Sybil Crawley walked down the aisle clinging nervously to the arm of her father. Her hands trembled as she approached the altar, the hum of the guests gushing over how beautiful she looked echoing in her ears. They came to a stop and her father gave her a peck on the cheek, before taking a seat next to Sybil's mother, a beaming smile on his face.
Sybil gently lifted her dress ascending the stairs as her husband to be gazed adoringly at her, taking his hand in hers. The vicar smiled at the two of them stood before him and began to proceed with the ceremony, though Sybil could barely hear the words as she was too focused on keeping her composure.
The wedding had been planned into meticulous detail, though it was all that of a wedding planner – there had only been one requirement. That the wedding would be spectacular, the talk of society and covered by all the major magazines.
And so that is how Sybil had come to have the fairy tale wedding, fit for William and Kate themselves. She had arrived at the church in a horse-drawn carriage alongside her father to a crowd of journalists all eager to get the first glimpse of Miss Sybil Crawley in her wedding dress. The dress had been designed by friend of the Levison family, Vera Wang and was worth about as much as all of Sybil's other dresses put together. She looked stunning in the long, white, strapless lace gown, with a purple satin sash tied round the middle. Her hair was twisted up into a delicate bun and pinned up with beautiful pearl grips and then a veil covering her face. Then there was the church that was decorated with ornate flower arrangements, which directly coordinated with the pale yellow colour of the bridesmaid dresses adorned by her younger cousins.
The vicar droned on and on, until he reached the need for her own input with the vows. She realised her husband to be had already made his and was staring at her expectantly.
The vicar looked at her, "I Sybil Crawley…"
Her heart beat erratically as she turned to her fiancée tears glistening in her eyes as the vicar asked the pair to say "I do".
But the words got lost in her throat. She couldn't do it, she couldn't say I do. This was the perfect wedding, it was the perfect fairy tale wedding.
It just wasn't the perfect man.
"Syb, this is the part where you say I do" he smiled.
"I-I-I can't" she whispered, the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.
The smile on his face faded and was replaced by a look of thunder as he grabbed hold of her wrist, applying enough pressure to make her wince in pain.
"Listen to me, you little bitch" he hissed under his breath, "you are going to say I do and you're going to kiss me".
He straightened up, moving his gaze away from her glistening eyes and gesturing towards a man stood in the corner of the church who nodded and disappeared. Moments later he reappeared, dragging a man to the front, meters away from Sybil. There were whispers from the guests and when Sybil turned around a gasp escaped from her chest. The man had been beaten to a pulp, blood staining his white shirt. He stared at the ground ashamed, unable to meet her eye as the balding man who had been sent to fetch him held a gun against his head.
"Larry" she gasped again, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She turned to face him, "Larry, please don't do this, please don't hurt him".
A smile crept back onto Larry's face, "Say I do and I promise I won't shoot your grubby little Irish mick" he hissed with venom in his voice. She closed her eyes, letting the tears drip down her face.
"No Syb, please don't do this" gasped the man, trying to squirm free of the gun and the man's grip, "I'm not worth it Syb, I'd rather die than see you unhappy, I'd rather die than see you with him".
But Sybil wasn't listening. Looking up at Larry she whispered the words "I do" before collapsing into a weeping mess on the ground.
The music began to play and several people came over to congratulate the groom, Mary and Edith moving to pick their weeping sister off the floor. Sybil turned back to look at the man who had tears falling down his own cheeks.
"I'm sorry" she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I love you Tom".