Chapter 1: Unhappily Married

Damn!

Many a person would wonder why an ordinary – okay, well not so ordinary – girl would be upset about marrying the next crown prince of England. Edward, my to-be husband in less than fifteen minutes, was marrying me on a deal. This 'deal' was proposed by our parents back when we were born.

Standing here, waiting for the large doors of the church to open, I was hyperventilating and cursing myself for agreeing to this. Alice, my bridesmaid, best friend and Edward's sister, was holding my trail and trying her best to calm me down.

Then the traditional wedding march began; my cue to enter the church. Alice urged me to move forward. In the past couple of weeks, I had come to make a strong friendship with Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett. Rosalie and Jasper were twins. Emmett was Alice and Edward's cousin, and Rosalie's boyfriend. Alice's boyfriend was Jasper, making them one huge circle of friends. They were perfect.

That's where the twist came in; Edward had a girlfriend and would have married her if not for me. Her name was Tanya and the problem was that they had only met after this marriage was arranged. Tanya was Edward's personal assistant, which meant that she scheduled the day's activities, answered calls and booked appointments.

"You can do it, Bella," Alice urged on, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Don't think too much... Focus on Edward," Rosalie said, patting my shoulder.

"Rose, that's not going to help. You know why we're getting married; so that Edward can rightfully lead the country. His name will be put to shame if he bailed out on me after the proposal, so I need to do this for him. He deserves it."

"Thank you, Bella. You've really helped him," Tanya said gratefully. I smiled in welcome.

"Sure, sure," I murmured, as I stepped into church. I would have backtracked if it weren't for Charlie, my dad, leading me down the aisle. The blood was rushing to my face because of all the important people watching me in awe as I walked down the aisle.

Edward was standing at the end, looking at me in unexpected admiration. Next to him, Jasper and Emmett were grinning madly and winking. I smiled back.

Charlie stopped me right next to Edward. "You ready for this?" Edward whispered quietly in my ear. Of course I wasn't ready but I still nodded. I passed my flowers to Alice and waited.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the holy matrimony of Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan..." the priest began.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The wedding flowed smoothly into the reception party, thanks to Alice and her team of wedding planners. Edward and I stood there as the 'happily married couple', welcoming and thanking the guests that had come tonight.

Charlie danced with me the ritual father-daughter dance. Then, Jasper, Carlisle (Edward's dad), and Emmett claimed me. I put in the happy bride show, not wanting to ruin this carefully planned night.

Only, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Tanya, Emmett, Rosalie and I knew of the true reason for me marrying Edward. Everyone else thought that it was by will.