THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 300: Steffan Can Only Get Married To Me!

"What do I want? To stop the wedding of course," the lady replied in clipped tones.

Steffan’s brow furrowed in a deep frown.

The voice sounded a bit familiar as he heard her speak at close range. His anger soared as he couldnot remember where he had heard that voice before.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see his family’s guards positioning themselves at strategic points in the pew and he signaled with his eyes for them to stall a bit. He was sure he could handle the situation. Was it not just a woman?

"This wedding cannot hold!" The lady declared like a judge who was giving her final verdict, seemingly oblivious of what was going on or rather may have even made up her mind to damn the consequences and see through her mission for the day.

"Why? And who are you to stop the wedding?" Steffan glared at her, his eyes spitting fire. "Don’t you think you have had enough fun pretending to be mysterious? Now scram before I get more pissed with you," he ordered.

The woman stepped forward as if she was not the one being scolded, her eyes locking onto Steffan’s with a mixture of longing and desperation. "Steffan darling," she called out, her voice trembling with emotion. "You can’t marry her. You belong with me."

Steffan’s brows further knitted in confusion as he struggled to comprehend the identity of the woman that had the boldness to lay such outrageous claims.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice laden with fury especially when he saw the uncertain look on Lauren’s face.

"What is she talking about?" Lauren steeled herself to ask. She was trying desperately to believe what her heart, not her head was telling her.

"You shouldn’t take whatever she’s saying seriously. I don’t even know who she is. Besides, it’s you I love," Steffan strongly reassured, his eyes pleading desperately for Lauren to believe him.

"He doesn’t love you, bitch! I’m his only love," the woman flared when she heard Steffan declare his love for someone else.

She’s the one who was meant to be standing beside him today, adorned in the most beautiful wedding gown ever.

If she had arrived any minute later, was that how he was going to marry someone else after so many years of waiting for him?

No way! If he must marry anyone, it must be her. No other woman was permitted to take up the title of Mrs Steffan Rosse, not while she was still alive.

"Forget about this wedding and go home. Steffan can only get married to me. Our love story dates far back before you even knew of his existence," she said to the befuddled Lauren.

At first, Lauren’s instincts urged her to dismiss the woman’s claims as the ramblings of a stranger lost in delusion, but as the woman’s words pierced the air with their fervor, doubt crept into her mind like a whisper of betrayal.

Could it be true? Could Steffan have harbored secrets hidden from her?

A flicker of fear danced in her eyes as she suddenly remembered the incident at the nightclub where they had met for the second time and Steffan had confided in her that he was in love with someone else. Could it be this woman?

But Steffan had later confessed to her that he was over that woman.

With each passing moment, Lauren’s emotions churned like a tempestuous sea, her heart torn between the desire to cling to the love she held so dear and the gnawing fear of what lay hidden beneath its surface.

Anguish etched lines of sorrow across her beautiful features as she watched the woman’s desperate bid for Steffan’s affections.

"Security, get this lunatic out of here immediately," Steffan ordered, fed up with the whole drama.

Not just that but judging from the lines of sorrow etched on Lauren’s face probably due to anguish, he was somewhat afraid that she would leave him at the altar if he didn’t put an end to this whole farce as soon as possible.

"I wouldn’t do that if I were you," the woman sneered, letting out a wicked chuckle but her actions soon descended into madness the moment she saw some security guards actually approaching her.

"Keep off, otherwise you will regret your actions," she threatened and reached into her purse, brandishing a gun the next second.

"Look out! She’s got a gun!" someone exclaimed from the congregation.

Chaos erupted as guests screamed and scrambled for cover. While the guards closed in.

Lauren’s heart lodged in her throat as she stood transfixed, watching the scene unfold in disbelief.

"Young lady, it will be in your best interest not to act recklessly. Hand over the gun and we’ll let you leave in peace," one of the guards advised, stretching his hands to collect the gun, but the woman took some steps back looking as arrogant as ever.

"Says who? Who are you to tell me what to do? Get lost or I’ll shoot," she threatened and aimed the gun at Lauren.

Steffan instantly moved to shield Lauren, who was still transfixed on the same spot and almost immediately, a shot rang out, piercing the air with its deafening roar.

Time seemed to stand still as the room fell silent, the echo of the gunshot reverberating through the stunned silence.

And then, like a slow-motion nightmare, Steffan stumbled backwards, his hand clutching his shoulders in agony.

"No!" Lauren’s scream tore through the auditorium as she reached out to hold him. But it was too late as his head had already struck the sharp edge of the steps leading to the altar.

She crouched by his side, hands trembling as she desperately tried to stem the flow of blood from his shoulders.

Amidst the chaos, the mysterious woman’s mask of anonymity slipped away, revealing the face of none other than Benita, the woman Sarah Rosse, Steffan’s mother had once hoped he would marry.

Tears streamed down Sarah Rosse’s face as she watched the scene unfold before her.

"What have you done to my son, Benita?" Sarah screamed, as soon as she snapped out of her shock.

"I didn’t mean to," Benita whispered, her voice choked with remorse.

"You didn’t mean to do what? Was I the one that forced the gun into your hand? Clearly you came here with the intention to murder someone,"

"I was aiming for her," she said pointing to Lauren who was on the floor crying her heart out. "I just wanted to scare her out of his life."

But her words fell on deaf ears as Sarah rained slap upon slaps on her face until she was restrained by her husband.

"Forget about her, our son’s life is at stake now," David Rosse reminded her.

That was enough to calm Sarah down temporarily and she turned her attention to Steffan where some prominent doctors who were in attendance were already attending to him.

"Pray that my son pulls through this if not, be ready to face my full wrath," Sarah threatened before rushing to Steffan’s side but she was respectfully asked to move aside.

Lauren, who had also been asked to move aside while the doctors tended to Steffan, stared at the little crowd of doctors that were gathered around him in utter disbelief.

This was not the scene she had envisaged in her own wedding. Why did it suddenly turn this way?

As they lifted Steffan from the ground to take him to an ambulance that had pulled up behind the vestry of the church, Lauren staggered back, ashen-faced when she saw the blood stain gathered at the spot where Steffan’s head had been.

The wailing sirens pierced the radiant morning air as the ambulance tore through the streets, maneuvering between cars as it raced to the hospital.

Steffan lay unconscious, his pale face a stark contrast against the crimson stain spreading across his sparks white shirt.

Lauren sat beside him, her hands trembling as she clutched onto his lifeless hand, tears streaming down her cheeks in an unending cascade of despair.

"Please, Steffan, don’t leave me," she whispered, her voice choked with anguish. "I can’t lose you."

Every bump in the road sent a jolt of fear coursing through her veins, each passing moment stretching into an eternity of uncertainty.

Beside her, Sarah, Steffan’s mother sat in stunned silence, her normally composed demeanor shattered by the tragedy that had befallen her son.

Tears streaked down her face unchecked, her heart breaking with each agonizing second that slipped through their fingers like grains of sand.

As the ambulance screeched to a halt outside the hospital doors, a team of doctors that were already waiting for them outside the hospital positioned themselves by the ambulance door and quickly rushed Steffan into the emergency room.

Lauren’s breath caught in her throat as she watched helplessly, still finding it hard to reconcile herself to the reality staring her in the face.

She felt a hand wrap around her shoulder, turned to stare into the face whose eyes were laden with compassion.