Forbidden Heat

Mysterious Wedding Present

I felt the sea breeze in my hair and on my bare arms. The weather was perfect, and the blue sea water

acted as the perfect background for our wedding vow. Everything was perfect and just as I had pictured

it and when I opened my eyes, the sight of Edward smiling tenderly at me was utterly perfect.

The clapping and cheers from our guests marked the end of the short ceremony and we were now Man

and Wife. I breathed a sigh of relief as I started to relax. I talked to the guests and received their gifts

and congratulations.

“How are you holding up?” Edward whispered softly as he held my hand while we stood side-by-side.

I was happy that he worried and cared about me so much, but I was feeling great. With the ceremony

over, I was enjoying myself so much more and it was finally feeling like this is my wedding.

“I’m doing great. Thank you,” I whispered back before squeezing his hand in confirmation.novelbin

“That’s great. Oh, be right there!” Edward whispered to me before responding to a call from his friends

as they waved him over.

I smiled at Edward to signal that it was alright for him to leave my side. After all, it was time I let him go

have some fun with the boys. I watched Edward’s back as he joined his army of friends. He seemed

happy and that made me feel very happy as well.

“Finally, alone?” I heard a familiar voice whisper from behind me.

I twirled around in panic to face the owner of the voice.

“Zak…” I whispered half in astonishment and half in delight.

I haven’t had a chance to have a conversation with Zak since the wedding started. I guess we were

both finding the right opportunity to catch each other. Glancing behind him, I could see that Zak had

someone managed to shake off Annie and that she was nowhere to be seen now.

“It’s a lovely wedding. How to say…it’s very you,” Zak complimented as he smiled his handsome

supermodel smile at me.

“Thank you. I’m glad that you could make it,” I replied with a smile.

Zak took my hand and held it in his as he came to stand so close to my side that our bodies were

touching.

“If Edward doesn’t treat you well, you just let me know, ok?” Zak said in a teasing voice. However, I

could tell from his eyes that held mine intently that he was dead serious.

“Ok…” I said as I nodded obediently.

“Congratulations…on the wedding…and the baby,” Zak said.

I doubt there was something about me that Zak didn’t know. Some way or another, Zak had found out

that I was pregnant. I wondered for a split of a second if he knew who the father was and then I

wondered no more. Zak definitely knew everything and the fact that he was telling me meant that I

didn’t need to explain myself to him…or to anyone.

I smiled at him genuinely and thankfully.

“Thank you, Zak…for everything,” I said, meaning every word.

“Don’t thank me yet. This is for you,” Zak said, and I felt something being pressed into the palm of my

hand.

I looked down to see that Zak had placed a small box resembling a jewelry box into my hand.

“A surprise present?” I teased as I smiled at him blissfully.

“Open it when you’re alone,” Zak whispered softly into my ear.

He winked at me playfully and then kissed my forehead. After patting the top of my head lightly a

couple of times he turned and left.

I looked down at the small box in my hand before looking back at the direction that Zak had

disappeared.

…

“There’re so many presents here for you, Miss Natalia. They’re pouring in non-stop!” Laura exclaimed

excited as she and a few other maids marched in with piles of boxes in their arms.

“…I guess having a small and private wedding isn’t good enough to keep things a secret…” I muttered

to myself as I turned to inspect the huge and tall pile of present that was just growing in size.

“It’s not a secret anymore, Miss. Now it’s all over the news!” Laura said in her perky voice.

With Lucien’s permission, Laura was allowed to follow me as I moved into Edward’s mansion. It was a

great help to have a familiar face here even though all the butlers and maids on Edward’s payroll were

friendly and helpful, especially Ralph.

That old man was overjoyed that Edward had chosen this mansion as our place to stay, at least until I

gave birth to our baby. I knew that part of the reason that Edward had chosen this place was because it

was quite far from the city. He wanted to ensure that I could live my life peacefully until the whole buzz

in the media died down.

“Calm down everyone. Please arrange the presents in order of arrival so that we can keep track. Also,

I’ve prepared a file where we can help Miss Natalia record the sender and the item,” Ralph said with full

authority.

Taking note of the sender and the item sent was very important and only good manners and Ralph

knew it. It was standard expectation for Edward and I to send at least a letter of thanks in reply along

with a thank you gift of our own.

After a brief discussion, I was able to convince Edward to at least let me take care of this procedure.

Edward was under the impression that I couldn’t do anything anymore now that my baby bump was

starting to show. I had to remind him desperately that I was just pregnant and not terminally ill which

meant that I could still do many things normally.

Returning my attention back to the staff, I felt like they were too excited and going over the top with

things, but I couldn’t tell them to back off when I saw how joyful their faces were. I guess this was

natural. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence that the master of the house would get married.

--To be continued…

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