jaw clenched as I felt enraged recalling her dreadful words...especially for Ryan.

"She has no fucking right to insult him like that" I added.

"She didn't want to attend my wedding right?" I said almost as if talking to myself as my siblings and my best friend looked at me in anticipation of what I was going to say further.

"Now I don't want her at my wedding" I added with no emotions in my eyes.

No emotions?

Well yeah that was a lie because no matter what I said or what my eyes made these three believe...on my outer self I was mad...but deep down I was hurt.

Too damn hurt!

•••

Hey guys,

I know it's been a while since I updated, I have been busy with my assignments and exams.

But I'll try to update soon this time.

Anyways,

Please vote, comment and share.

Until next time.

Love,

Crystal ❤️