Kapitel 1: Fruit wine

The gold and white-themed wedding were in a luxurious, five-star hotel beautifully ornamented by diamonds, fresh white peonies, and lovely music by a classical music band. Nothing less could be expected; a duke was getting married to a beautiful heiress in the lovely city of Las Vegas.

In a bedroom somewhere in the hotel, a gorgeous brunette dressed in a lovely sequin wedding dress stood in front of a full-length mirror. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back in waves, her sparkly, white veil only covering some of it.

A smile spread across her glossy, pink lips as she stared at her reflection. With a happy sigh, she asked, "What do you think, Nana?"

A white-haired woman immaculately dressed in a silver, floor-length, off-the-shoulder dress got up from the plush, green couch. Her shriveled hands caressed the silky material of her granddaughter's dress as she sniffled, "Your mother would be so happy that you're wearing her dress."

The bride held her grandmother's trembling hands, "You promised me you wouldn't cry."

"I'm sorry, sweetie, it's just..." the elderly woman was cut off by the sound of wine pouring into a champagne flute glass.

All eyes fell on the raven-haired woman seated on the ginormous bed with a filled champagne flute glass in one hand and a bottle of rich but expensive red wine in the other.

She was dressed in a long, spaghetti-strap, satin gold dress that had a split starting at the mid-thigh of her right leg, revealing a gold Louis Vuitton heel. Her hair was done into a bun at the top of her head, showing a pair of diamond earrings on each ear.

Her tan complexion, which shined like gold, was a blessing gifted to her by her Brazillian mother, and her rich, dark hair and blue eyes from her Italian father.

The bride was no doubt beautiful, but this maid-of-honor of hers was beyond stunning.

"Should you be drinking so much before the wedding, Adele?" the bride's grandmother questioned.

"I'm celebrating early." Adele raised her glass, and her lips spread into a forced smile as she looked at the bride, "To you, my lovely cousin." With those words, she finished the contents of the glass in one go.

The bride's grandmother gave Adele a tight-lipped smile before whispering to her granddaughter, "Are you sure you want this alcoholic to give the wedding toast? I'm sure your older brother wouldn't mind doing it."

"Nana," the bride started while coming down from the short stool she was standing on. "It'll be okay."

Her smile was as sweet as an angel's, but her words were bitter as she lowered her voice, so only her grandmother could hear. "Besides, I'm doing her a favor. You see, Nana, she's already 30 years old and is without a husband. If I don't share my happiness with her, she might commit suicide."

The elderly woman nodded understandingly before praising her granddaughter, "You are very kind, Brianna." She started for the door, saying, "I'm going to ensure everything's going as it should."

At the door, she glanced at Adele before holding Brianna's hands, pulling her closer to whisper, "Do ensure Adele doesn't drink too much." Concern took over the old woman's features as she added, "Her mother might get a stroke this time if she embarrasses the family yet again."

Brianna did a small salute as the door closed. Her smile twisted into a menacing one as she went over to the minibar in the room. She turned to her tipsy, raven-haired cousin with a bottle of whiskey in hand, "Whiskey?"

"No," Adele responded as she poured another glass of red wine. "Mom said she'd disown me if I drank too much this time, so I'm keeping it light."

Brianna's green eyes fell on the empty wine bottle on the floor and the half-full one in Adele's hand. 'She calls two bottles of wine, keeping it light? How is she still conscious?'

"Anyway," Brianna excitedly started, taking a seat on the bed beside Adele. "You're walking down the aisle with this super cute governor. Daniel said he's known him his entire life!"

(Daniel is the duke, she's marrying.)

Brianna wiggled her brows as she nudged Adele's side with her elbow, "I can set the both of you up if you like; I heard he's in the market for a wife."

Before Adele could comment on her friend's proposal, the door to the bedroom opened, revealing a middle-aged, Brazillian woman dressed in a formal, knee-length, light pink dress with chestnut brown, long curly hair.

"Adele, did you-" a gasp left her lips, cutting off her words. She placed her hands on her hips as she glared at her daughter, who couldn't hide the bottle of red wine fast enough.

"You promised me you wouldn't drink!" Adele's mother scolded. "Can't you go a few hours without being fucking drunk?! Haven't you embarrassed this family enough?!"

Adele kept a calm disposition as her mother screamed at her; she went as far as to ignore the raging woman. She took the bottle of whiskey from Brianna's hand before walking over to her mother.

"It was fruit wine." She pressed her lips against her mother's ear and whispered, "Now I'm gonna get drunk just to spite you."

With that, she walked passed her.

Brianna sniffed the bottle Adele was holding and thought, 'What a liar! This isn't fruit wine!' The alcohol was so strong in the bottle that she felt she was getting intoxicated by smelling it alone!

Brianna cleared her throat as she looked at Maria, her cousin's dumbfounded mother. Her brows shot up as she feigned surprise before lying, "It really was fruit wine!"

"Oh my god!" Maria exclaimed before rushing down the hall after Adele. "Sweetie, wait!"

Brianna sighed as she applied more pink lip gloss in the mirror. "The things I do for that woman."

A knock came from outside the bedroom door before it opened, revealing her smiling grandmother. "It's time, my dear."