The Overnight Chosen Wife: darling, kiss me deeper

Song recommendations: Beautiful in white—Shen Filan.

A thousand years—Christina Perri.

If I ever walk down the aisle, I’m definitely doing so to either or both of these songs.

____

The following afternoon.

Iredale Palace was an ancient Palace dating back to three centuries and had been turned into a hotel fifty years ago. Rumor had it that the reigning king had built it for his most beloved wife to appease her after an argument. This was where the wedding was being held.

Sure enough, the guests were in awe when they learnt about the history of the venue. It might have been considered a coincidence if it was like any other wedding venue. However, it cost an arm and a leg to merely reserve a room in the palace for a night, let alone book the entire palace for a wedding. The guests interpreted it as Xiehan’s message to Lanni—that he would do anything to appease her and it didn’t matter what it cost him.

It was a small wedding with no more than fifty guests, but it was certain that it would be all over the papers and social media the following day what with the media personell present.

The hall had been royally decorated with pastel colors that the couple had opted for in the end. Everything looked perfect, and the groom looked anxious.

The best man, Lin Jian, jabbed his best friend. "You are going to bore a hole into the floor if you don’t stop taping it."

Xiehan adjusted his navy coat anxiously as he glanced upstairs. "It’s time. She is not here yet."

"Well, it’s not like she can change her mind about marrying you." He joked to ease the mood.

When Xiehan thought about it, he relaxed a little. But he was not the only one concerned about the bride’s lateness. The guests were starting to look over and whisper in confusion. To be fair, it had only been ten minutes. It was just hard to wait when everyone was anticipating her arrival.

Soon, twenty minutes passed and Xiehan was starting to worry. Was anything wrong? The ladies would have communicated if anything was amiss, right?

When the bridesmaids finally showed up, Xiehan exhaled in relief but that was until he realized that it was only Ruby, Xiaoshi and Luna. The maid of honor, Cheng Yu, was yet to arrive and that meant Lanni wasn’t walking down the aisle any time soon either.

...

An hour earlier.

"Lanni, wake up!" Luna shook her sister awake. It was no longer funny.

Lanni flipped over and growled. "I’m sleepy."

"Well, if you keep sleeping, your husband will think you are standing him up at the altar." Cheng Yu scolded her sternly.

Lanni’s eyes flew up. "It’s my wedding day! Crap!"

Ruby held back a laugh. "What’s that they say about brides waking up hours before their alarm on their wedding day? A load of crap?"

Luna slapped her forehead. "You may actually wake up hours earlier if you don’t stay up fantasizing and go to sleep at 9am."

Ruby’s eyes went wide.

"Well, hurry! We need to get you ready."

What followed was a flurry of activity, with Lanni taking a shower and Cheng Yu letting in the hair stylist and makeup artist. Luckily, her manicure and pedicure had been done the evening before.

They busied themselves around her as soon as her butt hit the vanity chair. The stylists must possess a pair of magical hands because although time was running out, they were able to do their best in such a short time.

Luna couldn’t help gushing when they were done. "You are so beautiful, sis."

"And she is twenty minutes late." Cheng Yu was starting to get nervous. "Xiehan must be going crazy. Why don’t you guys distract them for a while?" She suggested.

Luna got their bridesmaids bouquets—luckily they had dressed up while waiting for Lanni to wake up—and headed down.

Ruby cast a pleading look at Lin Jian who knew to pick up the mic for a distraction. He gave a short opening speech and grabbed the chance to tell all embarrassing stories of Xiehan that he could think of, making the hall roar in laughter and Xiehan glare daggers at him.

He shot him a "What can you do about it" look and only stopped when Ruby gave him a wink to let him know that he could stop. Great, because he was running out of jokes and stories. He had even had to make some of them up.

The maid of honor was the first to walk down the aisle and position herself on the left side of the altar, then, with Xiaomu preceding her and sprinkling white rose petals along the red carpet, Lanni gracefully made her way down the ornate, carpeted staircase amid gasps of awe.

Neil took her gloved hand at the bottom of the staircase and hugged her. "Are you sure you want this subtle announcement of my and Yuming’s relationship?" He asked, worried that him walking her down the aisle might steal the limelight away from the wedding.

She responded with a smile. "Nothing could be better than this."

So he hooked her arm around his own and walked her down the aisle, feeling every but like a father would walking his daughter. And from her smile under the veil and glistening eyes which were definitely fighting back tears, he knew that she felt the same way.

It turned out having a father-daughter relationship didn’t require years of living together, but kindness and love.

It was a good thing because after all, he would be her stepfather soon.

Xiehan wanted nothing more than to rush and meet her halfway, swoop her in his arms and hug her, but all he could do was wait. It was the longest wait of his life but each step she made, his smile widened a little more and his eyes stung a little more. His vision was clouded when Neil finally placed her hand in his palm.

"I love you so much." He confessed in a whisper.

The officiator cleared his throat to remind him that it wasn’t time yet. He smiled, held his beautiful bride’s hand and walked to the arch with her.

He snuck glances at her throughout the entire welcoming speech and only reacted when his name was called out.

"Do you have anything to say to your bride, Li Lanni?" The officiator repeated, realizing Xiehan had spaced out before.

He stared at the beautiful woman under the veil in awe. "Well, uh... I had this speech ready for months and I even practiced it in front of the mirror last night. But your beauty has made me so speechless I can’t remember a word. So forgive me if I bite my teeth trying to impress you."

The venue roared in laughter.

He held her hand. "When I first met you, I felt complete. I didn’t realize it yet but you were the missing piece in my life and I may have been a jerk for a while pursuing you." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Every morning I look at you and it’s impossible to understand how the heavens decided that we were meant for each other. I definitely didn’t save a galaxy. So I will spend the rest of my days doing my best to deserve you."

"Xiehan..." She muttered speechlessly.

"And for the rest of our lives, I will let you have my t-shirt so I will make your breakfast shirtless just the way you like it. And I will spend every night warming your bed for the rest of our lives."

Her jaw dropped. Did he just say that in a hall full of guests?

The rumble of laughter put out her only hope that he might have whispered out the last part.

Her face flushed in embarrassment but she decided to counter him. "Then I will make sure to keep a painting of each time you make a shirtless trip to the kitchen."

The guests laughed and applauded at her counterattack before she continued. "We had many disagreements when we first met but I’m glad that we got over all of them. Our relationship has not been a smooth road but being with you is worth all the hurdles. So, Xiehan, I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life."

He nearly couldn’t stop himself from kissing her. He was interrupted by the arrival of Linhou, who held a velvet pillow with both hands. A placard hung around his body, printed with the words [I can’t be trusted to not eat the rings but they made me carry them anyway.]. Xiehan grinned in amusement. That must have been Lin Jian’s idea.

When the box was opened, Xiehan took out the heart-shaped diamond ring and slid it on Lanni’s ring finger, settling it right next to the engagement ring.

She looked up at him in adoration as she took the ring that complimented hers and slid it on his finger. She couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.

"By the power granted to me by the state, I pronounce you man and wife. You may now..."

He held the sides of her veil and opened it, his lips landing on hers before the officiator finished speaking.

Another roar of laughter filled the hall at his impatience, before it morphed into a wave of cheer.

___

AN

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Ji. This is one of the Chapters I had the most fun writing in the whole book. The next Chapter is coming up soon.

2/5