Contract Marriage With Mr CEO

Layo's fingers trembled as she adjusted the lace trim of her gown.

The delicate fabric felt foreign beneath her touch, as if it belonged to someone else, someone whose wedding wasn't on the verge of crumbling.

The murmurs around her grew louder, whispers weaving through the grand hall like an unsettling melody. She tried to ignore them, keeping her eyes fixed on the large wooden doors at the far end of Christ Covenant Cathedral. Any moment from now, Tony would walk through them breathless from rushing, an apologetic smile on his lips. He would take her hands, squeeze them gently and whisper some excuse about last minute nerves.

But as the minutes stretched unbearably long, doubt slithered into her chest with a vice like grip.

From the front row, her mother's sharp gaze pierced through her. It was a warning, a silent command to keep her composure. Layo inhaled deeply, lifting her chin. No matter what was happening, she wouldn't embarrass herself.

Then, at last, the door creaked open. The man of the moment arrived.

Her heart lurched as she turned, relief flooding through her, only to freeze in a place when she saw him.

Tony strolled in at an unhurried pace, quite intentional, as if he weren't arriving disgracefully late to his own wedding. His suit was crisp, his posture relaxed, his expression unreadable.

But something was off, there was no urgency in his steps, no remorse in his gaze.

A cold wave of unease swept over Layo, raising the tiny hairs on her arms.

The hall once filled with murmurs, fell into a suffocating silence.

Tony came to a stop few steps away from her, his dark eyes scanning her face, yet offering nothing in return.

Layo swallowed the lump rising in her throat. "You're late", she said, her voice quieter than she intended.

A muscle twitched in Tony's jaw, but his stance didn't shift. Then, with a measured breath, he spoke the words that sent her entire world crashing down.

"I can't do this", he said, with all the nerves he could possibly muster.

Layo blinked. For a second, the words didn't register.

Then a sharp ringing filled her ears, drowning out the collective gasps from the guests. She forced herself to breathe, to move, to react, anything but stand there like a fool.

"What??"

Tony's gaze remained steady, but there was something unnervingly distant about it. He was completely detached.

"I don't want this wedding," he affirmed.

The air in the hall grew unbearably thick.

Layo's stomach twisted violently, nausea creeping up her throat. This had to be a mistake, a moment of panic, he probably wasn't thinking clearly.

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Why?"

His jaw tightened. For a moment, something flickered across his face, but it was gone too fast for her to grasp.

"I just can't," he said simply.

Layo's fingers crossed into fists, her nails pressing painfully into her palms. Heat pricked at her eyes, but she wouldn't cry. Not her, Infront of all these people.

Layo's mother's voice sliced through the silence, firm and filled with barely restrained fury.

"What nonsense are you saying?? We are in the middle of a wedding and this wedding must

happen oo. You can't disgrace my daughter like

this, laye! Laye!(Never)".

A ripple of tension spread across the hall. Eyes bore into Layo from every direction, waiting, watching, hungry for the spectacle unfolding before them. But, Tony didn't flinch, he didn't shift. He only exhaled and said, "I don't love her."

Something inside Layo cracked, a sharp unbearable pain lodging itself in her chest.

She willed herself to stay rooted, to not crumble under the weight of humiliation tightening around her throat.

Her voice was quiet but firm. "Then why wait until now? Why Tony Ajayi?? To humiliate me?? To make mockery of yourself??"

Tony didn't answer.

The silence between them stretched, suffocating and unrelenting.

Layo's breath slowed, realization finally dawned on her. Whatever was happening, whatever has changed, he sure has made up his mind before this moment. He had planned this moment, he had planned this sting of betrayal threatening to consume her.

She braced up herself, and with calculated steps, she turned away from him. Away from the stares , whispers and unspoken pity dripping from every corner of the hall and from the cameras.

She forced back the tears that were almost dropping out, determined not to cry, not Infront of him and not for the cameras.