Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 588 -

*Natalia*

"It's just a wedding. It's not that important... just a wedding... not important... not important...."

Tallon's cruel words persistently replayed in my head as I paced the perimeter of our bedroom. It went on like a broken record in my head because I still couldn't wrap my mind around any of it.

'How could he not care about our wedding?' I asked myself.

I was glad I'd walked out of the room when I had because God only knew what I would have said back to him. Part of me was faintly aware that Tallon was speaking out of anger for what I had done. And, yes, I knew I should have told him what my plan was when it came to finally dealing with Bianca..

He'd tried for weeks to make me think differently about her, to make me assume that all of it was in my head-the constant appearances in public, booking the same venue, picking the same dress.

It all became just too damn much.

And instead of supporting me, or hell-just believing me-Tallon kept playing it off. So I needed to take matters into my own hands, and I had absolutely zero regrets. Because now, I at least knew the truth. I wasn't crazy, nor was I imagining any of it.

But Tallon didn't seem to care about that. He was more upset at the fact that I went behind his back and tried to deal with this problem on my own. I wanted to understand his side of things and, for a brief moment, I did.

But then he'd gone ahead and threw out his true feelings about our wedding.

'Maybe he really doesn't care about us getting married at all,' I thought bitterly to myself. 'I should have realized that from the beginning.'

I stopped my pacing and hissed under my breath. "Fine. If this is how he truly feels, then I really don't need to be here right now."

I reached into my pocket for my phone, quickly pulled up Mia's number, and waited for her answer. Thankfully, it only took two rings before I heard her calm voice come through the speaker.

"Hey, Nat. What's going on?" she asked.

I glanced around the empty room and felt myself shrinking more and more by the second. My stomach continued to twist in knots as my head filled with awful doubt. Was all of this just a mistake-all the planning, the need to try and make everything perfect and special?

"Natalia?" Mia's voice was laced with concern, which snapped me out of my mental train of thought.

I cleared my throat. "Sorry, Mia. Everything's... well... alright. To be honest, I feel like everything's pretty much fallen to shit," I admitted.

"What the hell happened?"

I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "It's a long story," I told her.

"Well, you're not allowed to leave me in this kind of suspense," she remarked flatly. "Why don't you come over to my place and tell me everything?"

My nerves happily loosened up at the sound of her invitation. Even though it felt like I'd just got back home, I was replaceing myself reaching for my bag again. "Sounds perfect," I confirmed. "I'll be over there as soon as I can."

I ended the call and decided that I was going to drive myself over to Mia's. Deep down, I knew Tallon would have preferred that someone else drove me there, but I desperately needed a break... from him, his men, and his world.

I tossed my bag over my shoulder and headed toward my car. I earned one or two suspecting looks from the men stationed around the main doors, but I hastily brushed them off. What was more surprising was that Tallon was nowhere to be found.

A sad part of me would have thought that he'd at least try and speak to me again.

But I guess I was wrong again.

***

I sent Mia a text the moment I got to the apartment complex, letting her know I'd arrived. I gave myself one last glance in the rearview mirror of my car to check out how swollen and red my eyes were. The second I'd gotten behind the wheel, I'd felt my whole body begin to crumble to pieces.

Quickly fixing any makeup that may have rolled off my face, I locked my car and dropped my keys into my bag. I kept my head ducked low as I walked through the main doors of the building and headed up to Mia's floor.

I lifted the back of my hand to knock on the door.

"Coming!" Mia called from the other side.

I faintly heard her make her way across the room, and the door swung open a moment later. Mia greeted me with a warm smile that I wished I could have reciprocated.

Her enthusiasm slowly melted as she took in the mess I'd become. "Oh, Nat," she said solemnly.

I took my bottom lip between my teeth and swallowed down the emotional storm that resigned in my chest.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go sit down."

She pulled me inside in her place and eagerly led me over to the small, cozy living room. I finally let my legs give out beneath me and sank into the soft plush of the couch. My face fell into my hands and I let out a frustrated groan. "Thank you," I mumbled through my hands.

"It's more than okay. Now, can you please tell me what the hell happened?"

Slowly, I leaned back and took in a deep breath. I ignored the tears that prickled in the corners of my eyes.

"Okay, well-"

"Oh, wait!" Mia gasped.

My eyes widened as I watched her jump up from the couch and rush into the kitchen down the narrow hall. A few moments later, she came rustling back with two wine glasses and a large bottle of wine. I couldn't keep myself from giggling as she set it all down on the coffee table in front of us.

"Well, you said on the phone that it's a long story, so I figured this might help," she said, gesturing to the glass in her hand.

I gave another laugh and happily nodded my head. "You're right about that," I sniffled.

Once the two of us took a tentative sip of our wine, I started from the beginning.

"So, do you remember a while back when Tallon and I ran into one of his ex-girlfriends, Bianca?"

Mia nodded her head.

"At the time, I truly thought nothing of it," I continued. "I mean, what are the chances of running into the same person more than once in a city like this? Well, turns out that coincidences aren't as naturally occurring as you'd think." Mia raised her brows and gave a questioning look.

"Bianca seemed decent enough the moment we first met. Tallon told her about our engagement, and from that point on, I kept running into her. Her behavior was... off. It felt like every smile was fake and every question was backed by some secret motive."

I took a long sip from my glass before going on. "The wedding venue I'd checked out with Tallon just so happened to be the same place that Bianca picked for her reception, and on the same date, no less. And then there was the incident about the first wedding dress I'd picked out."

Mia's mouth fell open as though she already knew where I was going with this conversation.

"Bianca basically swooped in and stole the dress I initially wanted."

"Jesus Christ. It's like she was trying to steal your wedding!" she exclaimed.

I snorted and shrugged my shoulders back. "Yeah, well, that's what I always thought. But whenever I tried to tell Tallon this, he'd simply brush it off. It was all driving me crazy-I thought I was crazy. So, I hit a breaking point and asked Vinny if he could replace Bianca's address."

Mia's eyes widened in shock. "Nat, are you serious?"

I silently nodded my head. "Yes. I went to her place and the two of us spoke. It was actually quite civilized to my surprise. Bianca admitted to everything. She has a friend who works at the venue, and she knew about the dress I'd picked out. Bianca said she'd never officially gotten over Tallon and promised to stop meddling."

"Well that's good, right?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I thought so-that is, until I got home afterward and was confronted by Tallon. I hadn't told him about going to see Bianca or the fact that I had Vinny replace her for me. He was monumentally pissed off, and I tried to explain to him why I'd done what I did."

"But, wasn't he at least shocked to hear about Bianca's meddling?" Mia asked incredulously.

Again, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Tallon didn't seem to care that I was right about any of it. I knew Bianca was sabotaging our wedding plans, but he never believed me. He yelled at me for going behind his back and basically told me that I was overreacting." I felt my voice grow weak. "He said... that it's just a wedding and it wasn't that important."

Mia's features softened with compassion. She reached out and rubbed my arm, trying to comfort me from my own thoughts.

"I mean, if this is how he truly feels, then why are we even getting married?" I asked. "Obviously, none of what I've been trying to do meant anything to him. Of all the trials and tribulations we've faced, maybe this is the true wake-up call the two of us needed."

"Now, just hold on," Mia insisted firmly.

She leaned over to set her wine glass down while I went to refill my own.

"Natalia, you and I both know that a lot of what you're saying is just because you're still upset with Tallon," she stated. "But, deep down, I know that you undeniably love him."

Oh, for Christ's sake... yes, I did.

As much as he hurt my feelings, I still loved him with all my heart.

"When Tallon said that about the wedding, I'm sure that he didn't mean that you weren't important. What truly matters to him is you."

I felt a long tear trail down my cheek.

"I mean, think about it. There's really no such thing as the perfect wedding. But at the end of it all, all that matters is that the two of you are together and that you're happy with each other," Mia explained.

Thanks to her unexpected words of wisdom, I felt the heavy burden of my feelings lighten tremendously. She was right. At the end of the day, all that mattered was that Tallon and I were together. I was so lucky to have a close friend like Mia to help ground myself in a time like this.

The two of us easily lost another hour in each other's company, and soon the large bottle of wine was finished. My body was lightly buzzing, and I knew for a fact that I was blatantly tipsy. I reached for my phone, intending to call for my driver to come and pick me up.

The second before I hit the call button, Mia and I heard a sudden knock on her front door.

"I'll get it." Mia got up from the couch.

I heard her open the door and fall silent.

"Tallon? What are you doing here?"