The Contract With Her Father's Billionaire Rival-Chapter 36. A Wedding Disaster.

There was chaos in the room.

Everybody was shouting.

Nicolette couldn’t see anything, her vision was blurred with tears, her eyes heavy with the mascara that streaked down her cheeks.

She hiccuped.

Once.

Twice.

Her heart tightened with pain.

She hiccuped again and before she could control it, she puked.

Omelette.

Bacon.

Mashed banana smoothie—all came out of her mouth.

Somebody rushed to her. She didn’t know who, but they pulled her hair up as another round of vomit poured out.

"Get me water!" Suzie said, her voice loud and authoritative.

"What will I do? I’m going to lose my job!" Stelle whined loudly.

"Get yourself together!" Suzie snapped. "We don’t need this right now."

But Stelle either didn’t hear Suzie or simply just ignored her. "Mr. Allens is going to kill me. I’m done in this world!"

If Nicolette wasn’t crying herself, she might have laughed at Stelle’s dramatic tone; except, at this moment, nothing was funny.

Someone got her out of the stained wedding dress. She wasn’t sure if it was Suzie or Anna. All she knew was that she could no longer smell the rotten stench of bacon all over her.

Her underwear came off and then water splashed on her face.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, the heavy lash of mascara giving way to the water.

Another splash of water.

Then another.

Then she could see properly.

Anna was packing the wedding dress, trying to gather the ruffles on a go. Suzie stood next to her, her eyes warm with concern.

"It’s okay," she said softly. "Don’t think about it. We’ll find a solution."

But Nicolette thought about it.

Her heart arched and the tears fell again.

Suzie rushed over, pulling her close despite the smell of vomit and the fact that she was naked.

"Shh, it’s okay," Suzie whispered, consoling her.

But it wasn’t okay.

The pain of everything came crashing down.

She had lost her gallery—that was the major reason she was here. She had lost the one thing that kept her closer to her mother.

Robert had stolen all of her mother’s drawings.

Her father wanted her to marry someone else.

Hillary couldn’t be here on this important day.

If one of these things had gone right, she wouldn’t feel like such an emotional wreck.

But nothing went right. Not even the marriage she had control over.

"Lettie," Suzie said, tightening her grip on Nicolette’s shoulder. "We’ll fix it."

"How?" she asked, her voice tight from crying.

"By brainstorming together," Suzie replied. "Crying won’t help with anything. You have to be stronger than all this."

Nicolette exhaled, realizing Suzie was right.

She had to be stronger than everything.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded. "You’re right, Suzie. Crying solves nothing."

"Good," Suzie replied brightly. "Come on. Let’s clean up."

Nicolette walked to the tub and dipped herself into the warm water. Suzie lathered her hair, giving her a thorough scrub.

"Remember when Troy left me just three days after delivering Walter?" Suzie said as she scrubbed. "You told me to be strong, Lettie. You helped me through that crap, you helped with Walt when I was battling postpartum depression. And you fought the hell out of Troy’s families when they wanted to take my baby."

Nicolette closed her eyes. Her thoughts drifted, her heart filled with bittersweet memories.

"You were so young but you fought them. You stood up for me."

Nicolette chuckled. "I pulled off Troy’s sister’s hair."

Suzie laughed as she rinsed Nicolette’s hair with water. "Last I heard, she went completely bald in that spot."

Nicolette laughed heartily, her tension disappearing. "Serves her right."

Suzie smiled, then her tone softened. "You’re that strong girl, and you’ll overcome anything."

Relief simmered in Nicolette’s chest as she surrendered to Suzie’s kind words.

She could overcome anything, and she would.

"Thank you, Suzie," she said with a smile. "I don’t know what I would do without you." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Oh, I know," Suzie said, and Nicolette laughed. "You’ll cuss everybody out and call the wedding off."

"True," she chuckled.

"Come on, let’s hurry and find a solution to this mess," Suzie said.

Nicolette’s chest tightened at the reminder, but she swallowed the pain before it could form.

She had this.

She could do this.

She quickly finished her bath, and together they returned to the room.

Stelle was sitting on the floor, lost in thought, but her eyes were dry. Anna was moving around, trying to arrange the room.

"Time to brainstorm," Suzie said. "Look alive, girl." She clapped her hands, snapping Stelle out of thought.

Stelle jolted, wiped her eyes, and stood. Anna trashed what she was holding and joined them.

"We’re the three musketeers," Suzie said, addressing Anna and Stelle. "And our mission is to help this bride find her outfit. What do we do?"

They went silent for a moment before Anna spoke.

"There’s a bridal store on Fifth Road, they sell ready-made wedding gowns."

"Oh!" they chorused.

"That’s a brilliant idea," Stelle said.

"And I could use my sewing skills to transform it," Suzie added, her voice rising with excitement.

"Yes! We could design it to her taste!" Anna cheered.

Nicolette’s stomach fluttered with joy. She couldn’t believe they might actually salvage her wedding.

She smiled at them, her voice warm with gratitude. "Thank you guys so much."

"You’re welcome," Suzie said quickly. "But save the sentiment for later. Let’s get to work. Stelle, go get the dress. Anna, help me with the sewing accessories. I’ll call the hairstylist and makeup artist back. And you"—she turned to Nicolette—"just relax and let us handle everything. Okay?"

Nicolette nodded, her voice too strained with emotions to speak.

"Good," Suzie said, clapping her hands. "Let’s go, ladies."

Nicolette watched as they scrambled around before finally leaving the room. She sighed, delight pulsing through her.

Maybe the day wasn’t so bad after all.

She settled on the bed, closing her eyes to the soft music playing from somewhere in the house. Her mind was calm and her heart was full of hope. But when they didn’t return an hour later, she began to panic.

Nicolette shot out of bed and started to pace round the room. She looked out the window and saw guests gathering near the decorated space for the wedding.

"Where are you guys?" she whispered, biting her fingernails to stop herself from crying.

As if on cue, the door burst open and Suzie walked in first. The look on her face made Nicolette’s stomach drop.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice trembling with dread.

"Don’t panic," Suzie said, walking closer. "I couldn’t find the hairstylist or makeup artist—but we’ll work something out, okay?"

Don’t panic.

Don’t panic.

Nicolette nodded, exhaling deeply to steady her nerves. "Yes... yes."

"Good," Suzie said with a smile.

Anna and Stelle joined them, coming in with bags of items. Sadness etched on Stelle’s face while Anna looked exhausted.

Stelle dropped the bag she was holding on the bed. "I got a dress, but it is big."

Nicolette’s legs buckled, but she held it together.

"Let me see," Suzie said, pulling out the gown. She studied it, tilted her head. "I can definitely fix this."

"Oh," Nicolette gasped, relief steaming inside her.

"Let’s get to work then," Anna said with a sigh, and emptied her bag on the floor. "While Suzie works her magic, let me see what I can do with your hair."

Nicolette nodded, gratitude rushing inside her as she sat on the chair by the window. But an hour later, nothing was working out.

Suzie had cussed a billion times, constantly poking herself with the needle.

Anna had washed Nicolette’s face several times because the makeup wasn’t working.

And Stelle had bought over ten packs of needles because they kept breaking against the fabric.

The panic came in fits, but Nicolette tried to ignore it.

Today would go fine.

But when she walked to the mirror, her heart dropped at the disaster on her face. The makeup was terrible, and the hair was worse.

Suzie sighed, her voice tight with emotions as she tossed the gown aside. "It’s not working out. I’m sorry Lettie."

Nicolette turned to face them, her chest tightened with pain, her heart shattering at the chaos.

This wedding was definitely not happening.